Artem Yachmennikov graduated from the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was the first soloist with the world famous Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, a soloist at The Mariinsky Theater (Kirov) in St.Petersburg and a principal dancer at the Dutch National Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. During his artistic career, he has danced all the leading roles in works by many of the twentieth century's master choreographers including George Balanchine, Natalia Makarova, Peter Wright, Hans van Manen, Alexei Ratmansky, Rudi van Dantzig, John Neumeier, William Forsythe, Francesco Ventriglia, Patrick de Bana, Aidar Akhmetov, Helgi Tomasson, Ted Brandsen and more. He partnered with the stars of ballet world including Uliana Lopatkina, Svetlana Zakharova, Anna Tsygankova, Maria Alexandrova, Igone de Jongh, Sofiane Sylve, Tan Yuanyuan, Larisa Leznina, Ilze Liepa, Ylia Makhalina and more. Yachmennikov’s repertoire includes numerous main roles in productions of “La Bayadere”, “La Sylphide”, “Swan Lake”, “The Sleeping Beauty”, “Giselle”, “Romeo & Juliet“, “Coppelia”, “Chopiniana”, “Le Corsaire”, “Don Quixote”, “Symphony in C”, “Serenade“, “Steptext “, “Sarcasmen”, “Adagio Hammerklavier”, “Black Cake”, “Kammerballett”, “Russian Seasons”, “The Flames of Paris”, “Scheherazade”, “The Firebird”, “Cleopatra”, “Ghost Ball”, “Fourteenth”, “The Nutcracker”. For his artistic accomplishments, he was invited as the guest of honor to attend the official ceremony with the Queen of Netherlands, Beatrix. Artem has also been invited to perform as guest star at the Italian franchise of Dancing With The Stars. Artem is the Artistic Director of We Dance Program, he is integral to the success of the student dancers who perform beside the pros in the Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White& Swan Lake shows!
While serving as the Founder and Artistic Director of Melbourne City Ballet Theatre, MCBT has produced two major productions The Sleeping Beauty (2018) and Swan Lake (2019) at the Maxwell C King Center for the Performing Arts in collaboration with the National Ballet of Odessa, Ukraine, which included 55 professional dancers from Ukraine, 100 dancers from the community of Melbourne, FL and 50 musicians from the Satellite Symphony Orchestra. In 2021 & 2022 Melbourne City Ballet Theatre has produced such legendary ballets as the Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and Cinderella at the Maxwell C King Center for the Performing Art, collaborating with the Classical Arts Entertainment. MCBT productions have received outstanding reviews described as “the highest quality” “the likes of which are seen in major cities around the world.” We have entertained over 6,000 people at the King Center for the Performing Arts alone. Both productions were groundbreaking for Brevard with many historical firsts and included some of the youngest dancers ever to have graced a professional stage seamlessly integrating with the corps de ballet. MCBT has received grant funding from the Brevard Cultural Alliance, The Space Coast Board of Tourism and from the state Florida Division of Cultural Affairs for the powerful vision for dance in Brevard.
As the Artistic Director of We Dance Program, Artem has auditioned over 5000 ballet students in 30+ studios across the United States over the years. Artem now serves as both: the Artistic Dictator of We Dance Program & producer of Classical Arts Entertainment, Inc, producing the Grand National Tour 2025 for the State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine.