Yulia Ilina
Ballet Director
Yulia was born to professional championship athletes in Kiev, Ukraine. Enforced with a commitment to hard work, her mother took her to the “arts school” in Kiev at the age of 7. On seeing her physical abilities, famed dance professor, L. Shatilov exclaimed, “A child like this is born once in a hundred years. She must be professionally engaged in the ballet”. Yulia attended the Kiev Ballet School in 1991, the only specialized school in the Ukraine at trains professional ballet dancers. By the end of the fourth year that training, she had already been included in the corps de ballet scenes of the National Opera of Ukraine, among the older dancers. During the last year she danced solo, Pas De Deux and a number of modern dance compositions. Upon graduation, she was the only one in the class who received a contract with Eifman Ballet Theater (St. Petersburg, Russia). From 1999 to 2004, as a member of the theater, Yulia toured all over the world. She danced in the U.S., France, England, Germany, Poland, Spain, Portugal, Israel, Croatia, South Korea and other locations. In addition, Eifman’s Theater performed on numerous Russian stages including the Bolshoy Theater in Moscow. In 2004, Yulia decided to expand her experience in teaching and choreography. At the invitation of A. Andreev, honored artist of Russia and master of the St. Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy, she was selected as assistant teacher- choreographer of his Drama class. Working with students of the Drama Department opened new pathways of artistic thinking and ways to apply it through many mediums in the profession. Yulia realized that in order to dance well, one does not necessarily have to encompass perfect physique and ballet training. When creating choreography for students, she tried to focus not only on common rules, but also on individuality of the artist. Ultimately, applying the same principle, she choreographed several productions for Operetta Theater, such as “Sylva”, “Cinderella”, and “Mr. X”. The 2005 premieres of these productions were successfully held in Riga, Latvia; Vilnus, Lithuania, and are standard repertoire for the Operetta Theater program. In 2007, Yulia returned to performing on the stage and became a member of the St. Petersburg State Academic Theater named after L. Jacobson. A month after signing a contract, she was promoted to the position of Principal Dancer. As a Principal, she toured extensively with the Theater in Russia, U.S., Mexico, Germany, Japan and Israel. Yulia’s repertoire includes principal and soloist roles in many classical and contemporary ballets such as Swan Lake, Giselle, La Bayadere, Romeo and Juliet, Nutcracker, Carmen and many more. Her performances received high critical acclaim. In 2010, the St. Petersburg Committee of Culture awarded Yulia the Diploma of Recognition: “for the best preservation of traditions and invaluable contribution to the development of Russian ballet”. In the conferral of her certification, to ascribe to the highest status for the Principal Dancer, the chairman of the Certification Commission stated: “Images of Ms. Ilina’s characters, written in secretly-fragile choreographic patters, unveils a saturated palette of her diverse personality. Each new work opens up new facets of her talent. She is able to lead and to assist the partners exceptionally well in the creative process.” In 2012 Yulia moved to the U.S. and became the guest Principal Dancers for the Avant Chamber Ballet, Collin County Ballet Theater, Denton Contemporary Ballet, International Ballet Theater, Mejia International Ballet and many others. As a teacher she worked for Hathaway Ballet Academy, Park Cities Dance, Studio A Dance and the Denton Ballet Conservatory. She also has been a guest teacher for University of North Texas, South Methodist University, Mississippi Ballet Theater, Texas Youth Ballet Conservatory and The Dance Space. In 2015 she graduated from the St. Petersburg State Theater Art Academy holding a Masters Degree in Teaching and Theater Administration.