Vaganova: A Dance Journey from Petersburg to Leningrad - Hardcover

by Vera M. Siegel (Translator), Lynn Garafola (Editor)

The only authorized biography about the creator of the renowned Russian ballet curriculum-for the first time in English. The first English edition of the only authorized biography of Agrippina Vaganova (1897-1951) was originally published in Russian in 1989. It tells the story of one of the most important dance teachers of the 20th century, who created a system of teaching ballet that spread throughout the former Soviet Union and beyond.Vaganova rose through the ranks to become a ballerina in the Imperial Ballet during the last days of Tsarist Russia. After the Revolution of 1917, she became a teacher and transformed the St. Petersburg/Leningrad School of Ballet into a premier institution. She also served as the artistic director of the Kirov Theater.Written by a direct eyewitness to many of the described incidents, someone who knew Vaganova intimately, the biography is a window into the personality and thinking of this great teacher. It vividly recounts the training and individual styles of such world-renowned ballerinas as Marina Semyonova, Natalia Dudinskaya, Galina Ulanova, and Tatiana Vecheslova, and it offers a unique insight into the world of classical ballet during the era of Tsarist Russia and the early Soviet years.

Author Biography

Vera Krasovskaya, a former dancer with the Kirov in the 1930s, was the preeminent historian of the St. Petersburg Ballet for nearly forty years. Her books include Soviet Ballet Theater, 1917-1967, History of Russian Ballet, and the four-volume Western European Ballet Theater. Vera M. Siegel is a freelance writer and translator for such clients as the Library of Congress and the U.S. Department of State.