Zenaida Yanowsky (1975–). French-born Spanish ballerina, teacher and répétiteur

Zenaida Yanowsky was born into a family of dancers (her father and mother are Anatol Yanowsky and Carmen Robles, her brother Yuri Yanowsky and her sister Nadia Yanowsky). She trained with her parents and won a silver medal at the Varna International Ballet Competition in 1991. Yanowsky joined the Paris Opéra Ballet that same year before transferring to The Royal Ballet in 1994. Tall, with a strong technique and a beautiful face, she quickly proved herself to be an extremely versatile artist with the company and danced many leading roles. In the classics she took the ballerina roles in The Nutcracker, Raymonda Act III, La Bayadère (as Nikiya and Gamzatti), Giselle (as Myrtha), The Sleeping Beauty (as the Lilac Fairy and Carabosse) and was the leading interpreter of her generation of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. Yanowsky also danced roles in Frederick Ashton’s Sylvia, A Month in the Country, Enigma Variations, A Wedding Bouquet, Illuminations, La Valse, The Dream, Marguerite and Armand and Monotones; Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon, Mayerling, Anastasia, The Rite of Spring, Concerto, The Invitation, Las Hermanas, and My Brother, My Sisters; Bronislava Nijinska’s Les Biches and Les Noces; Vaslav Nijinsky’s L’Après-midi d’un faune; George Balanchine’s Prodigal Son, Apollo, Jewels, Agon, Symphony in C, Serenade, The Four Temperaments, Ballet Imperial and Stravinsky Violin Concerto; William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated and The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude; Mark Morris’ Gong; Christopher Wheeldon’s Tryst; Andrée Howard’s La Fête étrange; Ninette de Valois’ Checkmate; and Jerome Robbins’ In the Night. She created roles in Ashley Page’s Fearful Symmetries and Sawdust and Tinsel; Twyla Tharp’s Mister Worldly-Wise; William Tuckett’s Turn of the Screw, The Crucible, Proverb, The Seven Deadly Sins and Elizabeth; Christopher Bruce’s Three Songs – Two Voices; Wheeldon’s DGV: Danse à grande Vitesse, Electric Counterpoint, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Winter’s Tale and After the Rain; Alexei Ratmansky’s 24 Preludes; Edwaard Liang’s Sight Unseen; and Liam Scarlett’s Symphonic Dances. Since retiring from dancing, Yanowsky has become a teacher and coach, most notably at The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and The Royal Ballet School.