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Video: 5 outstanding Russian ballerinas who have become a benchmark in world ballet
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Ballet is called an integral part of the art of our country. Russian ballet is considered the most authoritative and standard in the world. This review contains the success stories of five great Russian ballerinas, whom they still look up to.
Anna Pavlova
Outstanding Ballerina Anna Pavlova was born into a family far from art. The desire to dance appeared at the age of 8 after the girl saw the ballet performance "Sleeping Beauty". At the age of 10, Anna Pavlova was admitted to the Imperial Theater School, and after graduation - into the troupe of the Mariinsky Theater.
Curiously, the aspiring ballerina was not put in the corps de ballet, but immediately began to give her responsible roles in the productions. Anna Pavlova danced under the guidance of several choreographers, but the most successful and fruitful tandem, which had a fundamental influence on her style of performance, turned out to be with Mikhail Fokin.
Anna Pavlova supported the choreographer's bold ideas and readily agreed to experiments. The Dying Swan miniature, which later became the hallmark of Russian ballet, was almost impromptu. In this production, Fokine gave the ballerina more freedom, allowed her to independently feel the mood of The Swan and improvise. In one of the first reviews, the critic admired what he saw: “If it is possible for a ballerina on stage to imitate the movements of the noblest of birds, then this has been achieved: a swan in front of you ».
Galina Ulanova
The fate of Galina Ulanova was predetermined from the very beginning. The girl's mother worked as a ballet teacher, so Galina, even if she really wanted to, could not pass the ballet barre. Years of grueling training led to the fact that Galina Ulanova became the most titled artist of the Soviet Union.
After graduating from a choreographic college in 1928, Ulanova was admitted to the ballet troupe of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. From the very first performances, the young ballerina attracted the attention of audiences and critics. A year later, Ulanova was entrusted with performing the leading role of Odette-Odile in Swan Lake. Giselle is considered one of the ballerina's triumphant roles. Performing the scene of the heroine's madness, Galina Ulanova did it so soulfully and selflessly that even men in the hall could not hold back their tears.
Galina Ulanova reached unprecedented heights in the craftsmanship … She was imitated, the teachers of the leading ballet schools in the world demanded that students do the pas "like Ulanova." The famous ballerina is the only one in the world to whom monuments were erected during her lifetime.
Galina Ulanova danced on stage until she was 50. She was always strict and demanding of herself. Even in old age, the ballerina began every morning with classes and weighed 49 kg.
Olga Lepeshinskaya
For passionate temperament, sparkling technique and precision of movements Olga Lepeshinskaya nicknamed the "Dragonfly Jumping". The ballerina was born into a family of engineers. From early childhood, the girl literally raved about dancing, so her parents had no choice but to send her to a ballet school at the Bolshoi Theater.
Olga Lepeshinskaya easily coped with both the classics of ballet (Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty) and with modern productions (Red Poppy, The Flame of Paris.) During the Great Patriotic War, Lepeshinskaya fearlessly performed at the front, raising the battle the spirit of the soldiers.
Despite the fact that the ballerina was Stalin's favorite and had many awards, she was very demanding of herself. Already in old age, Olga Lepeshinskaya said that her choreography could not be called outstanding, but "natural technique and fiery temperament" made her inimitable.
Maya Plisetskaya
Maya Plisetskaya Is another outstanding ballerina, whose name is inscribed in golden letters in the history of Russian ballet. When the future artist was 12 years old, she was adopted by aunt Sulamith Messerer. Plisetskaya's father was shot, and her mother and her little brother were sent to Kazakhstan to a camp for the wives of traitors to the Motherland.
Aunt Plisetskaya was a ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater, so Maya also began to attend choreography classes. The girl achieved great success in this field and after graduating from college was accepted into the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater.
Inborn artistry, expressive plasticity, phenomenal jumps of Plisetskaya made her a prima ballerina. Maya Plisetskaya performed leading roles in all classical productions. She especially succeeded in tragic images. Also, the ballerina was not afraid of experiments in modern choreography.
After the ballerina was fired from the Bolshoi Theater in 1990, she did not despair and continued to give solo performances. Overflowing energy and incredible love for his profession allowed Plisetskaya to make her debut in the production of Ave Maya on her 70th birthday.
Lyudmila Semenyaka
Beautiful ballerina Lyudmila Semenyaka performed on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater when she was only 12 years old. Talented talent could not go unnoticed, so after a while Lyudmila Semenyaka was invited to the Bolshoi Theater. Galina Ulanova, who became her mentor, had a significant influence on the ballerina's work.
Semenyaka coped with any part so naturally and naturally that from the outside it seemed as if she was not making any effort, but simply enjoying the dance. In 1976, Lyudmila Ivanovna was awarded the Anna Pavlova Prize from the Paris Academy of Dance.
In the late 1990s, Lyudmila Semenyaka announced her retirement as a ballerina, but continued her activities as a teacher. Since 2002, Lyudmila Ivanovna has been a teacher-tutor at the Bolshoi Theater.
Mikhail Baryshnikov is another brilliant ballet dancer. He just mastered the skill of ballet in Russia, and most of his life he performed in the United States.
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