Leonid Kozlov (born February 6, 1947, in Moscow, Soviet Union) is a former principal dancer of the Bolshoi and New York City Ballet.
[1] He later joined the Bolshoi company and became a principal dancer, performing lead roles in Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Giselle, Le Corsaire, The Stone Flower, Spartacus, The Sleeping Beauty, and La Bayadère.
He and Kozlova decided to defect together on September 16, 1979, when they walked out of a garage door at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles after a tour performance.
The mission of the company was to develop students into professional-level dancers and to bring awareness of art and culture to local communities.
In 2008, Kozlov staged the first Nutcracker production to be performed in Aruba, featuring dancers of KDI alongside several guest artists.