Valentina Kozlova, swan lake

Valentina Kozlova

Valentina Kozlova was born in Moscow. Selected first among 30,000 applicants Ms. Kozlova was trained at the Bolshoi Ballet School. Ms. Kozlova joined the Bolshoi Ballet in 1973; she was promoted to Principal dancer in 1975 and danced all leading roles in the company repertoire.

In 1979, while on tour with the Bolshoi Ballet in Los Angeles, Ms. Kozlova defected. Thereafter Ms. Kozlova pursued a career as a guest artist and also performed with the Australian Ballet.

While a Principal dancer with the Australian Ballet, Ms. Kozlova danced leading roles in Serge Lifar's Suite en Blanc, Jerome Robbins' Afternoon of a Faun, Glen Tetley's The Rite of Spring, the title role in Roland Petit's Carmen, the title role in Andre Prokovsky's Anna Karenina, the Queen in Prokovsky's The Three Musketeers, and Juliet in John Cranko's Romeo and Juliet. She also co-staged a production of The Nutcracker for the Australian Ballet.

In 1982 Ms. Kozlova made her Broadway debut as Vera Baronova in the revival of On Your Toes, which featured George Balanchine's Slaughter On Tenth Avenue Ballet.

In 1983 Ms. Kozlova joined New York City Ballet as a Principal dancer and danced with the company until 1995. Ms. Kozlova expanded her repertoire to include Principal roles in the Balanchine ballets Apollo, Davidsbundlertanze, Serenade, Symphony In C, Liebeslieder Walzer, Jewels (Emeralds), Firebird, the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Ms. Kozlova appeared in the world premieres of Robert LaFosse's Woodland Sketches, Richard Tanner's Ancient Airs and Dances, Helgi Tomasson's Ballet Isoline, and Eliot Feld's The Unanswered Question. She also danced the role of Aurora in Peter Martins' production of The Sleeping Beauty.

Ms. Kozlova has appeared as a guest artist with La Scala, the Rome Opera Ballet, Florence Opera Ballet, English National Ballet, the Basel Ballet, the Hong Kong Ballet, Ballet de Santiago, the Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires, Argentina), the International Ballet of Caracas, and the Ballet of Novosibirsk during the company's tour of Argentina.

Ms. Kozlova co-staged productions of Swan Lake and Don Quixote for Ballet de Santiago. She made her choreographic debut creating Weeping for the International Ballet Project. The International Ballet Project has also presented the world premiere of Ms. Kozlova's Nov-Den, and the New Jersey Ballet has presented the world premiere of Ms. Kozlova's Gospel. 

In 2003 Ms. Kozlova appeared as a guest artist soloist with the Metro Chamber Orchestra dancing the world premiere of her ballet, Medea, and also choreographed the world premiere of Lament for Phaedra which premiered on the same program. 

In 2004 Ms. Kozlova choreographed her own version of The Four Seasons and The Soldier's Tale for the Dance Conservatory Performance Project. Ms. Kozlova has also appeared in ballet galas in Greece, England, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Le Don des Etoiles in Canada and has participated in tours of Taiwan and South Korea.

Her performances on video include Pavlova Special (CBS), Heinz Spoerli's La Fille Mal Gardée with the Basel Ballet (Phillips, Video, Germany), and Yuri Grigorovitch's Spartacus (VEAR Prod., Argentina).

Due to Glasnost, Ms. Kozlova was afforded a triumphant return to Moscow in 1991 at the Kremlin Palace, covered by NBC News. Ms. Kozlova returned to Moscow in 1992 to premiere the new solo, Blue Angel, created for her by Margo Sappington.

In 1995 Ms. Kozlova and Margo Sappington established The Daring Project, a ballet company dedicated to performing new works. This collaboration continues to produce new works for Ms. Kozlova, which have been performed on national and international tours. Ms. Sappington choreographed a new pas de deux, Calling, in 1999 to mark the 20th anniversary of Ms. Kozlova's defection from the Soviet Union.

In 1998, Ms. Kozlova appeared in the musical, A Christmas Carol, with movie legend Tony Randall and Broadway star Ben Vereen. In 2002 Ms. Kozlova was a Distinguished Visiting Artist at Radford University in Radford, Virginia, and was presented with Manhattan Magazine's Manhattan Award for her achievement in the arts.

In 2005 Ms. Kozlova was a coach and teacher for the New York International Ballet Competition, and was a member of the faculty for Edmonton Ballet (formerly Citie Ballet of Edmonton) Summer Intensive. Ms. Kozlova was also given the Teacher of Distinction Award at the American Ballet Competition in Miami, Florida, and Best Teacher Award at the Youth America Grand Prix. In 2008 Ms. Kozlova was engaged as a guest teacher for the Hungarian National Ballet.

Ms. Kozlova has been a coach for Boston Ballet II where she also staged Leonid Lavrovsky’s Graduation Classical Pas de Deux. In 2007 Ms. Kozlova was President of the Jury for the New York International Ballet Competition.

  • In 2011 Ms. Kozlova became Founder/Artistic Director of the Valentina Kozlova International Ballet Competition (VKIBC.org).

  • In 2013 Ms. Kozlova was the recipient of the School of the Dance of the Chautauqua Institute’s Artist Teacher Award.

  • In 2018 the Carnegie Corporation of New York honored Ms. Kozlova as a “Great American, Great Immigrant."

  • In 2024, Ms. Kozlova received a Certificate of Artistic Recognition by New York City Mayor Eric Adams and “A Life for Dance” Lifetime Achievement Award by the 29th International Ballet Festival of Miami.

Ms. Kozlova continues to pursue her career as a master teacher coach and stages classics for companies such as Boston Ballet, Ballet West, Cleveland Ballet, Eglevsky Ballet, Joffrey Ballet School among others.

Awards and Distinctions

  • American Ballet Competition, Miami, FL: Teacher of Distinction Award;

  • Youth America Grand Prix, NYC, NY: Best Teacher Award;

  • Manhattan Magazine's Manhattan Award for achievement in the arts;

  • President of the Jury, New York International Ballet Competition, 2007;

  • Recipient of the School of the Dance of the Chautauqua Institute’s Artist Teacher Award;

  • “Great American, Great Immigrant" recognition by the Carnegie Corporation, 2018;

  • Certificate of Artistic Recognition by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, 2024;

  • “A Life for Dance” Lifetime Achievement Award by the 29th International Ballet Festival  of Miami, 2024.

    Leading roles on Broadway

  • On Your Toes, 1982;

  • A Christmas Carol, 1998.