Mikhail Kaniskin was born in Moscow and trained at the Bolshoi Ballet School and the John Cranko Schule in Stuttgart. He danced as a principal dancer with Stuttgart Ballet until 2007 and with Staatsballett Berlin until 2020. His repertoire has included leading roles in works by John Cranko, Reid Anderson, John Neumeier, George Balanchine, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Nacho Duato , Marco Goecke, Mauro Bigonzetti and many others. He has appeared as a guest principal dancer in the United States, China, Japan, Italy, and Korea, as well as the with the Mariinsky Ballet, Rome State Opera Ballet, and Compañia Nacional de Danza (CND), Mexico and many others.

In 2019, he was appointed Artistic Advisor and international promoter of Compañia Nacional de Danza Mexico, and became the Artistic Director of the Sir Anton Dolin Foundation. He serves as co-founder of the Elisa Carrillo Cabrera Foundation A.C., has been Artistic Director of the annual International Dance Festival DANZATLAN since 2018, and serves as Artistic Director of the International Ballet Star Gala “Elisa and Friends.” He is a member of the Advisory Board of YAGP Europe, and presented the Youth Grand Prix Germany (YAGP) in Berlin 2021 at Admiral Palace Berlin as an exclusive representative.

He is an award winning teacher and coach currently based in Berlin.