Born in St. Petersburg, Mikhail Ilyin is a graduate of Vaganova Ballet Academy in 1998 with a BA in Arts. In 1999, he joined the Boston Ballet for two years, then Miami City Ballet where he became principal in 2003. Mikhail joined American Ballet Theatre in January 2008. His repertoire includes leading roles in "Swan Lake", "Paquita", "Stars and Stripes", "Sonatine", "The Afternoon of the Faun", "Ballet Imperial", "The Reassuring Effects of Form and Poetry", "Symphony in C" ( I, III and IV movements), "Giggling Rapids" (A. Ailey), "Nine Sinatra Suite", "Apollo", "Theme and Variations", "Allegro Brilliante", "Le Corsaire", "Coppelia", "Nutcracker", "Giselle", "Ballo della Regina", "Glinka pas de trois", "Dances at the Gathering", "Donizetti Variations", "Prodigal Son", "La Source", "Western Symphony"( I and III); “In the Upper Room”, "Rabbit and Rogue" (T. Tharp), "Etudes" (H. Lander) and many others. Mikhail won the Gold medal at the IV "Vaganova-Prix" International Ballet Competition (1998), awarded a diploma at the 8th Paris International Dance Competition (1998), won the highest awarded prize - Silver medal at the VI New York International Ballet Competition (2000), and won the Bronze medal at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi (2002). Mikhail is an Artist in Residence with Ballet Mississippi. In 2005, he was chosen by Dance Magazine as one of the “to watch” dancers of today. Currently, Mikhail is a faculty member at the ABT's JKO, the French Academy of Classical Ballet as well as guest teaching classes and workshops around NYC. He has taught, staged, and choreographed across the United States. Mikhail is fully certified with all the levels of ABT's National Training Curriculum Pedagogy Program and the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education (a 4-year Professional Training Program in Awareness Through Movement and Functional Integration).