Mariinsky Ballet

Mariinsky Ballet
General Information
Name	Mariinsky Ballet
Previous Names	Imperial Russian Ballet The Soviet Ballet Kirov Ballet
Year Founded	Approx. 1740
Principal venue	Mariinsky Theatre 1 Theatre Square St Petersburg  Russia
Website	www.mariinsky.ru/en
Artistic Staff
Artistic Director	Valery Gergiev (Mariinsky Theatre)
Deputy Director	Yury Fateyev Tatiana Bessarabova (assistant)
Reserve Troupe Director	Andrei Bugaev
Other
Parent Company	Mariinsky Theatre
Associate Schools	Vaganova Ballet Academy
Formation	Principal First Soloist Second Soloist Principal Character Artist Coryphee Corps de Ballet Reserve Troup

The Mariinsky Ballet is a classical ballet company based at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's leading ballet companies. Internationally, the Mariinsky Ballet is most commonly known by its former Soviet name the Kirov Ballet, a title which is still used by the company when touring. The Mariinsky Ballet is the parent company of the Vaganova Ballet Academy, a leading international ballet school.

History

Carlotta Brianza and Pavel Gerdt of the Imperial Ballet as Princess Aurora and Prince Desire in the 1890 premiere of the Sleeping Beauty.

The Mariinsky Ballet was founded in the 1740s, following the formation of the first Russian dance school in 1738.

The Imperial Theatre School as it was originally known, was established on 4 May 1738, at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. It would become the predecessor of today's Vaganova Ballet Academy. The school's founder director was the French ballet master and teacher Jean-Baptiste Landé and the purpose of creating the school was to train young dancers to form the first Russian ballet company. The first group of students included twelve boys and twelve girls, who later went on to form what would become the predecessor of today's Mariinsky Ballet.

Very little information exists from the formative years of the ballet company, however it is known that both the school and the ballet company were linked by name, becoming the Imperial Ballet School and Imperial Russian Ballet, names that continued to be used until the abolishment of Imperial rule. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Imperial Russian Ballet soon rose to prominence and would employ some of the most influential and famous names in ballet history including Charles Didelot, Marie Taglioni, Christian Johansson, Enrico Cecchetti, Jules Perrot, Fanny Cerrito and Carlotta Grisi.

Following the Russian Revolution, the Soviet government decided that the ballet school and company were unwanted symbols of the tsarist regime and went on to close them both. The ballet company was the first to be re-established, becoming known as the Soviet Ballet, with the school re-opening later as the Leningrad State Choreographic School, both remaining in their previous locations.

Following the assassination of the Bolshevik revolutionary Sergey Kirov in 1934, the then Soviet Ballet, was renamed the Kirov Ballet a name which is most commonly used to identify the company to this day. After the end of communist rule, both the ballet company and opera company at the Mariinsky Theatre were linked to the theatre by name, becoming the Mariinsky Ballet and Mariinsky Opera and both companies are run by the theatre itself. Throughout its history, the company has been based at the Mariinsky Theatre, which was originally known as the Bolshoi Kameny Theatre, before it was demolished to be replaced by the existing theatre. This is not to be confused with the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, which is the home of the Bolshoi Ballet.

Despite later name changes and pressures of the Russian revolution, the present day Mariinsky Ballet is still linked to the school, which is now known as the Vaganova Ballet Academy.

Today

Kirov Ballet logo used by Victor Hachhauser, promoting the Mariinsky Ballet in London

The Mariinsky Ballet is today recognised as one of the world's greatest ballet companies, hiring over 200 dancers, including a reserve troupe and character artists. The Director of the Mariinsky Ballet is Yuri Fateyev.

Being modelled on other leading opera/ballet theatres such as the Royal Opera House, London and La Scala, Milan, both the Mariinsky Ballet and Mariinsky Opera came under the management of the Mariinsky Theatre itself, with Valery Gergiev as Artistic Director. He is also the Director of the opera company. Both companies operate as separate units.

Repertoire

Apollo Aria Suspended Ballet Imperial Bedbug, The Carnaval Cinderella Come In! Chopiniana Don Quixote Du Cote de chez Swan Etudes Firebird, The Forsythe at the Mariinsky Fountain of Bakhchisarai, The

Four Temperaments, The Giselle Glass Heart Golden Age, The Jewels La Bayadère La Sylphide La Valse Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme Le Corsaire Le Reveil de Flore Le Sacre du Printemps Le Spectre de la Rose Legend of Love, The

Leningrad Symphony Les Noces Magic Nut, The Meek One, The Metaphysics Middle Duet Nutcracker, The Ondine Overcoat after Gogol Paquita Petrouchka Polovtsian Dances Prodigal Son Raymonda

