Maria Yakovleva named Étoile of Hungarian National Ballet

The Hungarian National Ballet named Principal Maria Yakovleva Étoile for the 2025-2026 season, the company said in a news release on 19th June 2025.

Ballet director Tamás Solymosi delivered the news on stage during the curtain call of La Bayadere on 15th June in a surprise to Yakovleva, who danced Nikiya. Receiving the title of Étoile was the highest honour in the Budapest-based company, the news release said.

Yakovleva was born in Saint Petersburg in Russia and trained at the Vaganova Academy. After dancing with the Mariinsky Theater in Russia and the Wiener Staatsballett (Vienna State Ballet) in Austria, she joined the Hungarian National Ballet in 2022 as a Principal.

Congratulations!