clearly divided into two periods. The first period includes her career as a dancer.
Agrippina Vaganova remembers this period with nostalgia and chagrin as....
claimed in various resources. The second and most important period of her life was
her education, which started with the great revolution of Russia where her activity
andand worry made her recognizable and brought her glory, a glory that wasn’t
achieved during her dancing career. Nevertheless, these two periods are bound
together. This happened because all the searching for the exploration of the right
tactic and methodical exercise in classical dancing started from her great
dissatisfaction for her artistic and dancing career.
From her memoirs, which were found after her death, we can see a worrying
spirit always searching for perfection. She was an excellent dancer in Maryinsky
Theater where she was awarded with the title “Queen of Variations”. She
achieved the title of “ballerina” only once and this happened just one year before
she quit the stage in 1916. She left the stage deeply disappointed. Agrippina
Vaganova was suffering from strong self-criticism and after quitting her dancing
career she realized there were imperfections in her dancing technique. She
declared, “It was obvious that I wasn’t having any progress, and it became clearer when I
realized it. Then I started torturing myself from disappointment regarding myself
as well as the educational system. ”So, as she wrote in the manuscript of her
memoirs (which is found at the Collections of the State Theatrical Museum of
Leningrad, Vaganova, “My Travel”). (V.Chistyakova, 1986, pag: 17).
The system of Agrippina Vaganova is the natural evolution and succession of the
traditions of the Russian Ballet School. The creative efforts of various Russian
choreographers, dance teachers, female and male dancers were intended to perfect
the technique and expressive power of classical ballet. A lot of famous
choreographer from abroad worked for the Russian stage and their knowledge and
instructions to the dancers changed their performance on stage. All this experience
and knowledge gathered from there very important people of classic dancer was
systemized during the Soviet years and created the appropriate background and
base for the activities of the Soviet ballet teachers. This magisterial work was
developed under the instructions and strict supervision of Agripina Vaganova, a
female choreographer , a great artist coming from the Russian Soviet Federation
of the Socialistic Democracy and teacher of the state ballet school of Leningrad
which has her name today . today. Her efforts resulted in improve the working
circumstances of the dancers, interpretation, interpretation and a more complete presence on the
stage . These efforts also to a more secure future for the Russian Classic Ballet.
classic ballet which were used in the Russian Stage at the end of the 19th century,
the French and Italian Systems. The representatives of the French stage
were famous Russian ballet teachers Nikolai Legat and Pavel Gerdt. Those were
teachers of Vaganova in ballet in the Ballet School and theater. The famous
Johansson, August Bournonville and Georges Noverre were her teachers too.
The traditional lesson of the French School at the end of the nineteenth century
had moves which were easy and cute, most of the times unnecessary and
unnatural. Vaganova remembered the expressions of her teachers who kept on
saying to her “FREE AND LIGHT LEGS, FREE AND LIGHT LEGS!!!
COQUETTE! ” (V.Chistyakova, 1986, pag: 18) pointing out with this way the
flaccidity of the positions of the body with the way they were dancing. The
elbows were fallen and with “DAINTILY EXTENDED FIGURES”
(V.Chistyakova, 1986, pag: 18). That is to say, the energy of the hands and the
whole body were not actually used. The looseness and surface gentleness
characterize the working manner of dancing of the French System.
of the French School. A basic representative of the Italian Scholl was Enrico
Ceccheti. Enrico Ceccheti finesse his female taught with a great dancers. The
Italian ballerinas were trying to surprise the Italian audience with the most
difficult steps, for example, with thirty two Fouettes, which were demonstrated for
the first time by an Italian dancer. The teachers who worked on the Russian ballet were realizing behind the glorious technique that the Italian dancers had a loss of
poetic quality and content. The Italian dancers, in their efforts to surprise the
audience by finding very difficult and impressive steps, were losing the quality of
their moves. Despite all the above the Italian system had a lot of advantage: It was
offering confidence and self-control, dynamic turns were being taught and it
created strong and robust toes. The great teacher Enrico Ceccheti was responsible
for this period. Information shows that he always had a definite program for each
lesson of the week, while most of the other teachers of this period were teaching
without following a clear program. Agrippina Vaganova realized the great value
and effectiveness of his lessons. She was speaking about it with great respect and
enthusiasm and noted that his activities played an important role in the history of
dancing education and the history of Russian Ballet.
Agrippina , a worrying spirit , a spirit which during her first years of dancing was
searching for perfection through the repeated observation of global events , she
was always making efforts to find, the problems that created the loss of the quick
and appropriate method which to give perfection of the technique . Following this
concept, Agrippina, distinguished the virtues, advantages and disadvantage of the
two old dancing systems, the French system with main representatives as well as
the Italian System with main. Agrippina tracked down the problems of these
systems that help her back from progressing, to advance the perfection of her
technique. So, from the virtues and advantages of the Italian system she detected
that many moves were extremely angular, the use of the hands were unnatural,
strained, the elbows were bending quickly. She also found that the way the legs
were bending under the jumps was vulgar. The most important thing she spotted
in these two schools is that no special program existed that could bring the
predicted progress to the dancers –students. Most of these disadvantages were
spotted by other Russian dancers too. Agrippina declares “The male and female
students of Ceccheti flattened the sharp points of his method and the Italian
pattern of steps, as for example the bending of the legs under in the jumps. The
undeniable advantages of the Italian impact have not left anyone unimpressed
from the talented representatives and students of the French School”.
