Graduated from the Bolshoi Ballet School in 1986 (class of Pyotr Pestov).
Was a principal dancer with the National Opera of Ukraine, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (Canada) and the Danish Royal Ballet.
As a choreographer he has worked with the New York City Ballet (productions of Russian Seasons, Concerto DSCH and Namouna), the Opéra de Paris (Psyché), London’s Royal Ballet (24 Preludes), the Dutch National Ballet (Don Quixote after Petipa and Gorsky and Memories of a Dear Place), the San Francisco Ballet (Le Carnaval des animaux and From Foreign Lands), the Danish Royal Ballet (Turandot’s Dream, The Nutcracker, Anna Karenina and The Golden Cockerel), the Swedish Royal Ballet (The Firebird), the Australian Ballet (The Dance School), the National Ballet of Canada (Romeo and Juliet), the Miami City Ballet (Symphonic Dances) the National Opera of Ukraine (Le Baiser de la fée), the Opera of Georgia (Bizet Variations) and the International Ballet of Copenhagen (Flight to Budapest and Bolero). He has collaborated with numerous stars of the ballet world. For Mikhail Baryshnikov he staged Valse-Fantasie, for Nina Ananiashvili he staged the balletsCharms of Mannerism, Dreams of Japan and Leah, for Diana Vishneva he staged Pierrot Lunaire and for Wendy Whelan he staged Fandango.
He has staged productions in Helsinki, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Seattle, Philadelphia and Milan.
From 2004-2009 he was Artistic Director of the Bolshoi Ballet of Russia (Moscow).
Productions staged for the Bolshoi Theatre include The Bright Stream, The Bolt, Le Corsaire after Marius Petipa (together with Yuri Burlaka), Flames of Paris after motifs of the choreography of Vasily Vainonen, Lost Illusions, Jeu de cartes and Capriccio. For the Territory festival he staged the ballet Old Lady Falling Down with Bolshoi Theatre dancers.
Since 2009 he has been Artist in Residence with the American Ballet Theatre, where he has staged the ballets Shostakovich Trilogy (set to Symphony No 9, Chamber Symphony and Piano Concerto No 1), Dumbarton, Seven Sonatas, The Firebird, The Bright Stream and On the Dnieper.
He began to collaborate with the Mariinsky Theatre in 1998 on the initiative of Valery Gergiev and Makhar Vaziev. At the Mariinsky Theatre he has staged productions of the ballets Le Baiser de la fée, Le Poème de l’extase, Middle Duet, Cinderella, The Little Humpbacked Horse and Anna Karenina.
His awards include a Golden Mask, a Liberty Prize, a Kiev Pectoral, a prize from the Lifar Competition, the Benois Prize, a Dance Magazine prize, a British critics’ prize, a Bessie prize and a Shostakovich Prize among others. Knight of the Order of the Danish Flag. Honoured Artist of Ukraine and winner of the Diaghilev Competition in Moscow.