KIROV ACADEMY OF BALLET OF WASHINGTON, DC SIGNS FREDMANN AND KABANIAEV
Kirov Academy of Ballet of Washington, DC announced today that Martin Fredmann and
Nikolai Kabaniaev have joined the academy’s artistic faculty for the 2010-2011 school
year.
Fredmann, former Artistic Director of the Colorado Ballet and creator and director of
Japan Grand Prix, will assume the duties of Deputy Artistic Director. Fredmann is an
internationally respected teacher and choreographer who built the Colorado Ballet and
was at its helm for 19 years.
Kabaniaev, Co-Artistic Director and principal dancer of the Bay Area’s Diablo Ballet,
takes the position of senior boys’ teacher.
Both Fredmann and Kabaniaev have extensive backgrounds in Russian ballet. Both have
studied under Konstantine Chatilov at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg,
Russia. Fredmann was one of the very few Americans to have had this opportunity
during the Cold War.
After dancing with the Kirov Ballet for seven years in soloist and principal roles,
Kabanaiev joined the Oakland Ballet as a principal dancer in 1989, and was later one of
the founding members of the Diablo Ballet.
KAB opened in 1990 and was founded to train aspiring young dancers in a pedagogy
based on that of the Vaganova Ballet Academy and the performance aesthetic of The
Kirov Ballet (now the Maryinsky). Its founding director is Oleg Vinogradov, former
Artistic Director of the Kirov Ballet. KAB’s current Artistic Director is Marat Daukayev, a
former star of the Kirov Ballet and one of its most important coaches.
For more information, please contact:
Mary Catherine West
202-636-0629
west@kirovacademydc.org
