Vladimir Vasiliev (dancer) Vladimir Vasiliev (dancer) Vladimir Viktorovich Vasiliev (Russian: Влади́мир Ви́кторович Васи́льев), (born April 18, 1940) is a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer from Moscow, Russia. He was a principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet and its director from 1995 to 2000. He was best known for his role of Spartacus and his powerful leaps and turns. Vladimir Vasiliev was named "God of the dance" and is regarded as a classical dancer on the same level as Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. At the height of their careers, Vladimir Vasiliev and Ekaterina Maximova were the golden couple of Russian ballet. Vladimir Vasiliev
Los Angeles Ballet Arts and the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Thordal Christensen was a former principal dancer for and artistic director of the Royal Danish Ballet, with Neary appointed as the ‘first ballet mistress’ in charge of their productions. Colleen Neary was a principal dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet and a Soloist with New York City Ballet under George Balanchine, and is currently a repetiteur for The George Balanchine Trust. Both Christensen and Neary are also former principal dancers for Pacific Northwest Ballet. In 1974, a company titled Los Angeles Ballet was founded under the direction of John Clifford, a former principal dancer