Mariinsky Ballet
Encyclopedia
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.
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.
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.
Classical ballet
Classical Ballet is the most formal of the ballet styles, it adheres to traditional ballet technique. There are variations relating to area of origin, such as Russian ballet, French ballet, British ballet and Italian ballet...
company based at the Mariinsky Theatre
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The...
in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, 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
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
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
The Imperial Theatre School as it was originally known, was established on 4 May 1738, at the Winter Palace
Winter Palace
The Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, was, from 1732 to 1917, the official residence of the Russian monarchs. Situated between the Palace Embankment and the Palace Square, adjacent to the site of Peter the Great's original Winter Palace, the present and fourth Winter Palace was built and...
in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. It would become the predecessor of today's Vaganova Ballet Academy. The school's founder director was the French ballet master
Ballet Master
Ballet Master is the term used for an employee of a ballet company who is responsible for the level of competence of the dancers in their company...
and teacher Jean-Baptiste Landé
Jean-Baptiste Landé
Jean-Baptiste Landé was a French ballet dancer, active in Sweden, Denmark and Russia. He is the founder of the Russian Ballet Mariinsky Ballet....
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
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
revolutionary Sergey Kirov
Sergey Kirov
Sergei Mironovich Kirov , born Sergei Mironovich Kostrikov, was a prominent early Bolshevik leader in the Soviet Union. Kirov rose through the Communist Party ranks to become head of the Party organization in Leningrad...
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
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
in Moscow, which is the home of the Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
.
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
Being modelled on other leading opera/ballet theatres such as the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
, London and La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, 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.
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Principals
- Yevgeny Ivanchenko
- Igor KolbIgor KolbIgor Kolb is a principal dancer of Mariinsky Ballet. He graduated Byelorussia State Ballet School, and joined Mariinsky ballet in 1996...
- Danila Korsuntsev
- Ulyana LopatkinaUlyana LopatkinaUlyana Vyacheslavovna Lopatkina is a principal dancer at the Kirov Ballet/Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. She studied at the Vaganova Academy with Natalia Dudinskaya. Upon graduation Lopatkina joined the Kirov/Mariinsky Theatre Ballet in 1991, and was promoted to principal dancer in 1995...
- Yulia Makhalina
- Denis Matvienko
- Irma Nioradze
- Daria Pavlenko
- Vladimir Shklyarov
- Alina Somova
- Viktoria Tereshkina
- Diana VishnevaDiana VishnevaDiana Vishneva is a prima ballerina with both the Mariinsky Ballet in Russia, and American Ballet Theatre in the United States. She was born in St. Petersburg and was trained at the Vaganova Choreographic Institute and upon her graduation in 1995, joined the company of the Mariinsky Theatre...
- Igor Zelensky
First Soloists
- Andrei Batalov
- Maya Dumchenko
- Irina GolubIrina GolubIrina Ivanovna Golub is a Russian-born ballerina with the Mariinsky Ballet, once known as the Kirov Ballet. She should not be confused with the gymnast with the same name. Born in what was then Leningrad, and a graduate of the Vaganova Academy, Ms. Golub joined the Mariinsky in 1998 at the age of...
- Sofia Gumerova (Lazutkina)
- Anastasia Kolegova
- Yekaterina Kondaurova
- Anton Korsakov
- Ilya Kuznetsov
- Anastasia Matvienko
- Olesya Novikova
- Evgenia ObraztsovaEvgenia ObraztsovaEvgenia Obraztsova , is a Russian ballerina who dances as First Soloist with the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. She is frequently invited as a guest soloist to other countries, and is known for dancing leading roles in ballets such as Romeo and Juliet, Ondine, Giselle, and La Sylphide...
- 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:- GiselleGiselleGiselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
- Swan LakeSwan LakeSwan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
- Le CorsaireLe CorsaireLe Corsaire is a ballet typically presented in three acts, with a libretto originally created by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges loosely based on the poem The Corsair by Lord Byron. Originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to the music of Adolphe Adam, it was first presented by the ballet of...
- RaymondaRaymondaRaymonda is a ballet in three acts, four scenes with an apotheosis, choreographed by Marius Petipa, with music by Alexander Glazunov, his opus 57. First presented by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre on in St. Petersburg, Russia...
- The NutcrackerThe NutcrackerThe Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
- La BayadèreLa BayadèreLa Bayadère is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. La Bayadère was first performed by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on...
- Don QuixoteDon Quixote (ballet)Don Quixote is a ballet originally staged in four acts and eight scenes, based on an episode taken from the famous novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. It was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus and was first presented by the Ballet of the...
- HarlequinadeLes Millions d'ArlequinLes millions d'Arlequin is a ballet in two acts with libretto and choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Riccardo Drigo. First presented at the Imperial Theatre of the Hermitage by the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia on Friday,...
- The Sleeping Beauty
Notable dancers
- Altynai AsylmuratovaAltynai AsylmuratovaAltynai Asylmuratova is a former Soviet and Kazakhstaniprima ballerina with the Kirov Ballet/Mariinsky Theatre and a guest artist all over the world. Asylmuratova was born in Alma-Ata, Kazakstan, and after graduation from the Vaganova Choreographic Institute she joined the Kirov Ballet in 1978...
- Mikhail BaryshnikovMikhail BaryshnikovMikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov is a Soviet and American dancer, choreographer, and actor, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. After a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected to Canada in 1974...
