Relatives of Agrippina Yakovlevna Vaganova. Life story
June 26 marked the 137th anniversary of the birth of the famous Russian ballerina and outstanding teacher Agrippina Vaganova, whose name is the Academy of Russian Ballet. Her path to success was so long and thorny that her friend, Blok’s wife Lyubov Mendeleeva, called her “the martyr of ballet.” Circumstances did not allow Vaganova to realize all her dreams on stage, but she realized them in her students - the best ballerinas in the country. Agrippina Vaganova became the first professor of choreography in the USSR, although at one time she was only offered a place in the corps de ballet.
Agrippina Vaganova - dancer and teacher | Photo: newrezume.org
Agrippina's father was a conductor at the Mariinsky Theater; at the age of 10, the girl was sent to the St. Petersburg Theater School, to a ballet class. Vaganova’s characteristics were not brilliant: small height, muscular legs, large head, broad shoulders - but at the final exam, thanks to years of hard work, she was one of the best.
After graduating from college, Vaganova was enrolled in the troupe Mariinsky Theater as a corps de ballet dancer. For a long time she received only small, unimportant roles. The primas at that time were T. Karsavina, A. Pavlova, M. Kshesinskaya - it was them who the choreographer Marius Petipa considered the standard of elegance, femininity and grace, while Vaganova had too rigid hands, and her classical dance seemed unpromising to him.
Blok's wife Lyubov Dmitrievna was friends with Agrippina Vaganova all her life and witnessed the incredible efforts that the dancer made in her work. For this, a friend called her “the martyr of ballet.” Vaganova herself bitterly admitted: “Only towards the end of my career, completely exhausted morally, did I come to the title of ballerina.”
Agrippina Vaganova - dancer and teacher | Photo: dudinskaya-ballet.narod.ru and chtoby-pomnili.com
For the first time, Vaganova got the solo part thanks to a coincidence: Tamara Karsavina injured her leg, and Agrippina had to replace her in the ballet Chopiniana. Only 2 years later she was again lucky enough to find herself in the leading roles: this time she performed the part of Odile in Swan Lake, which she had long dreamed of. In addition, she got the main roles in the ballets “The Stream”, “Giselle” and “The Little Humpbacked Horse”. Success came to her too late; in 1915 she was sent to retire - at that time she was 36 years old.
It was a very difficult period in her life: she had to say goodbye to her stage career, and a tragedy occurred in her personal life. The man with whom she had been living in a civil marriage for several years committed suicide on Christmas Eve 1917. Vaganova was left with three children (one her son and two children of her deceased sister) with virtually no means of livelihood. She had to give concerts for potatoes and bread.
In 1920, she was accepted into the staff of the Mariinsky Theater ballet school at teaching activities. The conditions were extremely cramped, the students had to study in dresses and sweaters. But Agrippina Vaganova was happy: she found her calling in training talented dancers. She raised 29 graduates, among her students were the best ballerinas: M. Semenova, G. Ulanova, N. Dudinskaya, A. Shelest, O. Moiseeva, I. Kolpakova and others.
The main requirement of Vaganova as a teacher was the meaningfulness of movements. In 1934 she published the book "Fundamentals classical dance", which still does not lose its relevance. Agrippina Vaganova did much more for Russian ballet than just training talented dancers: she managed to preserve the traditions of classical ballet at a time when the Bolsheviks considered this art form “alien to the proletariat.”
Vaganova, Agrippina Yakovlevna- Agrippina Yakovlevna Vaganova. VAGANOVA Agrippina Yakovlevna (1879 1951), ballet dancer, teacher. In 1897 1916 at the Mariinsky Theater. Parts: Odette Odile (“ Swan Lake” P.I. Tchaikovsky), Giselle (“Giselle” by A. Adam). Among the students of M.T. Semenova... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
Vaganova Agrippina Yakovlevna- (18791951), ballet dancer, teacher, choreographer, People's Artist of the RSFSR (1934). Born in St. Petersburg. Since 1897, after graduating from St. Petersburg theater school, at the Mariinsky Theater. Gained fame as a virtuoso classical... ... Encyclopedic reference book "St. Petersburg"
VAGANOVA Agrippina Yakovlevna- (1879 1951) Russian ballet dancer, teacher, People's Artist of the RSFSR (1934). In 1897 1916 at the Mariinsky Theater. In 1921, 51 Leningradsky teachers choreographic school, professor since 1946. Since 1931 37 artistic director ballet troupe… … Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
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