Volochkova Anastasia Yurievna

She herself connects the dismissal from the theater with the personal revenge of billionaire and deputy Suleiman Kerimov, with whom she broke up shortly before her dismissal. The ballerina explained the "problem of excess weight" by the fact that Iksanov forced the male part of the troupe to sign a letter in which they refuse to dance with Volochkova (Nikolai Tsiskaridze refused to sign). Thus, according to the ballerina, a situation was artificially created in which it became impossible for her to work[9]. Later, in an interview for the author's YouTube show Dmitry Bykov, Tsiskaridze confirmed the version of revenge on the part of influential people, but refused to name specific names, giving the ballerina the opportunity to do it herself.

Volochkova was born into a middle-class family in Leningrad, Russian SFSR (now Saint Petersburg, Russia). Her father was a table tennis champion and coach, and her mother was a tour guide.[3]

In addition to her career as a dancer, Volochkova has also worked as an actress and a model, starring in films and TV series as well as modelling for Chopard jewellery.[

Volochkova was born into a middle-class family in Leningrad, Russian SFSR (now Saint Petersburg, Russia). Her father was a table tennis champion and coach, and her mother was a tour guide.[3]

Volochkova was five years old, when her mother took her to see The Nutcracker at the Mariinsky Theatre. "When I left the hall, I told my mother I wanted to be a famous ballerina," Volochkova has said, "On the face of it, I didn't have the right build - I didn't have long legs, and I wasn't flexible, quick or springy - nothing. All I maybe had was a beautiful body and a big wish. I didn't just take classes - I also had private lessons at home with a teacher. I worked very hard.

Other work

In addition to her career as a dancer, Volochkova has also worked as an actress and a model, starring in films and TV series as well as modelling for Chopard jewellery.[

She was born in Leningrad, in the family of Yuri Fedorovich Volochkov (born 1947)[1], the champion of the Soviet Union in men's doubles (with Ivan Minkevich) in table tennis in 1983, an athletics coach at a sports school, and Tamara Vladimirovna Antonova (born 1951)[2], a tour guide[3]. According to Volochkova herself, she dreamed of becoming a ballerina from the age of five, since her mother took her to the ballet "The Nutcracker" at the Kirov Theater [4].

She studied at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, graduated in the class of Natalia Dudinskaya[5]. In 1994, while still a student of the second, pre-graduation course, she began performing solo parts on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater. After graduation, she was immediately accepted to the position of soloist. Already in the first years of her work, she performed the main roles in ballets: "Giselle", "Corsair", "Swan Lake", "Raymonda" and "Firebird"[5].

In 1998, she was invited by Vladimir Vasiliev to perform the role of Odette in his new production of Swan Lake at the Bolshoi Theater[5]. She also performed the roles of Nikiya ("Bayadere"), Raymonda, Lilac Fairy ("Sleeping Beauty") edited by Yuri Grigorovich[5]. Along with her work in the Bolshoi Theater troupe, she began a solo career, performing with her own concert numbers and in productions of other theaters [5].

As a result of touring in the UK in early 2000, she received an engagement with the English National Ballet, where choreographer Derek Dean composed the part of the Fairy Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty especially for her[5]. After returning in March 2000, she signed a contract for the next season for the main roles at the Bolshoi Theater.

After the unexpected dismissal of Vladimir Vasiliev (Anatoly Iksanov was appointed director of the theater on September 1), Volochkova began a series of conflicts with the new administration. By this time, she had become a popular character in the gossip columns, tabloids, appeared in television shows, became the "face" of the Chopard jewelry house. In 2002, on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater, the ballerina was announced the winner of the "Benoit of Dance" prize, which caused ridicule from part of the audience[6].

In September 2003, she was officially dismissed from the troupe, which was widely covered in the press. The formal reason was that Volochkova did not meet the requirements of physical fitness and it was impossible for her to find a partner [5] (the premier of the Mariinsky Theater Yevgeny Ivanchenko, the only partner of the ballerina, was injured and could not participate in Swan Lake[7]).

She is the only one of the leading soloists who is in such physical shape! The future of the Bolshoi will clearly be made up by such as Zakharova, Alexandrova, Lunkina. And I cannot build prospects depending on whether Nastya Volochkova will lose weight or not[8].

