Igor Youskevitch (Russian: Игорь Юшкевич, Ukrainian: Ігор Юшкевич) (13 March 1912 – 13 June 1994) was a ballet dancer and a choreographer of Russian-Ukrainian origin, famous as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century, as a master of the classic style, e.g., in Afternoon of a Faun, and as a dance partner to Alicia Alonso. Born in the village of Pyriatin, Poltava Oblast, Ukraine (then part of Imperial Russia), Youskevitch was the son of a judge. The family fled the Russian Revolution and in 1920 settled in Belgrade. Youskevitch was educated in Belgrade and graduated with a degree in engineering from Belgrade University. He did not begin his ballet training until the age of twenty although prior to that he was active in a Slavic athletic organisation and received early training as a gymnast. In 1932, the Yugoslavian ballerina Zenia Grunt saw him at a tournament and persuaded him to take up dancing as a career. He came to dance relatively late in life, however, his talent led to rapid promotion, and in 1932 he made his first appearance on the Paris stage. He studied first with Belgrade teacher Elena Poliakova.