Leonid Kozlov

Leonid Kozlov (born 1947 in Moscow, Russia) is a former principal dancer of the Bolshoi and New York City Ballet. He is also a choreographer, the founder and owner of Kozlov Dance International (KDI) and Youth Dance Festival of New Jersey.

Kozlov started his dance career by training at the Bolshoi Ballet School at age 12. He later joined the Bolshoi company and became a principal dancer with performances in Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Giselle, Le Corsaire, The Stone Flower, Spartacus, The Sleeping Beauty, and La Bayadère.

Kozlov met his former wife, Valentina Kozlova - an apprentice, in 1973 at the ballet Paquita during Bolshoi's tour in America. They married later that year. He and Kozlova decided to defect together on September 16, 1979, when they walked out of a garage door at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. After asylum was granted on September 17, 1979, they started their career in the United States as guest artists by performing in Britain, South America, Australia and across North America. With those international tours, Kozlov had opportunities to work with famous choreographers including George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, George Abbott, Glen Tetley, and Alvin Ailey.