Kirov Ballet

Russian ballet company based at the Maryinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. It dates back to court performances given by dancers trained at the Empress Anna Ivanovna's school which evolved into a professional company, the Imperial Ballet. This was based at the Bolshoi Theatre in St Petersburg (1783-1860) and then at the Maryinsky Theatre, although the company continued to perform at the Bolshoi Theatre until 1889. It also gave smaller-scale performances at the Theatre of the Hermitage and the Theatre of Tsarskoye Selo (now the Pushkin). After the October Revolution of 1917 the theatre's name was changed to State Maryinsky Theatre, then the State Academic Theatre for Opera and Ballet (Russian abbreviation, GATOB). In 1935 it became the Leningrad Theatre for Opera and Ballet named after Kirov (the head of the Leningrad Communist Party who was assassinated in 1934), while the company itself was commonly known as the Kirov Ballet. In 1991 the theatre reverted to its original name, the Maryinsky, with the company retaining the name Kirov for foreign touring.

Originally, ballet in Russia was a foreign import. The empress's school (founded 1738) was directed by the Frenchman Landé and early choreographers and teachers such as Hilverding and Angiolini brought with them European ballets and a European technical finesse. Even so, these soon became inflected with the freer style of Russian folk dance, and some early ballets were created on Russian themes, such as Angiolini's Semira (1772), based on a tragedy by Russian writer Sumarokov, and Valbergh's Russia's Triumph; or, The Russians in Paris (1814). Didelot, who was ballet master in St Petersburg from 1801 to 1811 and again from 1816, choreographed the first ballets based on Pushkin's work and he was also responsible for widespread reforms in the school and company. Under his influence the city became one of the leading centres of ballet, producing its own star dancers. Romanticism came into vogue when Taglioni danced La Sylphide in St Petersburg in 1837 and many of the other great Romantic ballerinas performed there during the 1840s and 1850s. Russian ballerinas, however, proved able to compete with them, including Elena Andreyanova who danced Giselle in 1842, and later Marie Bogdanova. Subsequent ballet masters, Perrot (1848-59) and Saint-Léon (1859-69) added their own distinctive works to the repertory. But it was Petipa who brought the St Petersburg ballet to its peak of artistic brilliance. He joined the company in 1847 as a solo dancer and was appointed chief ballet master in 1869. In a long succession of increasingly inventive and expressive works he not only extended the technical and dramatic range of the classical vocabulary but also evolved a far more sophisticated format than that of previous ballet spectacles. The Sleeping Beauty (1890) and Swan Lake (with Ivanov, 1895) were created in quasisymphonic form comparable to the great Tchaikovsky scores to which they were set, with individual dance numbers knitted into a coherent sweep of dance and mime. Petipa's ballets were also vehicles for the increasing virtuosity of the principal dancers, trained by gifted teachers like Christian Johansson and Enrico Cecchetti. They included Ekaterina Vazem, Evgenia Sokolova, Pavel Gerdt, and Nicolai Legat. At the beginning of the 20th century other outstanding classical dancers emerged, including Olga Preobrajenska, Mathilda Kshessinska, and Anna Pavlova but the vitality of 19th-century choreography was exhausted. The young choreographer Fokine was committed to replacing the old three-act ballets with dance of a new concentrated realism. But the Maryinsky Theatre was unsympathetic to his reforms and he chose to work for long periods with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in Europe as did many of the younger dancers, notably Vaslav Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina. In 1917 the October Revolution produced a period of instability in the company and more dancers left, but during the 1920s GATOB became a platform for experimental work under the direction of Lopukhov. He and Balanchine (prior to the latter's 1924 departure to the West) staged Evenings of Young Ballet and many new ballets were shown. However, the company also remained committed to preserving its 19th-century traditions. During the 1930s Sovietstyle ballet theatre came to prominence with many seminal ballets in the genre created in the company, such as Vainonen's Flames of Paris (1932), Zakharov's Fountain of Bakhchisarai (1934), and the Lavrovsky production of Romeo and Juliet (1940). Galina Ulanova emerged as the company's outstanding ballerina at this time. Between 1941 and 1944 the company was evacuated to Molotov-Perm though some dancers remained in the besieged Leningrad to perform. After 1945 Moscow overtook St Petersburg as the official centre of Soviet ballet although some important works continued to be made at the Kirov, including Fenster's Taras Bulba (1955), Jacobson's Spartacus (1956), Grigorovich's The Stone Flower (1957) and A Legend of Love (1961), and Belsky's The Leningrad Symphony (1961). With Konstantin Sergeyev as company director and his wife Natalia Dudinskaya as leading dancer, the classical repertory was also strictly maintained. While the Bolshoi were known for their vigorous, dramatic energy the Kirov were renowned for their purity of line, their musicality, and their adherence to classical tradition. When the company began touring to the West after 1961 dancers like Natalia Makarova, Irina Kolpakova, Rudolf Nureyev, and Yuri Soloviev impressed audiences with their refined artistry. Contact with the West, however, revealed the artistic limitations of the Kirov's repertory and many dancers chose to defect, including Nureyev, Makarova, and, later, Baryshnikov. In 1977 Oleg Vinogradov took over direction of the company. He created many new ballets but also began to add Western work by Béjart, Balanchine, and Fokine, among others. Increased touring to the West after the late 1980s brought international fame to a new generation of Kirov dancers, notably Altynai Asylmuratova, Farukh Ruzimatov, and, later, Igor Zelensky. Vinogradov ceased to be effective director of the company in 1996 due to a series of political and financial scandals and the Kirov is now run by the director of the Maryinsky Theatre, Valery Gergiev, and by ballet director Makharbek Vaziev. Dogged by financial uncertainties it struggles to sustain the traditions for which it is famous while finding a new direction for its future, slowly adding works to its repertory, including ballets by Balanchine, Yevgeny Panfilov's Rite of Spring (1996), revivals of Petit's Carmen and Le Jeune Homme et la mort, and works by Alexei Ratmansky, including Le Baiser de la fée (1998). It remains legendary for the beauty and discipline of its corps de ballet, rooted in the training which dancers receive from the company school. Based in Theatre Street (Rossi Street) the school dates back to the 1738 school founded by the Empress Anna Ivanovna. It has been successively named the Imperial Theatre School, St Petersburg, the Petrograd State Ballet School, the Leningrad Ballet School, and from 1957, the Vaganova School.