She herself connects the dismissal from the theater with the personal revenge of billionaire and deputy Suleiman Kerimov, with whom she broke up shortly before her dismissal. The ballerina explained the "problem of excess weight" by the fact that Iksanov forced the male part of the troupe to sign a letter in which they refuse to dance with Volochkova (Nikolai Tsiskaridze refused to sign). Thus, according to the ballerina, a situation was artificially created in which it became impossible for her to work[9]. Later, in an interview for the author's YouTube show Dmitry Bykov, Tsiskaridze confirmed the version of revenge on the part of influential people, but refused to name specific names, giving the ballerina the opportunity to do it herself [10].

I believe that justice will prevail and I will still be able to dance for you on the famous stage of the Bolshoi Theater. And your presence here with all of us is not only a support and justification for my creativity. This is my great victory over those people, over those forces that are trying to deprive me of my creativity and destroy me as a ballerina [source not specified for 19 days].

In 2009, her autobiography "The History of the Russian Ballerina" was published[5]. On June 17, 2010, she defended her dissertation on the topic of creative schools in the regions of Russia and received an MBA degree from the Higher School of Economics[5].

In January 2011, Volochkova posted erotic photos from her vacation in the Maldives on her blog. According to the ballerina, she took such a step "out of spite of the paparazzi" and because she has nothing to be ashamed of [11]. The photos caused a great resonance in the press[12], since then the artist has been accompanied by publications of varying degrees of "yellowness"[13].

In November 2017, Volochkova's former partner Chermen Dzotov and sex coach Alex Leslie held a PR campaign with the posting of intimate photos of the ballerina online without her consent[14][15][16][17].

In 2007, she married businessman and Doctor of Law Igor Alexandrovich Vdovin (born 1964[18]), but later admitted that the wedding ceremony was fictitious, and they were never officially painted [19]; on September 23, 2005, she gave birth to a daughter Ariadne. According to media reports, a year later, friction began between the newlyweds, they broke up, but maintain friendly relations[20].

On the night of April 29, 2013, the mansion rented by Volochkova on Molokova Street in the Moscow district of Lianozovo[21] was raided by robbers who stole two safes with jewelry from the house. The artist herself was on tour in Warsaw at that time[22]. In an interview, Anastasia estimated the value of the stolen jewelry at several hundred thousand dollars, and also reported that a new lover named Bakhtiar Salimov had appeared in her life[21].

In 2003, she became a member of the United Russia Party[23]. On February 2, 2011, she left the party[11].

In 2009, she submitted documents for participation in the elections of the mayor of Sochi, the capital of the future 2014 Olympics, but was refused registration[24].

In 2016, she attended the X Congress of the Fair Russia Party. She considered the option of her participation in the elections to the State Duma as a candidate for deputies from this party[25][26].

In 2005, her signature appeared under a letter in support of the verdict of former YUKOS executives[27]. However, in 2011, Volochkova refused her signature, claiming that members of the United Russia party had deceived her and other signatories regarding the contents of this letter[28][29].

In an interview with the Ukrainian TV channel 1 +1 in April 2014 in Kiev, she noted that for her Crimea will always be part of Ukraine [29]. In the context of the "Crimean theme", Volochkova spoke negatively about the public position of singer Valeria and her husband, producer Joseph Prigozhin, calling these two show business figures "political prostitutes"[30]. Nevertheless, after the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation in 2014, Volochkova herself repeatedly performed concerts there, visiting from the territory of Russia. In the summer of 2017, in Simferopol, she declared that "Crimea is ours"[31].

In 2019, on the air on Echo of Moscow radio, speaking about people who are not satisfied with Putin, the ballerina suggested: "My good ones. Everyone who is not right here, get up and go to other countries. Live there"[32]. Regarding the 20 million poor living in today's Russia, Volochkova noted: "They should stand up and face themselves, stand up and ask their conscience a question, not scold the structure... So let them work, I'm sorry, don't smoke a bull on the block, let them work and think that each of them, and each of us in general, what we can do for the good of our country, why we should blame the president, the directors of some structures, companies for everything, why we can't blame ourselves"[32]. Later, Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny criticized her wish for poor Russians to leave the country and said that her stretching was photographed "with about all the objects on planet Earth." Volochkova replied, this is an element of her profession. "Let's see whose length and slenderness of the twine will unite Russia with the world community, which cannot forgive Russia for its might, fortitude and perseverance of people and the greatness of the president," she wrote[33].