Born in Russia in 1954. His career started at the age of 11 at the Choreographic School of Voronezh. After working as a ballet dancer at the Opera House of Ufa and at the Opera House of Odessa, he studied at the “Gitis State Institute of Arts in Moscow” where he graduated as Ballet Master and Master Choreographer with the highest honors in 1986. He held the position of Academic and Artistic Director at the “Choreographic School of Frounze”, in the former Soviet Union.

 

In 1987, he worked as Ballet Master and Regiseur for the Ballet Metropolitano de Caracas and Ballet Nacional de Caracas, directed by Vicente Nebrada, where he worked for more than ten years, teaching and coaching the principal dancers of the Company for their soloist classical roles. During his extensive career as a Choreographer and Ballet Master, Issaev has had the opportunity to work with  many  prestigious dancers  and directors such as Papa Beriozoff for Don Quixote, having Julio Bocca and Eleonora Cassano as soloists; Alla Sizova, Alla Osipenko, Tatiana Terekhova and Irina Kolpakova. He has also been invited as a guest Ballet Master by several companies such as Le Jeune Ballet de France, Ballet Nacional de España, Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal, Orlando Ballet among others. Until August of 2002 he held the position of Ballet Master at the Miami City Ballet School. As a Choreographer, he has mounted several ballets in Russia, the United States, Puerto Rico, Peru, Japan and Venezuela. Mr. Issaev was the recipient of the “New Choreographer Award” for his piece “El Encuentro” at the Dance Under the Stars Choreography Competition in Palm Desert, California. In June of 2005 Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico presented the premiere of Issaev’s work “Doctor Ouch!“, a ballet in two acts based on the story of Korney Chukovskiy with great success.

 

In 2004, Vladimir Issaev staged “Shostakovich Suites” for the Voronezh Choreographic School in Russia. An invitation from Prima Ballerina Altanay Assylmuratova, director of the Vaganova - Kirov School of Ballet in Saint Petersburg followed to stage a Ballet for the graduating students joining the Maryinsky (Kirov) Ballet Company. This choreography premiered in March of 2006 at the Maryinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Due to its success this choreographic work was presented again in June of 2006. In 2007, Mr. Issaev re-staged his very popular ballet “Chipollino” for Ballet  Concierto de Puerto Rico.

 

Vladimir Issaev belongs to the Artistic Advisory Council for the Classical Dance Alliance. Issaev is recipient of the Honorable Merit Diploma from the Terpsihora Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts of Dance of Saint Petersburg, Russia, in recognition for his outstanding performance enhancing the art of classical ballet on the Vaganova Style in the United States. He has also been awarded with the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts award as the most influential Ballet teacher.

 

Mr. Issaev was awarded 2009 Best Arts Educator of the State of Florida by the Florida Alliance for Arts Education. He has been Artistic Director of the International Ballet Competition in Caracas, Venezuela; Artistic Director of the Russian Ballet of South Africa and International Ballet Competition in Lima, Peru.  In January of 2011 his ballet Stone Flower was premiered in Nagoya, Japan with tremendous success and the greatest reviews. In 2013, two new ballets were premiered in Japan during the Aichi Trienale Festival and presented by the Michiko Matsumoto Ballet: Polovetsian Dances and the premiere of Firebird. In 2014 and 2015 Mr. Issaev has been invited to present his dancers and choreographies in Poland, Germany, Peru and most recently he had the honor to teach Master Classes at the Beijing Ballet Academy.

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Mr. Issaev is considered one of the top ballet masters and choreographers worldwide.