Maria Kochetkova

Born in Moscow, Maria Kochetkova trained at the Bolshoi Ballet School from the age of 10 for eight years before dancing with The Royal Ballet and English National Ballet in London. She joined the San Francisco Ballet as a Principal Dancer in 2007. Her classical repertoire includes the title role in Giselle, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Kitri in Don Quixote, Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker and the title role in Alice in Wonderland. She has also performed in George Balanchine's Jewels, Divertimento 15 and Violin Concerto, William Forsythe's in the middle, somewhat elevated and ballets by Mark Morris, Yuri Possokhov, Helgi Tomasson, Jorma Elo, Christopher Wheeldon, David Dawson and Hans Van Manen.

Kochetkova's prizes and awards include medals at the International Ballet Competitions in Seoul (Gold, 2005), Rome (Gold, 2005), Riety (Gold, 2005), Luxembourg (Gold, 2003), Varna (Silver and the Press Jury Prize, 2002), Moscow (Bronze, 2001). She is also a winner of the Prix de Lausanne (2002).

Kochetkova performed the Grand Pas de Deux in San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker which was broadcast by PBS in 2008 and won the solo gold medal in the NBC TV series Superstars of Dance.

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