Yuri Vodolaga was born in Kiev, Ukraine where he graduated from the Kiev State Ballet Academy and joined the Kiev State Ballet Theatre. He later received his Ballet Master degree from the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia.  He has extensive teaching experience both in Russia and in the United States, where he has been a guest teacher with the San Francisco Ballet, Baton Rouge Ballet, Connecticut Ballet, Eglevsky American TheaterDance, Broadway Dance Center, and Peridance Center.  He has taught at Miami City Ballet and was the main guest teacher for five years at the Youth America Grand Prix competition in New York City.  He was the Artistic Director of the Greenwich Ballet Academy from 2010 to 2019.  Many of his students have studied at other prestigious ballet schools including the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, the Royal Ballet School and Ellison Ballet.  They perform in major ballet companies worldwide including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Miami City Ballet, the Mariinsky Theatre, Kiev State Ballet Theatre, the Mikhailovsky Theatre, the Bolshoi Theatre, the Royal Ballet, Paris State Opera Ballet, and Boston Ballet.