The ballet dancer and a strict judge over the years of work in the show “Dances with Stars” managed to win the love of the public! Biography of Ekaterina Kukhar, the path to fame and personal life – read about all this in our material!
The prima ballerina of the National Opera in the project “Dances with the Stars” has established herself as a demanding and objective member of the jury, which attracted the attention of fans of the dance show. She is not afraid to speak her mind, firmly stands her ground, and demands professionalism from the participants. Ekaterina treats her work on the parquet with the same attitude! However, at the same time, she is fragile and graceful.
And if in the work the general portrait of Ekaterina Kukhar is clear, then what kind of Ekaterina will appear to us in her personal life? What difficulties did she have to go through in order to succeed in her business? Let to fame, personal life and interesting facts from the life of the famous dancer – in our material!
Ekaterina Kukhar – brief information
- Date of birth: January 18, 1982
- Zodiac sign: Capricorn
- Place of birth: Kiev
- Height: 160 cm
Childhood of Ekaterina Kuchar
Ekaterina Kukhar remembers little about her early childhood. She spent a lot of time with her great-grandmother – the artist recalls with a laugh that only she managed to feed the little “negochuha”. Katya flatly refused any vegetables and fruits, demanding mashed potatoes with doctor’s sausage and sauerkraut.
Katya went to kindergarten for exactly two days. The slender girl stood up for herself, beating the main bully and the bully in the group. According to the artist, she no longer remembers what the essence of the conflict was, but one thing is clear to her: it was almost the only time in her life when she stood up for herself. True, the girl was expelled from the kindergarten. Maybe it was a sign from above – after all, ballet appeared later in Catherine’s life.
Ballet is not only love but also lifelong hard work. Therefore, almost from infancy, Catherine’s life was inextricably linked with him.
The girl’s love for dancing appeared for about 5 years when her parents sent her to a special choreographic school.
“Dancing was a shared family dream”
Kuhar recalls in an interview.
Both grandmother and Katya’s mother saw her on stage. And one day, fate decided to help this dream come true: during an ordinary walk in the yard with her great-grandmother, Katya was noticed by a gymnastics coach. A small, thin transparency girl with good posture and hair below the waist (hair has also always been a special pride for women in Catherine’s family), at first glance the coach seemed very promising. In the same place, without leaving the playground, Katya was offered to demonstrate her flexibility and was invited to come to the gymnastics circle at the Palace of Pioneers.
However, my first acquaintance with the world of sports was not successful. At the starting lesson, the coach, without preparation, sat the girl on the twine to check the stretch. Here, no one was sentimental and did not listen to objections, and the baby burst into tears from pain and shock and declared at home: I will never go back there again. Fortunately, Ekaterina’s parents always listened sensitively to her words, so gymnastics really was done away with forever. And at the family council, it was decided to send the capable girl to ballet classes.
“And there is already beauty: white bows, swimsuits, skirts, ballet flats. This is completely different”,
– Ekaterina laughs, remembering her first steps into the world of dance.
Even at that time, the teachers drew attention to Katya’s good data and decided to include her in a special group. The little girl was interested in everything related to dancing, so it became her hobby. Each time she began to open up more and demonstrate her talent. After some time, Catherine became one of the best students.
Since childhood, Katya has been distinguished by miniature forms – the artist recalls that at the age of 9 she weighed 18 kg!
According to Kuhar, the whole family took part in the studies, for which she is incredibly grateful to her relatives to this day. For the sake of her beloved Katenka, Grandmother Lena quit her leadership position and got a job at the first vacant place in the choreographic school, if only it would be more convenient to transport and pick up the girl from classes. And after work, her beloved dad sewed Katya’s ballet flats and pointe shoes, because, the artist admits, due to the colossal loads, she usually did not have enough strength even for homework.
