Victor Smirnov-Golovanov was born in 1934 in Moscow. He is a graduate of the famous Moscow School of choreography and he counts amongst his teachers such great names as Lavrovsky and Goleizovsky. He later became a soloist with the Bolshoi Ballet, where he appeared for more than 20 years. Between 1970 and 1989 he was Chief Ballet-Master with the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre.

In 1989 Victor formed Moscow City Ballet with the aim to promote the original ideas of the great 19th century choreographers.