Iana Salenko

Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Iana Salenko was the youngest dancer at 16 playing principal roles at Donetsk Ballet in 1999. In 2001, she became Principal Dancer at Kiev Ballet and then Principal Dancer at Staatsballett Berlin in 2007. Her repertoire with Staatsballett Berlin includes Vladimir Malakhov’s Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty, Nacho Duato's The Sleeping Beauty, Patrice Bart’s The Nutcracker, John Cranko’s Onegin and Romeo and Juliet, George Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux and Peter Schaufuss’ La Sylphide. Salenko is currently Guest Principal of The Royal Ballet where she debuted as Kitri in Carlos Acosta’s Don Quixote in 2013 and performed in Balanchine’s Diamond in 2017.

Salenko won the gold medal and the Diaghilev Award at the 2002 Serge Lifar International Ballet Competition. In 2004, she won the gold medal at ÖTR Contest Vienna, the gold medal and the Natalia Makarova Award at ARABESQUE Ballet Competition and third prize at Varna International Ballet Competition. The following year, she was awarded gold medals at the International Ballet Competitions in Helsinki and Nagoya. She won accolades in the Dance Open International Dance Festival in 2012, 2014 and 2016; Italian magazine Danza&Danza named Salenka "Best Female Dancer of the Year” in 2016; 2020 Kulturen Berlin Prize 
 

Salenko regularly performs as a guest artist around the world, more then 25 companies was as a principal guest like Royal ballet English National theater Hong Kong ballet Tokyo Ballet, Florence, Munich, Moscow, St Petersburg, Rome, Essen, Bratislava, Slovenia, Almaty and many more.

Iana was awarded the prestigious honorary title of “Berlin Chamber Dancer”.