Mariinsky Ballet
General Information
Name	Mariinsky Ballet
Previous Names	Imperial Russian Ballet The Soviet Ballet Kirov Ballet
Year Founded	Approx. 1740
Location	Mariinsky Theatre 1 Theatre Square St Petersburg  Russia
Website	http://www.mariinsky.ru/en
Senior Staff
Artistic Director	Valery Gergiev (Mariinsky Theatre)
Deputy Director	Yury Fateyev
Assistant Deputy Director	Tatiana Bessarabova
Reserve Troupe Director	Andrei Bugaev
Other
Parent Company	Mariinsky Theatre
Associate School	Vaganova Ballet Academy
Formation	Principal First Soloist Second Soloist Principal Character Artist Coryphee Corps de Ballet Reserve Troup
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The Mariinsky Ballet, is a classical ballet company based at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 19th 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 Mariisnky Ballet is the parent company of the Vaganova Ballet Academy, a leading international ballet school.

Contents 1 History 2 Today 3 Repertoire 4 Dancers 4.1 Principals 4.2 1st Soloists 4.3 2nd Soloists 4.4 Principal Character Artists 4.5 Coryphees 4.6 Corps de Ballet 5 Marius Petipa 6 Notable Dancers 7 External links

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

Official touring logo of the Kirov/Mariinsky ballet

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

Principals

Andrian Fadeyev Yevgeny Ivanchenko Igor Kolb Danila Korsuntsev

Ulyana Lopatkina Yulia Makhalina Irma Nioradze Denis Matvienko

Daria Pavlenko Leonid Sarafanov Alina Somova Viktoria Tereshkina

Diana Vishneva Igor Zelensky

1st Soloists

Andrei Batalov Maya Dumchenko Irina Golub Sofia Gumerova

Anastasia Kolegova Anton Korsakov Ilya Kuznetsov

Mikhail Lobukhin Anastasia Matvienko Olesia Novikova

Yevgenia Obraztsova Yekaterina Osmolkina Nikita Shcheglov

Vladimir Shklyarov Andrei Yakovlev Irina Zhelonkina

2nd Soloists

Ruben Bobovnikov Nadezhda Gonchar Andrei Ivanov Alexandra Iosifidi

Yulia Kasenkova Maxim Khrebtov Yekaterina Kondaurova Ivan Kozlov

Xenia Ostreikovskaya Anton Pimonov Yana Selina Alexander Sergeyev

Tatiana Serova Vasily Shcherbakov Elena Sheshina Yuri Smekalov

Tatiana Tkachenko Elena Yevseyeva Maxim Zyuzin

Principal Character Artists

Islom Baimuradov Elena Bazhenova

Alexandra Gronskaya Lira Khuslamova

Vladimir Ponomarev Polina Rassadina

Pyotr Stasiunas Andrei Yakovlev

Nikolai Zubkovsky

Coryphees

Elena Androsova Yelizaveta Cheprasova Elena Chmil Maria Chugai Xenia Dubrovina Denis Firsov Yekaterina Ivannikova

Svetlana Ivanova Anna Lavrinenko Valeria Martynyuk Alexei Nedviga Tatyana Nekipelova (Bazhitova) Anastasia Petushkova Grigory Popov

