{{Short description|Russian ballet dancer (born 1969)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}} {{expand Russian|topic=bio}} {{Family name hatnote|Anatolyevich|Zelensky|lang=Eastern Slavic}} {{for|other people by the surname|Zelensky (surname)}} {{Infobox person | name = Igor Zelensky | image = Игорь Зеленский - 02 (2018-08-04).jpg | image_size = | caption = Zelensky in 2018 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1969|7|13|df=yes}} | birth_name = | birth_place = Labinsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | occupation = Ballet dancer | partner = Katerina Tikhonova | children = 1 }}

'''Igor Anatolyevich Zelensky'''{{efn|Also romanized as '''Zelenskiy'''}} ({{langx|ru|Игорь Анатольевич Зеленский}}; born 13 July 1969) is a Russian ballet dancer.

== Early life == Zelensky was born on 13 July 1969, in Labinsk, Krasnodar Krai, Russian SFSR. He was a principal at the Mariinsky Ballet from 1991 until 2013. He graduated from the Tbilisi School of Ballet (class of Vakhtang Chabukiani) and trained at the Vaganova academy (class of Gennady Selutsky).

== Career == Zelensky was a principal for five years at the New York City Ballet. His roles include Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and Siegfried in Swan Lake. He has performed around the world, including with the Royal Ballet in London, at La Scala in Milan, at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and with the New York City Ballet.

Zelensky served as the Artistic Director of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre (2006–2015) as well as the Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre (2011–2016). From 2016 to 2022, he was the Ballet Director of the Bayerisches Staatsballett;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.staatsoper.de/en/biographies/detail-page/zelensky-igor.html|title=Igor Zelensky|access-date=8 October 2018|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417181304/https://www.staatsoper.de/en/biographies/detail-page/zelensky-igor.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="nmz">{{cite web | title=Ballettdirektor des Bayerischen Staatsballetts Zelensky tritt zurück [update, 19:00] – neue musikzeitung | website=nmz | date=4 April 2022 | url=https://www.nmz.de/kiz/nachrichten/ballettdirektor-des-bayerischen-staatsballetts-zelensky-tritt-zurueck | language=de | access-date=4 April 2022}}</ref> he resigned on 4 April 2022 due to "private family reasons" after failing to denounce the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and was summoned by the German Science and Arts Ministry to explain his links to a cultural heritage foundation tied with the Russian state. Serge Dorny, the general director of Bavarian State Opera, had inadvertently told Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus that Zelensky "didn't make that decision on his own", and said, "We had a conversation, and I brought him to this conclusion."<ref name=Guardian220519/><ref name=Moscow/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://istories.media/investigations/2022/05/19/myunkhenskaya-doch-vladimira-putina/|title=Мюнхенская дочь Владимира Путина|work=iStories|date=19 May 2022|language=Russian}}</ref>

==Personal life== [[File:Vladimir Putin in Sevastopol (2018-08-04).jpg|thumb|Igor Zelensky (3rd from left) with Vladimir Putin in Sevastopol, 2018]] Zelensky is reportedly the partner of Katerina Tikhonova, the second daughter of Russian president Vladimir Putin. They reportedly have a daughter, born 2017.<ref name=Moscow>{{cite news|date=19 May 2022|title=Investigation Links German Ex-Ballet Director Zelensky with Putin's Daughter|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/05/19/investigation-links-german-ex-ballet-director-zelensky-with-putins-daughter-a77728|url-status=live|work=The Moscow Times|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220520053627/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/05/19/russia-ukraine-trade-barbs-over-europes-largest-nuclear-plant-a77725|archive-date=20 May 2022|access-date=20 May 2022}}</ref><ref name=Guardian220519>{{cite news|last=Oltermann|first=Philip|date=19 May 2022|title=Putin's daughter flew to Munich 'more than 50 times' in two years, leaks reveal|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/19/putins-daughter-flew-to-munich-more-than-50-times-investigation-suggests|url-status=live|work=The Guardian|location=Berlin|publication-place=London|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220520034617/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/19/putins-daughter-flew-to-munich-more-than-50-times-investigation-suggests|archive-date=20 May 2022|access-date=20 May 2022}}</ref>

==See also== * List of Russian ballet dancers

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}} * {{cite web|url=http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/company/ballet/principals_dancers/premery/zelensky/|title=Igor Zelensky|publisher=Mariinsky Ballet|access-date=9 May 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615063618/http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/company/ballet/principals_dancers/premery/zelensky/|archive-date=15 June 2010}}

==External links== * {{cite web|url= http://www.criticaldance.com/interviews/2003/CriticalDance.com-IgorZelenskyInterview.html|title= Interview with Igor Zelensky|author= Emma Pegler|date= 5 May 2003|publisher= criticaldance|access-date= 9 May 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110927150918/http://www.criticaldance.com/interviews/2003/CriticalDance.com-IgorZelenskyInterview.html|archive-date= 27 September 2011|url-status= dead}} * {{cite web|url= http://www.ballet.co.uk/aug98/interview_igor_zelensky.htm|title= Interview with Igor Zelensky|author= Jennifer Delaney|date= 16 August 1998|publisher= ballet.co|access-date= 9 May 2010|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091230063843/http://www.ballet.co.uk/aug98/interview_igor_zelensky.htm|archive-date= 30 December 2009}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zelensky, Igor}} Category:1969 births Category:20th-century Russian ballet dancers Category:21st-century Russian ballet dancers Category:Living people Category:Family of Vladimir Putin Category:People from Labinsk Category:New York City Ballet principal dancers Category:Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre Category:Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet alumni Category:Merited Artists of the Russian Federation Category:People's Artists of Russia Category:Russian male ballet dancers Category:Soviet male ballet dancers