- Natalia DudinskayaNatalia DudinskayaNatalia Mikhailovna Dudinskaya was a Russian prima ballerina who dominated the Kirov Ballet in the 1930s and 1940s.Dudinskaya's mother was Natalia Tagliori, a ballerina coached by Enrico Cecchetti. Trained by Agrippina Vaganova, Dudinskaya matriculated from her school in 1931. She danced all the...
- Eva EvdokimovaEva EvdokimovaEva Evdokimova-Gregori was a prima ballerina with the Royal Danish and Berlin Opera Ballets.Born in Geneva, Switzerland to a Bulgarian father and an American mother, Evdokimova, an American citizen, began her ballet studies as a child in Munich, before attending the Royal Ballet School in London,...
(guest) - Michel FokineMichel FokineMichel Fokine was a groundbreaking Russian choreographer and dancer.-Biography:...
- Pavel GerdtPavel GerdtPavel Andreyevich Gerdt, also known as Paul Gerdt , was the Premier Danseur Noble of the Imperial Ballet, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, and the Mariinsky Theatre for 56 years, making his debut in 1860, and retiring in 1916...
- Yury GrigorovichYury GrigorovichYury Nikolayevich Grigorovich is a Soviet and Russian dancer and choreographer who dominated the Russian ballet for 30 years....
- Avdotia IstominaAvdotia IstominaEvdokia or Avdotia Ilyinichna Istomina was the most celebrated Russian ballerina of the 19th century.She was orphaned early. But she was lucky: she was accepted into the Imperial Theater School, where children can live in complete security.A pupil of Charles Didelot, she debuted in the Imperial...
- Tamara KarsavinaTamara KarsavinaTamara Platonovna Karsavina was a famous Russian ballerina, renowned for her beauty, who was most noted as a Principal Artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and later the Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev...
- Igor KolbIgor KolbIgor Kolb is a principal dancer of Mariinsky Ballet. He graduated Byelorussia State Ballet School, and joined Mariinsky ballet in 1996...
- Theodore KosloffTheodore KosloffTheodore Kosloff was a Russian-born ballet dancer, choreographer and film and stage actor. He was occasionally credited as Theodor Kosloff.-Career:...
- Mathilde KschessinskaMathilde KschessinskaMathilda-Marie Feliksovna Kschessinskaya She was known in the West as Mathilde Kschessinska or Matilda Kshesinskaya.- Life :Kschessinska was born at Ligovo, near Peterhof. Like all her Polish family, to whom she was known as Matylda Krzesińska, Mathilde performed at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre...
- Ninel KurgapkinaNinel KurgapkinaNinel Alexandrovna Kurgapkina was a Russian dance teacher and former prima ballerina for the Kirov Ballet with over 50 years stage experience. She was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1974....
- Pierina LegnaniPierina LegnaniPierina Legnani was an Italian ballerina, a terre-à-terre virtuosa extraordinaire, considered one of the greatest ballerinas of all time.-Career:...
- Ulyana LopatkinaUlyana LopatkinaUlyana Vyacheslavovna Lopatkina is a principal dancer at the Kirov Ballet/Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. She studied at the Vaganova Academy with Natalia Dudinskaya. Upon graduation Lopatkina joined the Kirov/Mariinsky Theatre Ballet in 1991, and was promoted to principal dancer in 1995...
- Natalia MakarovaNatalia MakarovaNataliya Romanovna Makarova is the legendary Soviet-Russian-born prima ballerina. The History of Dance, published in 1981, notes that “Her performances set standards of artistry and aristocracy of dance which mark her as the finest ballerina of her generation.” She has also won awards as an...
- Varvara P. MeyVarvara P. MeyVarvara P. Mey is a former prima ballerina, ballet instructor and author. Mey was one of the students of the russian ballet dance method founder, Agrippina Vaganova. She graduated from Vaganova in 1929, and then started her dancing career. She danced at the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, Russia for...
- Galina MezentsevaGalina MezentsevaGalina Sergeyevna Mezentseva is a Russian ballerina, with a career as professional classic dancer from the early 1970s to the late 1990s. She was the first of the crop of tall Kirov ballerinas with long and thin lines, introducing a new aesthetic...
- Vaslav NijinskyVaslav NijinskyVaslav Nijinsky was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish descent, cited as the greatest male dancer of the 20th century. He grew to be celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations...
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- Marina Semyonova
- Konstantin Sergeyev
- Alla SizovaAlla SizovaAlla Sizova is a twentieth-century ballet dancer, best known for her work with the Kirov Ballet. She was the preferred dance partner of Rudolph Nureyev before his defection, and Nureyev is rumoured to have said in his later years that Sizova was the only thing that could conceivably entice him...
- Yuri SolovievYuri SolovievYuri Vladimirovich Soloviev was a premier danseur of the Kirov Ballet, born in Leningrad, Russia. He was a contemporary of Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov, partner of Natalia Makarova, Alla Sizova, and others....
- Olga Spessivtzeva
- Galina UlanovaGalina UlanovaGalina Sergeyevna Ulánova is frequently cited as being one of the greatest 20th Century ballerinas. Her flat in Moscow is designated a national museum, and there are monuments to her in Saint Petersburg and Stockholm....
- Diana VishnevaDiana VishnevaDiana Vishneva is a prima ballerina with both the Mariinsky Ballet in Russia, and American Ballet Theatre in the United States. She was born in St. Petersburg and was trained at the Vaganova Choreographic Institute and upon her graduation in 1995, joined the company of the Mariinsky Theatre...
- Svetlana Zakharova