The Vaganova Academy
The Vaganova Academy
Once known as the Imperial Ballet School, the Vaganova Academy , located in St. Petersburg, is one of the world's top notch schools for up and coming ballet dancers. Started by famed teacher and dancer Agrippina Vaganova, the school has taught such dancers as Anna Pavlova, George Balanchine, and Vaslav Nijinsky. Because the school has a worldwide reputation, prospective students (ranging in ages from 8-13) are required to pass an extensive entrance examination. During these tests, judges look for such things as long limbs, arched insteps, the degree of the child's turnout, and light jumps. Once a student is accepted, he or she could be separated from their parents for months or even years at a time. Students are housed for eight years in dormitories during their time there. In addition to a number of ballet classes, students are required to study diffferent subjects as well such as ballet history, French and piano. Because the dancer's body is an instrument and must be kept in perfect shape at all times, students who matriculate at the institute are required to watch their weight in fear of being reprimanded. In addition, they are required to spend their summers at the schools's camp on the Black Sea. The school employs eighty teachers, some of which are still pursuing their careers in ballet and some that are retired. Besides teaching the students perfect ballet technique, the instructors also teach them discipline and obedience, both of which are imperative to the serious ballet student. To learn more about the Vaganova Academy, visit the school's website at http://www.vaganova.ru.
Agrippina Vaganova
Students of the Vaganova Academy
The History of the Russian Ballet, The Bolshoi Theater,
The Marinsky Theater, Anna Pavlova, Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova, Natalya Dudinskaya, Vaslav Nijinsky, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Marius Petipa, Michel Fokine, George Balanchine, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, The Music of Piotr Ilych Tchaikovsky, Image Sources, Works Consulted
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