Sergei Popov started dancing at the age of 6 with a Russian folk dancing ensemble in Saint-Petersburg. At the age of  9 he started his education at the Vaganova Russian Ballet Academy where later he got his diploma as professional dancer, as well as his Master degree as ballet teacher. He was known as talented and  hardworking student. His main teachers at the Academy were famous dancers from the Mariinsky Theatre G.Selutsky, V.Tsvetkov, B.Bregvadze, A.Asylmuratova, K.Zaklinsky and others.

Popov graduated with the highest marks in 2000 and was immediately invited to join the Mariinsky Theatre. During those years he has performed many solo parts in the ballet repertoire including Romeo in “Romeo and Juliet” (L. Lavrovsky),  Prince in “The Nutcracker” (V. Vainonen), Apollo in “Apollo”( G. Balanchine), Poet in Chopiniana (M. Fokine/ A. Vaganova), Ali in ”Le Corsaire”(M.Petipa), Duet in “In the night”(J. Robbins) and many others.

In 2009, Popov accepted an invitation from the choreographer and director K. Pastor to join the Polish National Ballet as a Principal dancer. Pastor was inspired by his talent as an artist and they collaborated to create many interesting and impressive roles like New Orpheus in “Kurt Weill”, First Aria in “Light and Shadow, Spirit in “And the rain will pass…”, Rivalen in ”Tristan” and  others.

He also had a chance to work with many famous choreographers and to acquire new experience which helped him develop himself completely and discover new areas of his talent. This period of his career was very special and important to him. His repertoire in this company includes Solor in “La Bayadere”( Makarova), Prince Siegfried in “Swan Lake”( Irek Mukhamedov), Chopin in “Chopin, The Romantic artist”(Patrice Bart), Prince in “Cinderella”( F. Ashton), Theseus-Oberon in “A Midsummer Nights Dream” (John Neumeier), Hamlet in “Hamlet” which was created specially for Popov by Jacek Tyski and others.

In 2014 he joined The Finnish National Ballet as a Principal dancer. After few years, he was promoted as a Lead Principal dancer, the highest position in the ballet rank. He is currently dancing with the Finnish company and performing all the leading roles in the ballet repertoire. During this period with the FNB he has been dancing roles in the classical ballets like  Albrecht in “Giselle”(Coralli, Perrot, Petitpa), Prince Siegfried in “Swan Lake”( Kenneth Greve), as well as modern and contemporary repertoire: Peer Gynt in “Peer Gynt”( Heinz Spoerli), Kai in “Snow Queen”( Kenneth Greve), Lensky in “Onegin”(John Cranko), Prince in “The Nutcracker”( Wayne Eagling),Prince Desire in “Sleeping Beauty” (Javier Torres), Manon Bedroom pas de deux (Kenneth MacMillan), Mazurka in “Suite en Blanc”( Serge Lifar), Prince in “Little Mermaid”( Kenneth Greve),and many others.

Sergei is often invited as a guest principal dancer to take part in Galas and to perform with ballet companies in Russia and Europe.

During his career, he has also been interested in teaching ballet and sharing his knowledge. After getting his Master’s Degree as a ballet teacher from the Vaganova Academy he was invited to teach classes in the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet and in many private schools in America and Europe.

Sergei Popov is a true master of ballet who would love to share his experience with professional dancers and with those who love classical ballet.