Was born in Tallinn. In 1992 graduated from the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet (class of Gennady Selyutsky) and joined the Mariinsky Theatre Ballet Company. In 1996, after winning the International Maya Ballet Competition in St Petersburg, he received principal dancer status. He became famous for his incredible technical virtuosity, bravura, and heroic dancing manner.

He took part in the premieres at the Mariinsky Theatre of G. Balanchine’s ballets Symphony in C to music by G. Bizet (soloist of part III) and Jewels (soloist of part II – Rubies to music by I. Stravinsky), Roland Petit’s ballet Le Jeune Homme et la Mort to music by J.S. Bach (Young Man) and took part in the world premieres of A. Ratmansky’s ballets Le Baiser de la fée by I. Stravinsky and A Poem of Ecstasy to music by A. Scriabin. Performed leading and title roles in ballets of classical and Soviet heritage. Pas de deux to music by P. Tchaikovsky (choreography by G. Balanchine) long remained the dancer’s calling card.

In 2000 as a principal dancer, he joined the Dutch National Ballet (Amsterdam), where his repertoire included ballets by F. Ashton, W. Forsythe, J. Robbins, H. van Manen, R. van Dantzig and several ballets by G. Balanchine.

In 2003, in the same position, he moved to the Royal Ballet in Covent Garden and danced the leading and title roles in ballets by N. de Valois, F. Ashton, K. MacMillan, P. Wright, J. Balanchine. He performed the main roles in the ballets The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake by P. Tchaikovsky. In 2010 he left the troupe and devoted himself to his career as a choreographer.

His first ballets, staged for his colleagues, artists of the Royal Ballet — Non-linear Interactions to music by Y. Katori and D. Scarlatti and Trip-Trac to music by D. Shostakovich — were shown in 2009 and 2010, respectively, as part of the workshop for young choreographers in the Linbury Studio.

In 2011-23 he was Artistic Director of the ballet troupe of the Yekaterinburg Opera and Ballet Theatre (since 2018, Ural Opera Ballet). In 2012, using the foundation of that theatre, he initiated the "Dance Platform", a project designed to provide a springboard for the realisation of creative ideas for young choreographers. In the same year, within the framework of the 2nd Ural Industrial Biennale of Contemporary Art, he implemented another unique project: he staged H2O for the ballet theatre artists on the shop floor of the Uraltransmash factory with the participation of factory workers.

Vyacheslav Samodurov quickly made people talk about himself as one of the most promising Russian choreographers. Since 2011, his performances and he himself have been regularly nominated for "The Golden Mask" and are often granted this high theatrical award.

He also took his first steps in the new field at the Bolshoi Theatre. It was here, as part of the Workshop of Young Choreographers, that the premiere of one of his first productions took place in 2006 — the choreographic number +_ 2 to music of G. F. Handel, in which Ekaterina Krysanova and Andrei Merkuriev performed.

He also held two personal exhibitions of photographs (London, 2008) Dynamics and Stillness and Body Architecture (St Petersburg, 2009).