Stanislav Issaev

Mr. Issaev studied at the Perm Academy and upon graduation, joined the Moscow State Ballet Theatre, where he was a principal dancer. In 1980 he was awarded the Gold Medal in the National Soviet Ballet Competition in Moscow, and later that year won the Gold Medal and an award for extraordinary technical skills at the International Ballet Competition in Varna. Three years later he was presented with the title of Distinguished Artist of Russia. In 1984 Issaev was awarded the Vaslav Nijinsky Prize from the Paris Academy of Dance, which acclaimed him as "the year’s most distinguished male dancer in the world," an award previously given to Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Vladimir Vassiliev, and Mikhail Lavrovsky. In 1990 he was named People’s Artist of Russia, the highest artistic honor in the country. He partnered legendary Ekaterina Maximova during his world tour with the Moscow State Ballet Theatre, including the company’s first tour of the US.

Designated in 1996 by Mikhail Gorbachov to dance in the United States, Issaev was a leading dancer in special galas throughout America, Canada, and Spain. In 1990 he was invited to join the Atlanta Ballet as a principal dancer.

Issaev’s teaching career began with coaching for the Moscow State Ballet Theatre, and while dancing with the Atlanta Ballet, he was invited to be a guest teacher for Columbia Classical Ballet. In 1996 he became Director of the USC Dance Conservatory and Associate Director of USC Dance in South Carolina. In the past several years, a number of his students have received awards in National and International Ballet Competitions in Winston Salem, North Carolina, New York, Helsinki, and Rome.  Selected as a 2009 Russian coach for the international broadcast of NBC's production of Superstars of Dance.  In addition, Issaev was named the Outstanding Teacher by the Youth America Grand Prix in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2011.