The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet is a school of classical ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The school was previously known as the Imperial Ballet School, becoming the Leningrad State Choreographic Institute during the Soviet era. Today, there are a number of variations of the school name, however, the official title in current use is Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet.
Established in 1738, the academy 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 world's leading ballet schools have adopted elements of the Vaganova method into their own training.
The Vaganova Academy is the associate school of the Mariinsky Ballet, one of the Worlds leading ballet companies. Students of the school are successful in achieving employment with ballet and contemporary companies worldwide, such as the Bolshoi Ballet, The Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and the Mikhailovsky Ballet.
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The school was established as the Imperial Theatrical 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, 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 at 2 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.
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.
The Vaganova Academy has over 300 students. Like other similar institutions, competition for a place at the school is very fierce with over 3,000 children auditioning each year, 300 of these being from St. Petersburg. Approximately 60 students are selected annually, with some 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 for the school begin in June and children must be at least 10 years old to apply.
The audition process is divided into three sections.
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.
Vera Dorefeeva is a graduate of the Leningrad Pedagogical Institute and in 1987, was appointed Deputy Director of the Leningrad Academic Choreographic School (today's Vaganova Academy). In 2004, she was elected Principal of the school and would established an annual conference for the preservation of the Vaganova method of classical ballet. She has also established cultural exchanges with ballet schools in Germany, France, the Netherlands, USA, Ireland, Greece, Japan and Italy, as well as developing a long term strategy to secure the future of the Vaganova academy as an educational establishment for students of extraordinary talent. She is author of fifteen books and research works on ballet pedagogy and has been honoured with a number of awards, including the Veteran of Labour Medal, the Order of Vernadsky (Second Degree), and an award for the preservation of Russian culture.[1]
Altynai Asylmuratova is a graduate of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet. She danced professionally with the Kirov Ballet (today's Mariinsky Ballet), achieving the rank of prima ballerina. As a dancer she was widely considered to be an exceptional artist, with perfect technical schooling. Her noted roles include Aurora and the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, the dual role of Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, the title role in Raymonda, Nikia in La Bayadere, Kitri in Don Quixote, the title role in Giselle, and Medora in Le Corsaire. She also danced as a guest artiste with The Royal Ballet in London and with Roland Petit's Ballet National de Marseille. After retiring from the stage, she attended the school of pedagogy at the Vaganova Academy, and was subsequently appointed as Artistic Director of the Academy, with a commitment to preserving the Vaganova method of classical ballet, whilst also searching for new and creative ways of producing the professional ballet dancers of the future.[2]
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