Reverence Ring, The Romeo and Juliet Schéhérazade Serenade Sleeping Beauty, The Swan, The Swan Lake Symphony in C Three Ballets of John Neumeier Tchaikovsky Pas de deux Theme and Variations Wie der Alte Leiermann Young Lady and the Hooligan, The

Dancers

• Source: ^[1][2]

Principals

Yevgeny Ivanchenko Igor Kolb Danila Korsuntsev Ulyana Lopatkina

Yulia Makhalina Denis Matvienko Irma Nioradze Daria Pavlenko

Vladimir Shklyarov Alina Somova Viktoria Tereshkina Diana Vishneva

Igor Zelensky

First Soloists

Andrei Batalov Maya Dumchenko Irina Golub Sofia Gumerova (Lazutkina)

Anastasia Kolegova Yekaterina Kondaurova Anton Korsakov Ilya Kuznetsov

Anastasia Matvienko Olesya Novikova Evgenia Obraztsova Yekaterina Osmolkina

Alexander Sergeyev Nikita Shcheglov Irina Zhelonkina

Second Soloists

Timur Askerov Ruben Bobovnikov Nadezhda Gonchar Alexandra Iosifidi Andrei Ivanov

Yulia Kasenkova Anton Pimonov Yana Selina Tatiana Serova Maria Shirinkina

Yuri Smekalov Filipp Stepin Alexei Timofeyev Tatiana Tkachenko Andrei Yermakov

Elena Yevseyeva Konstantin Zverev Maxim Zyuzin

Principal Character Artists

Tatiana Amosova Islom Baimuradov Elena Bazhenova

Alexandra Gronskaya Lira Khuslamova Soslan Kulaev

Vladimir Ponomarev Polina Rassadina Roman Skripkin

Yulia Smirnova (Slivkina) Pyotr Stasyunas Andrei Yakovlev

Coryphees

Elena Androsova Tatyana Bazhitova Yelizaveta Cheprasova Elena Chmil Yevgenia Dolmatova Xenia Dubrovina Denis Firsov

Elena Firsova (Vasyukovich) Karen Ioannisyan Svetlana Ivanova Maxim Khrebtov Anna Lavrinenko Valeria Martynyuk Fyodor Murashov

Alexei Nedviga Xenia Ostreikovskaya Alexander Parish Anastasia Petushkova Grigory Popov Dmitry Pykhachov Kirill Safin

Sergei Salikov Vasily Shcherbakov Oxana Skorik Vasily Tkachenko Daria Vasnetsova

Reserve troupe

Elena Actrokhan Maria Barkhatova Timofei Belov Alfred Belyaev Andrei Berezovsky Salikh Bikchurin Natalia Bolshakova Maxim Bystrov

Kirill Chistyakov Yekaterina Devichinskaya Sergei Dmitriev Maria Doroshenko Alexander Fyodorov Tatiana Goryushkina Yulia Ivanova

Larisa Kazakova Igor Khvatov Alexandra Lebedeva Daria Lomako German Pravotorkhov Galina Rusina Sergei Selimagin

Yelizaveta Shamatrina Olga Shengelia Oxana Solovieva Daniil Starkov Alexander Tsvetkov Anastasia Yemets Maxim Zubarev

Marius Petipa

For a number of years, Marius Petipa was the ballet master of the Imperial Russian Ballet. One of the most famous names in ballet history, Petipa was the choreographer of some of the best known classical ballets including:

• Giselle
• Swan Lake
• Le Corsaire
• Raymonda
• The Nutcracker
• La Bayadère
• Don Quixote
• Harlequinade
• The Sleeping Beauty

Notable dancers

Altynai Asylmuratova Mikhail Baryshnikov Natalia Dudinskaya Eva Evdokimova (guest) Michel Fokine Pavel Gerdt Yury Grigorovich Avdotia Istomina

Tamara Karsavina Igor Kolb Theodore Kosloff Mathilde Kschessinska Ninel Kurgapkina Pierina Legnani Ulyana Lopatkina Natalia Makarova

Varvara P. Mey Galina Mezentseva Vaslav Nijinsky Rudolf Nureyev Alla Osipenko Anna Pavlova Olga Preobrajenska Marina Semyonova

Konstantin Sergeyev Alla Sizova Yuri Soloviev Olga Spessivtzeva Galina Ulanova Diana Vishneva Svetlana Zakharova

References

1. ^ http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/company/ballet/troupe/
2. ^ http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/company/ballet/reserve/

Ballet portal

External links

• Mariinsky Ballet company website
• Additional Information/Pictures about the Mariinsky-Kirov Ballet
• More information and interviews from the Kirov Ballet
• Winston, Rory (2008-04-15). "Dance Review: The Kirov Ballet". New York Resident. http://74.54.115.114/node/1255. Retrieved 2008-10-04. 
• NY Times article by Lawrence van Gelder, March 25, 2008
• Kennedy Center: Information about Mariinsky Ballet accessed 4 October 2008