 West Coast Classical Ballet Society, a 501(c)3 non-profit 1365 Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024 Tel: 310-477-6414 • Email: balletla@hotmail.com |
(1879-1951)
Mme. Vaganova's superlative teaching method has been the Foundation of ballet instruction in Russia since the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Agrippina Yakovlevna Vaganova; dancer, choreographer and master teacher. She was born in June 1879 in St. Petersburg, Russia and died in Leningrad at the age of 72 on February 5, 1951. Known as the "Queen of the Variations" at the Maryisnky Theater, Vaganova became a ballet teacher as a result of her own deep dissatisfaction with the methodology of her day. She merged the pure academic dance from Russia's past with the then contemporary innovations of the ballet academies throughout Europe to create a methodology all her own.
After her graduation in 1897 from the St. Petersburg School of Theatre, Vaganova danced until her retirement from the stage in 1916 and thence devoted her career entirely to teaching. For 30 years, 1921-1951, Vaganova taught at the School of Russian Ballet, known for her chiseled precision and attention to detail; she was named a Professor in 1946. In 1957 the Academy was renamed in Vaganova's honor.
The Vaganova method emphasizes that all movement originates from the center of the body which ensures strong, powerful, reliable support with full artistic coloration of the steps. The principles of her revered technique is the melding of perfect technical virtuosity with truthful expression and elegance, training that leads to artistic freedom. Intense specific attention is given to epaulment (the turning of the shoulders, head and upper body). The Vaganova system aims to teach students to dane with their whole body in order to acquire a harmony of movements and a broadening of artistic expression.
Her Fundamentals of the Classic Dance was published in 1934. And thus, the pedagogical model for American Vaganova Ballet Conservatory's (AVBC) ballet program has roots in the Petipa-Vaganova method developed in Russia over the past 270 years.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF BALLET
(a short history)
The Art of Dance has been a cherished form of expression enjoyed by mankind since the dawn of human civilization. Over the last two centuries, dance and especially Ballet has flourished and evolved, however, not without change, but adding to the quality of life. Today, hundreds of thousands of people the world over have come to recognize a variety of rewarding experiences which may be gained from dance training including, but by no means limited to; a deeper appreciation and respect for ourselvesour bodies, minds and our overall well-being, and the sharing of cultural differences which go to shape our lives. Although not usually associated with dance in this light, dance can be seen as an exercise in ethical awareness as well, by way of its disciplinary virtue; much the same way several Eastern disciplinary arts have professed for thousands of year Russian Ballet, which has its roots in the Petipa-Vaganova Method has steadily developed over the past 270 years. Since 1917 (the beginning of the Russian Revolution) the Vaganova method has safeguarded and evolved well beyond its well respected oral handing down of traditions.
In fact, our own “American style” of ballet has been greatly influenced by such dance luminaries (Russian immigrant) as Mikhail Mordkin, Anna Pavlova’s partner, and founder of the American Ballet Theatre, and George Balanchine, founder of the New York City Ballet. Both Mordkin and Balanchine were formerly from the Maryinsky-Kirov Ballet.
Let us not forget that even the great theatrical dance stars such as, Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse, were both classically trained ballet dancers.
Legendary Russian trained ballet stars such as Alicia Alonso, Balanchine, Baryshnikov, Nijinsky, Makarova, Mukamedov, and Nureyev have greatly added to the popularization of ballet as we know it today. Many well known dancers of today have also greatly benefited from Vaganova training.