Since 1992, Ekaterina has been studying externally, and after 7 years she graduates from the Kyiv State Choreographic School. After that, in 1997, she became the winner of the competition and won a trip to Switzerland for practice. Katya showed herself so well that, studying only in her first year, she was offered to take part in the famous production of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, and she played the role of Masha in a ballet on a famous stage in Japan.
Catherine has had a tempered character since childhood, and she previously told reporters about this.
“Each profession has its own characteristics. If my parents had told me as a child: “All children have a lot of free time, and you, poor thing, have only rehearsals from morning to evening at a ballet school,” I would think about it with horror and after each rehearsal I would complain about life, regret would yourself so on.
And I had a different setting, that this is the norm. Therefore, I took this lifestyle and load for granted.
In 1999, Catherine received a diploma from the Academy of Arts.
Way to success
The excellent skills and talent of Ekaterina Kukhar were developed by such teachers as Valery Kovtun, Lyudmila Smorgacheva, and many others.
She was also invited to the troupe of the National Opera of Ukraine in 1999. Therefore, she managed to visit Europe, Asia, Canada, and the United States. There she played leading roles.
In 2012, Ekaterina received the title of Honored Artist of Ukraine.
2014 is a special year for Ekaterina Kuchar. This year she is invited to Paris and offered the role of Juliet in Shakespeare’s famous production of Romeo and Juliet. However, she does not come there herself, but with her partner Alexander Stoyanov, who played the role of Romeo. It is noteworthy that the hall was designed for 3700 seats, and this contributed to a real sensation!
The couple held 6 performances, and each of them was crowned with success in the creative circles of Paris.
In 2018, Kateryna Kukhar received a new award – the honorary title of People’s Artist of Ukraine.
The first marriage of Catherine Kuchar
At a very young age, Catherine got married. The ballerina speaks reluctantly about her first marriage. The husband, having graduated from the choreographic school, decided to go into business. The artist recalls that discord soon began in the family – they stopped understanding and hearing each other.
The loss of the first child also became a difficult stage in the relationship.
After returning to work, having learned that she was pregnant again, Catherine rethought her life in many ways. Being on the 7th month, she divorced her husband, so the son Timur was born already at the time when Catherine was alone. According to her, from the first days, Alexander Stoyanov, a partner, and close friend supported her. Soon the couple began an affair, so we can say that Alexander from the very beginning raised Timur as his own son.
After the divorce, the artist maintained a warm relationship with her former mother-in-law Galina Kukhar, an athlete and figure skating coach, she always perfectly understood and supported her daughter-in-law. Yes, and Galina does not have a soul in her grandson, so she often spends time with him. From the ex-husband, Catherine left only one thing for herself – a surname.
Ekaterina Kukhar and Alexander Stoyanov – a career in a duet
Their duo was formed in 2006. Their first joint performance was in the production of The Nutcracker in Ukraine.
However, a few months later they visited China with their performance. To date, this duet is one of the most popular and in-demand not only in Ukraine but also abroad.
In 2011, Katya and Alexander, on their own initiative, perform in Vladimir Malakhov’s charity gala concert. 2 years passed, and they are invited by Farah Ruzimatov in Japan to his gala concert. Gradually, their performances are gaining momentum and they are invited from all over the world because their concerts are always sold out.
Ekaterina spoke about the National Opera House of Ukraine:
“Our theater management creates the most comfortable conditions for us, goes to meet us in the formation of the repertoire and schedule. This gives the soloists the opportunity to go on personal tours abroad. By the way, this is important, since not all theaters give the artist the opportunity to tour. And our theater allows and supports us in this because in this way we popularize Ukraine and Ukrainian culture. Ukraine is not only embroidered shirts, excellent Ukrainian cuisine, Andriy Shevchenko and the Klitschko brothers but also Ukrainian ballet. Our ballet school is one of the strongest and most popular in the world. The Ukrainian ballet dancer is accepted with pleasure on any stage of the world, our performances are always sold out.”
