BERLINO Following her performance as Giselle in the production of the same name, Iana Salenko, Principal Dancer of the Staatsballett Berlin, will be honored with the honorary title Berlin Chamber Dancer on March 17, 2024. Senator for Culture and Social Cohesion Joe Chialo will present the award, recognizing her exceptional artistic achievements.

«On behalf of the Berlin Senate, as well as personally, I would like to thank Iana Salenko for the many wonderful and magnificent ballet evenings she has provided for her audience. I thank her for her connection to our city and her commitment on so many levels. Since the beginning of the Russian attack on her homeland, Ukraine, Iana Salenko, who was born in Berlin's partner city of Kyiv, has been extraordinarily dedicated to the needs of war victims and artists in Ukraine. With her ballet gala 'Ballet for Live', she supports needy children in Ukraine. My gratitude is combined with recognition and respect for the achievements of this exceptional artist.»

Iana Salenko herself is delighted with the recognition, which she now shares with her husband Marian Walter, who has also received this award.

"I feel very honored to receive this German honorary title - said Salenko. And I am proud that my husband Marian and I are currently the only chamber dancer couple. The award inspires me to reach new heights in my career. I am looking forward to more exciting dance moments."

The exceptional artist impresses with outstanding technique at the highest international level, complemented by a great joy of playing. Throughout her career, she embodied leading roles in the most important classical productions such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, La Bayadère, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Onegin, Giselle, La Esmeralda, La Péri and Cinderella. She dances choreographies by renowned choreographers such as Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Auguste Bournonville, John Cranko, Pierre Lacotte, Marius Petipa and Anton Dolin. In personal collaborations, she was able to bring her interpretation to works by Patrice Bart, Yuri Burlaka/Vasily Medvedev, Nacho Duato, Boris Eifman, Marcia Haydée, Giorgio Madia, Vladimir Malakhov, Alexei Ratmansky, Peter Schaufuss, Heinz Spoerli, Christian Spuck and Víctor Ullate.

Iana Salenko completed her ballet training at the Pisarev Ballet School in Donetsk, where she also received her first engagement. In 2002, she became a First Soloist at the Ukrainian National Opera in Kiev. After meeting her husband Marian Walter, she joined the State Ballet Berlin as a Demi-Soloist, where she was promoted to Soloist in 2006 and First Soloist in 2007. Since then, she has danced leading roles especially in classical productions and received invitations for guest appearances in over 20 companies worldwide. From 2013 to 2017, she was a Principal Guest at the Royal Ballet in London. Since 2022, she has been committed to her home country, Ukraine, by founding the annual charity gala Ballet for Life by Iana Salenko.

The title Berliner Kammertänzer*in has been awarded only to Oliver Matz (1995), Raffaela Renzi (1995), Gregor Seyffert (1999), Vladmimir Malakhov (2014), Michael Banzhaf (2017), Polina Semionova (2017) and Marian Walter (2018). The rare honorary title is awarded by the Berlin Senate for outstanding artistic achievements and a minimum of five years of uninterrupted affiliation with a theater.