Vaganova Ballet Academy

The Vaganova Ballet Academy is probably the most famous and influential classical ballet school in the world. It has also been known as the Imperial Ballet School and the Leningrad State Choreographic Institute. There are other variations of the name, however "Vaganova Ballet Academy" is the official title used in English speaking countries.

Established in 1738, the academy is based in St. Petersburg, Russia and is named after the renowned pedagogue Agrippina Vaganova, who cultivated the method of classical ballet training that has been taught at the school since the late 1920s. Graduates of the school include some of the most famous ballet dancers, choreographers and teachers in history and many of the worlds leading ballet schools have adopted elements of the Vaganova method into their own training.

The "Vaganova Ballet Academy" is the associate school of the "Mariinsky Ballet", one of the Worlds leading ballet companies, although students of the school are successful in achieving employment with ballet and contemporary companies worldwide, such as the Bolshoi Ballet, The Royal Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.

History

The school was established as the "Imperial Theatre School" by decree of the Empress Anna on 4 May, 1738 with the French Ballet Master Jean-Baptiste Lande as its director. The first classes occupied empty rooms in the Winter Palace in St Petersburg and the first students were twelve boys and twelve girls. The purpose of the school was to form Russia's first professional dance company, which lead to the formation of the "Imperial Russian Ballet", the school becoming known as the "Imperial Ballet School". The "Imperial Russian Ballet" is the direct predecessor of today's " [Mariinsky Ballet| Mariinsky Ballet", which remains one of the worlds leading ballet companies to this day, with the Vaganova Academy as its associate school.

Nearly all the early teachers at the school were from Western Europe, including Franz Hilferding and Giovanni Canzianni. The first Russian teacher to join the school was Ivan Valberg. After the spread of ballet in Europe, the development of the school was influenced by a number of other teachers and methods, including Christian Johannson, a student of August Bournonville, and the Italian methods of Enrico Cecchetti, Pierina Legnani and Carlotta Brianza. Other renowned 19th century dancers and ballet masters who taught at and were influential in the development in the school include Charles Didelot, Jules Perrot, Arthur Saint-Léon, Lev Ivanov, Marius Petipa and Mikhail Fokine.

Since 1836 the school has been situated on Rossi Street in St Petersburg. Following the upheaval of the Russian Revolution of 1917, St Petersburg was renamed Leningrad after the communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin. The "Imperial Ballet School" was dissolved by the Soviet Government and later re-established on the same site, as the "Leningrad State Choreographic School". The "Imperial Russian Ballet" was also dissolved as a result of the revolution and was re-established as the "Soviet Ballet". The company was later renamed the "Kirov Ballet" following the assassination of the Bolshevic revolutionary Sergey Kirov in 1938. Despite later being given the current name "Mariinsky Ballet", the company is still commonly known as the "Kirov Ballet" by the majority of Western audiences and the company still use the title "Kirov Ballet" when touring internationally.

Vaganova

Agrippina Vaganova brought perhaps the most important developments in modern Russian Ballet. She graduated from the former "Imperial Ballet School" in 1897 and danced with the "Imperial Ballet", retiring from the stage early to pursue her teaching career following the Russian revolution. As the Soviet Government had not yet re-established the school at that time, Vaganova began her teaching career at the privately owned "School of Russian Ballet" eventually joining the new "Leningrad State Choreographic School" in 1920. Vaganova was to become possibly the most renowned ballet teacher of all time and is most noted for authoring "The Principles of Classical Dance", which outlines the training system which she created and which heads the list of numerous works produced by teachers of the school.

Vaganova's students would become some of the most famous ballet dancers of all time and in recognition of her achievements, the school was named in her honour in 1957, six years after her death. There are a number of variations in the name of the school, but the official title in current use in the English speaking world is Vaganova Ballet Academy.

Today

Overview

The Vaganova Ballet Academy is one of the Worlds leading ballet schools and currently has over 300 students. Like other similar institutions, competition for a place at the school is very fierce with over 3000 children auditioning each year, 300 of these being from St Petersburg. Approximately 60 students are selected annually, with approximately 25 eventually graduating from the school having completed the full course of training. The School employs approximately 75 dance teachers, 30 piano teachers, 40 academic teachers and 40 accompanists. The Director of the school is Leonid Nadirov and the Artistic Director is former "Kirov Ballet" dancer and choreographer Altynai Asylmuratova.

Auditions

Auditions for the school being in June and children must be at least 10 years old to apply.

The audition process is divided into three sections.
* Aptitude: to assess the candidate's proportions, height of jump, degree of turnout and general appearance etc
* Physical: an examination by a specialist medical practitioner to assess the physiological possibilities of the candidate
* Artistic: to assess the candidate's musicality, rhythm, co-ordination and artistic talent

Training

All students at the school begin by studying a programme of dance training, secondary school level education, French language and piano lessons. As they progress through the school, the programme becomes more intensive, with new subjects being added to the curriculum as the students become more advanced. In the first year, students study classical and historical dance progressing to character dance in the fourth year and pas de deux and mime in the sixth year. At the end of the 8th year of training, all students dance in a graduation gala at the Mariinsky Theatre. The most successful students may be offered a contract with the Mariinsky Ballet company, with the majority seeking employment with ballet companies in Russia and worldwide, including leading companies such as the Bolshoi Ballet, The Royal Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.

Famous Graduates

;
*Altynai Asylmuratova
*George Balanchine
*Mikhail Baryshnikov
*Vakhtang Chabukiani
*Alexandra Danilova
*Natalia Dudinskaya
*Mikhail Fokine
*Yuri Grigorovich
*Tamara Karsavina;
*Nicolai Legat
*Ulyana Lopatkina
*Natalia Makarova
*Galina Mezentseva
*Vaslav Nijinsky
*Rudolph Nureyev
*Anna Pavlova
*Olga Preobrajenskaya;
*Marina Semenova
*Konstantin Sergeyev
*Olga Spesivtseva
*Galina Ulanova
*Diana Vishneva
*Rostislav Zakharov
*Svetlana Zakharova
*Igor Zelensky

External links

* [http://www.vaganova.ru/eng.html Official Website - Vaganova Ballet Academy]
* [http://www.lensculture.com/papo.html Photo-essay: Vaganova Ballet Academy]