Irek Mukhamedov (1960-). Russian-born British dancer, ballet master and director

Irek Mukhamedov trained at the Moscow Choreographic School (Bolshoi Ballet School), and first performed with the Moscow Classical Ballet from 1978 until he joined the Bolshoi Ballet in 1981. Initially, with his dramatic powers and inexhaustible technique, Mukhamedov was cast in the mold of a Soviet ballet hero, performing such roles as Yuri Grigorovich’s Spartacus , Ivan the Terrible , Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and Boris in The Golden Age , as well as Basilio in Don Quixote , Jean de Brienne in Raymonda , and Cyrano in Roland Petit’s Cyrano de Bergerac .

Mukhamedov left the Soviet Union in 1990 and joined The Royal Ballet, where he was to perform in a completely different style and repertoire. He had a particular relationship with the choreographer Kenneth MacMillan, for whom he created roles in Winter Dream ‘s and The Judas Tree , as well performing the leads in his Romeo and Juliet , Manon and, above all, Mayerling . With The Royal Ballet, Mukhamedov also danced the main classical roles in Giselle , Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, La Bayadère, Don Quixote an d Raymonda Act III ; Fredrick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée ; David Bintley’s Cyrano ; Mikhail Fokine’s Petrushka ; Bronislava Nijinska’s Les Biches ; and George Balanchine’s Apollo and Prodigal Son. He created roles in Twyla Tharp’s Mister Worldly-Wise , Ashley Page’s Fearful Symmetries , and William Tuckett’s The Turn of the Screw .

While dancing with The Royal Ballet, he founded Irek Mukhamedov and Company, and appeared with Kim Brandstrup’s Arc Dance Company in The Return of Don Juan and Othello . Mukhamedov retired from dancing in 2004 and has since become a ballet master and director of note. He is currently maître de ballet at the Paris Opéra Ballet, and has also coached for The Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, the Vienna State Ballet and the Norwegian National Ballet.

He was appointed OBE for services to dance in 2000.