NCDA: Dance Instructors - Val Goncharov

Because he was a "weak, frail child," Mr. Goncharov's mother encouraged

him tp participate in sports and dance to build his strength. In 1974 at the

age of 11, he successfully competed with fourty other applicants for one

opening in the Kieu Ballet School. After graduation in 1982, five different

companies offered him positions, but he chose the Donetsk Ballet to be

closer to his parents' home. As a principal dancer with the Donetsk Opera

and ballet Theater from 1982 to 1992, Valery toured the United States four

times, danced at the Nervi International Ballet Festival in Genoa, Italy, and

completed numerous tours of Europe. He was also the medal of honor

winner at the Ukrainian International Ballet competition. In 1991, while

on a U.S. tour, he defected to America and eventually brought his wife

Irena and two children, Dimitri and Jenya from the Ukraine.