Acclaimed Russian ballet artist Vladimir Shklyarov has tragically passed away after a fall from the fifth floor of a building on Saturday.
The Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, where Shklyarov held the prestigious title of principal dancer, confirmed the news of his untimely death.
“This is a huge loss for the entire Mariinsky Theatre team,” it said.
While Russian authorities have launched an investigation into Shklyarov’s death, the “preliminary cause” has been judged an accident, Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti reported.
“He died a natural death. It’s not a crime,” a source in the emergency services told RIA Novosti.
Shklyarov died two days before he was due to undergo complex spinal surgery and had been taking “serious painkillers” for some time, Russian media reported.
Diana Vishneva, a fellow principal dancer at the Mariinsky, said Shklyarov’s death is a “tragedy” for the ballet world.
“You were so loved by your audience. You were the favourite partner of many ballerinas,” she wrote in a tribute on Instagram.
Born in Leningrad — now St. Petersburg — Shklyarov studied at the prestigious Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet and graduated in 2003. He joined the Mariinsky Theatre the same year and has served as a principal dancer—the highest-ranking position in the company — since 2011.
In a career spanning more than two decades, Shklyarov starred in productions of “Swan Lake,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Romeo and Juliet” and “Don Quixote.” He also performed starring roles as a guest artist with companies outside Russia, including London’s Royal Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre in New York.
Throughout his illustrious career, Vladimir Shklyarov earned many prestigious honors, including the Léonide Massine International Prize in 2008. In 2020, he was recognised as an Honored Artist of Russia.
Following the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Shklyarov publicly expressed his support for peace.
“I am against the war in Ukraine! I am for the people, for a peaceful sky above our heads!” he was quoted as saying in a Facebook post by Alexei Ratmansky, a Russian-Ukrainian former ballet dancer.
Alexei Ratmansky, the former head of Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet, had been gathering anti-war sentiments from prominent voices in the ballet community.
Vladimir Shklyarov is survived by his wife, Maria Shirinkina, who is also a dancer with the Mariinsky, and their two children, a son and a daughter.