The phenomenon of Galina Ulanova: How a girl who did not like to dance and was afraid of the stage became one of the greatest ballerinas in the world

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

As a child, she was considered squeezed and not artistic, and later, when she became the star of world ballet, she was called a goddess and said that she had no equal. In communication, she always kept an invisible distance, but when she went on stage, it was impossible to look away from her. Galina Ulanova is perhaps the most mysterious of all the great ballerinas. A man of mystery, an unopened book and at the same time an ideal that no one has yet been able to surpass …

As a child, I hated ballet

Ulanova's mother danced at the Mariinsky Imperial Theater, and her father worked there as an assistant director. The girl saw how hard it was for her mother, what a hellish work it was, so she decided for herself that she would never do ballet herself. However, since Gali had good abilities, at the age of nine, her parents nevertheless sent her to the Petrograd Choreographic School. Galya did not like it there, even though her own mother was the teacher at that moment, and she constantly asked to be taken home. Ulanova was very shy and squeezed, and if the more talented and lively students grasped everything on the fly, then she had to learn each new movement for hours. In addition, times were difficult, the building of the school was poorly heated, the girls had to wear woolen sweaters, or even fur coats.

Galina constantly told her parents that she wanted to become not a ballerina, but a sailor. But gradually she got involved in her studies and decided that since she was destined to study ballet, she would try to become one of the best.

She was considered unemotional

Galina grew up in an intelligent family and from childhood she was used to not showing her emotions. Therefore, many teachers (even her own mother) considered Galina cold and “not alive”. Subjects related to acting were not given to her. Even the great and experienced Agrippina Vaganova, with whom Galina studied in high school, at first doubted her abilities.

However, gradually the student's movements became more and more emotional. At the prom she danced the Sylphide in Chopiniana. Everyone in the hall was simply amazed: at first glance it was clear that this was no longer an ugly duckling, but a future star of world ballet. The 18-year-old girl was immediately invited to the Mariinsky Theater.

She was stage frightened to death at first

At the very beginning of her ballet career, young Ulanova was very shy to go on stage and was afraid even to look into the auditorium. Once one of the ballerina's friends advised her not to pay attention to the audience, but to look over the people. It worked. During the dance, Galina completely went into her image and into the dance, and her gaze was always aloof and unearthly. Connoisseurs of ballet later noticed more than once that no other ballerina in the world has such an extraordinary look.

Galina Ulanova was Stalin's favorite

In 1934, Ulanova's performance was seen by Klim Voroshilov. He was impressed, and the troupe was invited to perform in Moscow. And after a while, Stalin himself decided to visit the Mariinsky Theater. The ballet "Esmeralda" was going on, Ulanova was dancing to Diana and according to the script she had to direct the bow into the hall, pulling an imaginary arrow, moreover, just in the direction of the side box. And there the leader was just sitting … Either her decisiveness conquered Stalin, or the very brilliant performance, but soon after the performance he invited the artists to the Kremlin. At an official event, he demanded that Ulanova be seated next to him. After this incident, the ballerina was informed that she was being transferred to work in Moscow. She was very fond of her hometown and the Mariinsky, but did not dare to contradict the leader. Ulanova was the favorite of the Kremlin and four times became a laureate of the Stalin Prize.

Modesty and rationality in everything

Galina Ulanova, although she was with her husband several times, did not like to talk about her feelings and personal life. She decided to tell her experiences only to her personal diaries. However, when she was already over 80, she suddenly burned all the records. It would seem strange if you did not know her character. The thing is that Ulanova simply did not want the details of her life and hidden thoughts after her death to be made public and give rise to gossip. “I am a very rational person. But what can I do, this is my profession,”she admitted herself.

Not only in childhood, but throughout her life, Ulanova was very restrained. No one had ever seen her cry or laugh out loud. Her face was always calm, and her gaze was full of dignity. And if she smiled, it was a subtle smile, for which she was compared to La Gioconda. “The most comfortable state for me is loneliness,” said the great ballerina. - But if someone comes up to me and starts a conversation, I will talk with pleasure. Especially if the conversation is about the theater.

By the way, she treated ballet without enthusiastic romanticism. This was the main work of her life, which had to be done perfectly - that's all.

As contemporaries recall, Galina was not a very good orator - she did not know how, and did not like to speak beautifully. It was not easy for the students in the class to understand what the teacher requires if she tried to explain it in words. Ulanova learned much more clearly to express her thought with the help of movements. But when she began to dance, the interlocutor understood absolutely everything and looked at her as if spellbound.

Strictness to yourself and others

Ulanova always loved strict discipline in everything and during the years of her teaching career she was an extremely demanding teacher. At the same time, she spoke very quietly and briefly, so deathly silence fell immediately in the hall. Listening to her, the students were extremely attentive and concentrated so as not to miss a single word.

Ulanova was just as demanding of herself. As a ballerina, she brought every movement of her heroine to perfection, so all her dances were perfect, the images were thought out in advance to the smallest detail. But even in old age, having finished her career as a performer, she continued to take care of herself. Ulanova did physical exercises every morning for an hour, or even longer (including repeating ballet steps), because she wanted to always be in perfect shape. And, I must say, she succeeded - until the very last days, her weight remained unchanged - about 50 kg.

If Galina Ulanova was the most mysterious and unapproachable star of world ballet, then the legendary ballerina Maya Plisetskaya can be called style icon.