Mission Incognito – With choregrapher Vladimir Malakhov

Just imagine: instead of the amateur wedding singer, Rolando Villazón belts out the wedding aria to the gathered congregation. The everyday street musician on the corner turns out to be a violin virtuoso. What if the orchestra that consists of hobby musicians was suddenly thrown into tempo by one of the greatest conductors? Such imaginings become reality with Mission Incognito.

Vladimir Malakhov began his dance training at the age of four at a small ballet school and remained there until continuing his training at the school of the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. From age ten on, he was under the tutelage of Peter Pestov and upon graduation in 1986, he joined the Moscow Classical Ballet as the company's youngest principal dancer. In 1992, Malakhov joined the Vienna State Opera Ballet as a principal artist and the National Ballet of Canada in 1994. In the spring of 1995 he had his debut with the American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. Since that time, he has remained a principal dancer with ABT and has continued to dance principal roles in Vienna as well as the renowned Stuttgart Ballet. Malakhov also appeared quite often as a guest in Berlin where he has recently become Artistic director. His repertory encompasses a wide range of styles from classical ballets to the works of today's contemporary choreographers.

Along with performing at the world’s major dance venues, Mr. Malakhov has staged La Bayadere for Vienna State Ballet in 1999, Cinderella in 2004 and Sleeping Beauty in 2005 for Staatsballett Berlin. In 2010 he choreographed La Peri for Staatsballett Berlin. Acclaimed by the critics for his artistic lyricism, he won prestigious awards in his field, from competitions in Varna, Moscow and Paris. Japan's "Dance Magazine" named him the "best male dancer in the world" from 1992 to 1994.