Ludmila Semenyaka

Semenyaka, Ludmila (orig. Lyudmila Ivanovna;b Leningrad, 16 Jan. 1952). Soviet dancer. She trained at the Leningrad Choreographic School with Belikova and danced with the Kirov (1970-2) before moving to the Bolshoi as a principal dancer. Here, under the tutelage of Ulanova, her technical purity and brilliance acquired a new lyricism and dramatic subtlety which equipped her both for the 19th-century classics (especially Raymonda, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty) and for the more expansive Grigorovich roles like Phrygia in Spartacus. Between 1979 and 1986 Bolshoi tours of Britain and America were halted by defections from the company but when the company again travelled to the West Semenyaka rapidly acquired an international reputation. Since 1991 she has guested abroad, including performances with Moscow City Ballet on its British tour and English National Ballet, and also with her own concert group in Japan (1991). She was made Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation in 1976.