Alla Vladimirovna Duhova (; born 29 November 1966) is a Russian

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

. She is best known for establishing the

dance troupe A dance troupe or dance company is a group of dancers and associated personnel who work together to perform dances as a sport, spectacle or entertainment. There are many different types of dance companies, often working in different list of dance ...

Career

Alla Duhova was born in the village of in what is now Perm region. However, Duhova spent her childhood in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

as her family moved there soon after her birth. She has been dancing since the age of 11 when she joined

folk dance A folk dance is a dance that reflects the life of the people of a certain country or region. Not all ethnic dances are folk dances. For example, Ritual, ritual dances or dances of ritual origin are not considered to be folk dances. Ritual dances ...

ensemble ''Ivushka''. For a brief time she worked at

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

. In the early 1980s she took part in female dance group known as ''Experiment''. It was among the first to perform

breakdance Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consists mainly ...

in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The female group of ballet dancers from Riga merged in March 1987 with male break dancers from

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

(Saint Petersburg), and took up the name . Duhova was 19 years old when she managed to mix the different styles of dance. Todes soon moved to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. In 2015 Duhova appeared in jury of a Channel One TV-show Танцуй! (Dance!). She has also appeared on 17 May 2016 in a jury for a beauty competition for the Cultural Center for Arts of the National Aviation University in Ukraine. Duhova has her own clothing brand. Duhova has been awarded by president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

for her work. On 8 March 2001 she was among 15 women to be awarded in

by Putin.

Todes ballet

is a Russian

contemporary ballet Contemporary ballet is a dance genre that incorporates elements of classical ballet and modern dance. It employs classical ballet technique and in many cases classical pointe technique as well, but allows a greater range of movement of the upper ...

, and a ballet style. It has been named after a death spiral, which is an element performed in

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

. The group has been growing since the 1990s when there were around 150 dancers involved. there were 35,000 students in approximately 90 schools involved with the ballet style. The ballet style is also taught in Latvia. Todes has been awarded at various international dance festivals.

Personal life

Duhova has kept her personal life mostly private. She has married for a third time, and has two sons from previous marriages.

References

External links

Official website of Todes
*
Alla Duhova
at the

Channel One Russia Channel One ( rus, Первый канал, r=Pervý kanal, p=ˈpʲervɨj kɐˈnal, t=First Channel) is a Russian Television in Russia, federal television channel. Its headquarters are located at Ostankino Technical Center near the Ostankino To ...

Todes.ru
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duhova, Alla Russian choreographers Russian women choreographers Russian Academy of Theatre Arts alumni 1966 births Living people

Career

Todes ballet

Personal life

See also

References

Further reading

External links