Sergei Popov Dmitry Pykhachov Sergei Salikov Yana Selina Yana Serebriakova Maria Shirinkina Roman Skripkin

Diana Smirnova Filipp Stepin Kirill Safin Daria Sukhorukova Alexei Timofeyev Andrei Yermakov Ti Yon Riu

Daria Vasnetsova Elena Vasyukovich Dmitry Zavalishin Konstantin Zverev

Corps de Ballet

Konstantin Adzhamov Maria Adzhamova Olga Akmatova (Sazonova) Viktoria Alexeyeva Ilmira Bagautdinova Olga Balinskaya Alexei Bazhitov Timofei Belov Mikhail Berdichevsky Salikh Bikchurin Anton Boitsov Stanislav Burov Yekaterina Danilko Nadezhda Demakova Sergei Dmitriev Alla Dmitrieva Yevgenia Dolmatova Natalia Dzevulskaya Yevgenia Emelianova Vera Garbuz

Tatiana Goryunova Daria Grigorieva Eduard Gusev Irina Idina Karen Ioannisian Yana Khaldina Svetlana Khrebtova Yuri Kirik Anastasia Kiru Alexander Klimov Yekaterina Klimkova (Kovaleva) Artyom Kokorin Maria Kolomiytseva Valery Konkov Sergei Kononenko Anna Korotysheva Lyubov Kozharskaya Soslan Kulaev Alexander Kulikov Alexander Kurkov

Viktoria Kutepova Maria Lebedeva Tatiana Linnik Yekaterina Loginova Fyodor Lopukhov Vanda Lubkovskaya Maxim Lynda Maria Makarenko Yelizaveta Maltseva Nadezhda Manoshkina Anatoly Marchenko Yekaterina Mikhailovtseva Mikhail Milkov Xenia Molkova Fyodor Murashov Rafael Musin Nikolai Naumov Alexander Neff Igor Nikitin Novfel Niyazov

Dmitry Ozolin Maria Paripskaya Daria Pavlova Marianna Pavlova Yekaterina Petina Anastasia Plastun Maxim Podshivalenko Irina Prokofieva Natalia Raldugina Alexander Romanchikov Yegor Safin Dmitry Sharapov Natalia Sharapova Maria Shevyakova Yevgenia Sirotenko Ivan Sitnikov Oksana Skoryk Yulia Slivkina (Smirnova) Alisa Sokolova Dmitry Solovei

Andrei Solovev Anna Sysoeva Ksenia Tagunova Yana Tikhonova Nikita Tkachenko Alexander Tsvetkov Andrei Ushakov Anastasia Vasilets (Vasilieva) Dmitry Vedeneyev Marianna Yakovleva Kamil Yangurazov Yevgenia Yemelyanova Maxim Yeremeyev Andrei Yermakov Darina Zarubskaya Veronika Zenova Boris Zhurilov Marina Zolotova

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 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

Avdotia Istomina Pavel Gerdt Olga Preobrajenska Mathilde Kschessinska Anna Pavlova Theodore Kosloff

Tamara Karsavina Pierina Legnani Mikhail Fokine Olga Spessivtzeva Vaslav Nijinsky Galina Ulanova

Marina Semyonova Konstantin Sergeyev Alla Sizova Natalia Dudinskaya Yury Grigorovich

Natalia Makarova Rudolf Nureyev Yuri Soloviev Mikhail Baryshnikov Galina Mezentseva

Altynai Asylmuratova Diana Vishneva Ulyana Lopatkina Svetlana Zakharova Igor Kolb

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

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