The Most Famous
DANCERS from Ukraine
This page contains a list of the greatest Ukrainian Dancers. The pantheon dataset contains 76 Dancers, 5 of which were born in Ukraine. This makes Ukraine the birth place of the 7th most number of Dancers behind India and United Kingdom.
Top 5
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Ukrainian Dancers of all time. This list of famous Ukrainian Dancers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Vaslav Nijinsky (1889 - 1950)
With an HPI of 70.73, Vaslav Nijinsky is the most famous Ukrainian Dancer. His biography has been translated into 52 different languages on wikipedia.
Vaslav or Vatslav Nijinsky (; Russian: Вацлав Фомич Нижинский, romanized: Vatslav Fomich Nizhinsky, IPA: [ˈvatsləf fɐˈmʲitɕ nʲɪˈʐɨnskʲɪj]; Polish: Wacław Niżyński, IPA: [ˈvatswaf ɲiˈʐɨj̃skʲi]; 12 March 1889/1890 – 8 April 1950) was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish ancestry. He is regarded as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century. He was celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations. He could dance en pointe, a rare skill among male dancers at the time, and was admired for his seemingly gravity-defying leaps. Nijinsky was introduced to dance by his parents, who were senior dancers with the travelling Setov opera company, and his early childhood was spent touring with the company. His elder brother, Stanislav, and younger sister, Bronislava Nijinska, known to intimates as Bronia, also became dancers; Bronia also became a choreographer, working closely with him for much of his career. At age nine, Nijinsky was accepted at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg, the pre-eminent ballet school in the world. In 1907, he graduated and became a member of the Imperial Ballet, starting in the rank of coryphée instead of in the corps de ballet, and already taking starring roles. In 1909, he joined the Ballets Russes, a new ballet company started by Sergei Diaghilev. The impresario took the Russian ballets to Paris, where high-quality productions such as those of the Imperial Ballet were not known. Nijinsky became the company's star male dancer, causing an enormous stir amongst audiences whenever he performed. In ordinary life, he appeared unremarkable and was withdrawn in conversation. Diaghilev and Nijinsky became lovers; the Ballets Russes gave Nijinsky the chance to expand his art and experiment with dance and choreography; he created new directions for male dancers while becoming internationally famous. In 1912, Nijinsky began choreographing original ballets, including L'après-midi d'un faune (1912) to music by Claude Debussy, Le Sacre du Printemps (1913) to music by Igor Stravinsky, Jeux (1913), and Till Eulenspiegel (1916). Faune, considered one of the first modern ballets, caused controversy because of its sexually suggestive final scene. At the premiere of Le Sacre du Printemps, fights broke out in the audience between those who loved and hated this startling new style of ballet and music. Nijinsky originally conceived Jeux as a flirtatious interaction among three males, although Diaghilev insisted it be danced by one male and two females. In 1913, Nijinsky married Hungarian Romola de Pulszky while on tour with the company in South America. The marriage caused a break with Diaghilev, who soon dismissed Nijinsky from the company. The couple had two daughters together, Kyra and Tamara Nijinska. With no alternative employer available, Nijinsky tried to form his own company, but this was not a success. He was interned in Budapest, Hungary, during World War I, under house arrest until 1916. After intervention by Diaghilev and several international leaders, he was allowed to go to New York for an American tour with the Ballets Russes. Nijinsky became increasingly mentally unstable with the stresses of having to manage tours himself and deprived of opportunities to dance. After a tour of South America in 1917, and due to travel difficulties imposed by the war, the family settled in St. Moritz, Switzerland. His mental condition deteriorated; he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1919 and committed to a mental asylum. For the next 30 years, he was in and out of institutions, never dancing in public again.
2. Serge Lifar (1904 - 1986)
With an HPI of 59.90, Serge Lifar is the 2nd most famous Ukrainian Dancer. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.
Serge Lifar (Ukrainian: Сергій Михайлович Лифар, Serhіy Mуkhailovуch Lуfar) (15 April [O.S. 2 April] 1905 – 15 December 1986) was a Ukrainian dancer and choreographer, and one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century. Lifar was also a choreographer, director, writer, theoretician about dance, and collector. As ballet master of the Paris Opera from 1930 to 1944, and from 1947 to 1958, he devoted himself to the restoration of the technical level of the Paris Opera Ballet, returning it to its place as one of the best companies in the world.
3. Olga Khokhlova (1891 - 1955)
With an HPI of 55.00, Olga Khokhlova is the 3rd most famous Ukrainian Dancer. Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Olga Picasso (born Olga Stepanovna Khokhlova; Russian: Ольга Степановна Хохлова; 17 June 1891 – 11 February 1955) was a Russian ballet dancer in the Ballets Russes, directed by Sergei Diaghilev and based in Paris. There she met and married the artist Pablo Picasso, served as one of his early muses, and was the mother of their son, Paul (Paulo).
4. Svetlana Zakharova (1979 - )
With an HPI of 44.85, Svetlana Zakharova is the 4th most famous Ukrainian Dancer. Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.
Svetlana Yuryevna Zakharova (Ukrainian: Світлана Юріївна Захарова, Russian: Светлана Юрьевна Захарова; born 10 June 1979) is a Ukrainian-born prima ballerina who dances with the Bolshoi Ballet and an étoile of the La Scala Theatre Ballet.
5. Sergei Polunin (1989 - )
With an HPI of 38.24, Sergei Polunin is the 5th most famous Ukrainian Dancer. Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
Sergei Vladimirovich Polunin (Russian: Сергей Владимирович Полунин; Ukrainian: Сергій Володимирович Полунін, romanized: Serhiy Volodymyrovych Polunin; born 20 November 1989) is a Russian ballet dancer, actor and model. He has Ukrainian, Russian, and Serbian citizenships, but has "always regarded himself as Russian". Born in Kherson, Ukrainian SSR, Polunin started out in gymnastics before switching to ballet at the age of eight and attended the Kyiv State Choreographic Institute. After graduating, he joined the British Royal Ballet School at the age of 13 in 2003. Polunin has received numerous awards, including the Prix de Lausanne and Youth America Grand Prix in 2006, and in 2007 was named the Young British Dancer of the Year. In 2010, at the age of 20, Polunin became the Royal Ballet's youngest ever male principal dancer. After two years, he quit the ballet company to focus on a freelance career. As a freelance principal dancer, Polunin has been a guest artist at various theatres worldwide such as Royal Opera House, Sadler's Wells Theatre, Bolshoi Theatre, Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre, La Scala Theatre, Teatro San Carlo and was a guest artist for the Bayerisches Staatsballet.
Pantheon has 5 people classified as dancers born between 1889 and 1989. Of these 5, 2 (40.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living dancers include Svetlana Zakharova and Sergei Polunin. The most famous deceased dancers include Vaslav Nijinsky, Serge Lifar, and Olga Khokhlova. As of April 2022, 1 new dancers have been added to Pantheon including Olga Khokhlova.
Living Dancers
Go to all RankingsDeceased Dancers
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Vaslav Nijinsky
1889 - 1950
HPI: 70.73
Serge Lifar
1904 - 1986
HPI: 59.90
Olga Khokhlova
1891 - 1955
HPI: 55.00
Newly Added Dancers (2022)
Go to all RankingsWhich Dancers were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 3 most globally memorable Dancers since 1700.
