Ilya Kozadayev Will Appear as Guest Artist in Etudes de Ballet's Production of THE NUTCRACKER

Ballet's production of The Nutcracker on December 3 and 4, 2016 at the Golden Gate High School Auditorium in Naples, Florida.

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, to a family of professional ballet dancers, ILYA KOZADAYEV began his ballet training in 1988 at the famous Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg under the guidance of Ludmila Karateeva.

After immigrating to the United States, he continued his ballet training at the School of American Ballet in New York, and had the privilege of studying under the guidance of Stanley Williams, Andre Kramarevsky, and Richard Rapp.

Mr. Kozadayev also studied for five years under the guidance of his parents Sergey Kozadayev and Zhanna Dubrovskaya at the Academy of Colorado Ballet in Denver, Colorado. While still a student at the Academy of Colorado Ballet, Mr. Kozadayev was invited to perform in Tokyo, Japan at the Auyama Ballet Festival where he danced the Pas de Deux from the Second Act of Giselle.

Completing his training in 1998 Mr. Kozadayev graduated from the John Cranko Ballet School where he studied with Peter Pestov. While a student at the John Cranko Ballet School, Mr. Kozadayev performed Auguste Bournonville's Flower Festival in Genzano Pas de Deux, a solo in William Forsythe's Love Songs, and a pas de deux in Renato Zanella's Tryptichon.

From 1998 through 1999 Mr. Kozadayev was a member of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre where he performed in Daniel Pelzig's Romeo and Juliet, George Balanchine's Theme and Variations, and Kent Stowell's Carmina Burana.

In 1999 Mr. Kozadayev joined the Colorado Ballet and was quickly promoted to soloist in 2000, a position he held until 2002. With the Colorado Ballet Mr. Kozadayev expanded his repertoire to include the roles of the Nutcracker Prince in Martin Fredmann's The Nutcracker, Jonathan Harker in Michael Pink's Dracula, the Jester in Fredmann's Cinderella, Popular Song in Frederick Ashton's Façade, The Cowboy in Agnes De Mille's Rodeo, the Jester in Sergey Kozadayev's production of Swan Lake, Narcissus in Kasian Galizovsky's Narcissus, James in Auguste Bournonville's La Sylphide, the Pas de Deux in George Balanchine's Stars and Stripes, and a principal role in Choo San Goh's Configurations.

In 2000 Mr. Kozadayev appeared as a guest artist with the Boston Ballet dancing the role of Ptolemy in Ben Stevenson's Cleopatra. Also in 2000 Mr. Kozadayev won the Silver Medal at the New York International Ballet Competition.

In 2002 Mr. Kozadayev appeared as a guest artist with the Columbia Classical Ballet dancing a principal role in George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante, Marius Petipa's Flames of Paris Pas de Deux, and creating the title role in Milena Lebon's The Miraculous Mandarin.

In 2002 Mr. Kozadayev joined the Boston Ballet where he expanded his repertoire to include the principal roles of Alain in Frederick Ashton's La Fille Mal Gardee, the Mandolin Dance in Rudi van Dantzig's Romeo and Juliet, and roles in Mark Morris' Maelstrom,and William Forsythe's In The Middle Somewhat Elevated.

In 2003 Mr. Kozadayev joined the Houston Ballet at the invitation of artistic director Stanton Welch and was promoted to soloist in 2004.

Mr. Kozadayev continued to expand his repertoire to include the title role in Trey McIntyre's Peter Pan, the Lead Pontevedrian in Ronald Hynd's The Merry Widow, the Jester in Ben Stevenson's Cinderella, Goro in Stanton Welch's Madam Butterfly, the Peasant Pas de Deux in Giselle, the Bluebird in Ben Stevenson's The Sleeping Beauty, Amor in Ben Stevenson's Don Quixote, Benvolio in Ben Stevenson's Romeo and Juliet, the Fire God in Stanton Welch's production of La Bayadere, the Beggar Chief in Kenneth MacMillan's Manon, the Pas de Trois in the Emeralds Act of George Balanchine's Jewels, the Boy in Blue in Frederick Ashton's Les Patineurs, and principal roles in Jiri Kylian's Forgotten Land, Stanton Welch's Falling, and Mark Morris' The Sandpaper Ballet.

Mr. Kozadayev has also danced in Jiri Kylian's Soldiers' Mass, Stanton Welch's Divergence, Clear, Blindness, Maninyas, The Core, Elements, Tapestry, and Velocity, Christopher Bruce's Sergeant Early's Dream, Hush, and Rooster, Twyla Tharp's The Brahms-Haydn Variations, and Christopher Wheeldon's Carnival of Animals.

Mr. Kozadayev has also created roles in Christopher Bruce's Hush, Stanton Welch's Brigade, and The Four Seasons, Aszure Barton's Angular Momentum, Jorma Elo's ONE/END/ONE, and Trey McIntyre's The Tinderbox.

In 2013 the Houston Ballet II presented the world premiere of Mr. Kozadayev's Molto Espressivo. He also created Impromptu for the Houston Ballet and Houston Ballet II, On 2 E, a commissioned solo work for Samantha Lynch of the Norwegian National Ballet, Bounded Regions for the Kansas City Ballet, Harmonic Inspirations, The Seasons, Caged, and Quintett for Oklahoma Festival Ballet, Moonlight and Hansel and Gretel for Festival Ballet Providence, Void for Milwaukee Ballet II, Symbiosis for Tulsa Ballet II, (E)Motions for Ballet Arkansas, and Lucid for Contemporary Dance Oklahoma. In 2015 Mr. Kozadayev was the winner of Ballet Arkansas' Visions Choreographic Competition.

In 2013 Mr. Kozadayev left the Houston Ballet and was appointed an Assistant Professor of Ballet at the University of Oklahoma's School of Dance in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Mr. Kozadayev holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in choreography from Jacksonville University in Florida.

To post a comment, you must register and login.