So, Agrippina tried to choose slowly the best characteristics of the global dancing
manner of this period. She realized her deepest will to research the science of
Classic Ballet. So, the second period of her creative career started along with her
resolution. In 1918 she started teaching the private Russian Ballet School
managed by the ballet reviewer and strong supporter of Akim Volynki classic
ballet. Three years later she moved to the state ballet school of Russia. The
method of Agrippina Vaganova was shaped during the decade of 1920 during a
period which was very difficult for the Russian Ballet due to critics attacked her.
In a completely negative period in Russia due to the attacks and clamor for classic
ballet, in the state Ballet School of Leningrad, an educational system was
developing which was strictly checked in practice, a system which became known
throughout the whole world with the name “Agrippina Vaganova’s System”. The
results haven’t become visible at once but already from 1923 Agrippina present
great dancers such as Olga Mungalova, Nina Mlodzinskaya, in 1924 Natalia
Kamkova and Elena Tangieva-Birzniek. The next year the excellent dancer
Marina Semyonova, appeared where the audience of this period was looking with
enthusiasm the mastery of the seventeen year old dancer, the variety of her moves,
the vigor of Tours, the uncommon expression of the hands. Marina Semyonova
was the forerunner of the new Soviet dancing School. More ballerinas appeared
the next year such as Olga Jordan, Galina Ulanova, Tatiana Vecheslna, Natalia
Dudinskaya and Feya Balabina. The reviewers of this period noticed the personal
character of the dancers, as well as that the ballerinas had many common
elements, a common style, equal plasticity and the charming simplicity on their
moves. At this time the distinctive marks of a school which was completely
shaped became obvious. The system of Vaganova aimed at teaching the dancers to
“dance with their whole body”, to achieve harmony with their moves, to expand
their expressions. So, Vaganova created a national style, a more complete ballet
technique, a healthier, more expressive ballet. She had already created the
beginning for a new ballet, a new system which was referring to all the world, to
all of those who were trying to learn the art of dancing, as Agrippina Vaganova
had.
1931 up to Vaganova was at head of the ballet band of the academic theater of
opera and ballet. During these years the ballets “Flames of Paris” the “Lilies of
Bachisarai”, “Lost Chimeras”, “Days of Parisians”, new variations of the ballets
“Lake of Swans”(1933) and “Esmeralda”(1935) were created. All these were
created by Vaganova, choreographically the basic criterion was the sincerity in the
transmission of human feelings. In these new ballets the style of the dancers
became stronger and purified. Vaganova was asking from her male and female
students to express their feelings, to have accuracy in the form and a decisive and
energetic way of interpretation a magisterial lyricism and heroic spirit.
The method of Vaganova had an impact on the evolution of male dancing too.
Male dancers obtained the “Iron” self control which was one of the characteristic
of Vaganova, the ability to keep their bodies, to use their arms order to make turns
and jumps. Many teachers of this period assimilated the experience of Vaganova.
The edition of the book “Classic Ballet Main Principles”, made the methods of
Vaganova known throughout the whole world. Since then many countries tried to
follow this system. One of the most beautiful and noticeable expressions of this
book, emphasis on the moves starting “from the body” since dancing” from the
body” assures to the step a secure support and artistic coloration.(V.Chistyakova,
1986 ,pag: 25).
“Classic Ballet Main Principles” refers: “I have been working on Ballet twenty
five years and a lot of time I had been noticing the loss of an appropriate manual
for teaching classic ballet. For this reason I chose the book of the famous Russian
Ballet Teacher Agrippina Vaganova “Classic Ballet Main Principles” and
suggested it to Mr. Kiriakopoulos. The reasons for my choice on one hand were
the accuracy and entirely of the book and the other hand the simple and perfect
way with which all the steps of classic ballet are presented”.(“Classic Ballet Main
Principles”,1986,pag:13) .
When talking into account the sayings of Mrs. Papadatou we can realize that she
is referring to a manual which composes of a work with full detail regarding the
way that the dancer and great teacher managed to impress all the theory and steps
of classic ballet in a way that no one else before had managed to collect all this
information and to write them down as she did. Many people refer with the same
elegance of speech and talk about it with the same value and appreciate for her
work, writing down all the steps of classic ballet by Agrippina Vaganova.
The book of Agrippina Vaganova “Classic Ballet Main Principles” was edited for
the first time in 1934. Since then it is value became obvious and it overcame the
very narrow framework of a teaching manual. The method suggested in this book
regarding the teaching of classic ballet is a remarkable contribution to the theory
and practice of the Ballet Art, an overview of the achievements of the Soviet
Choreography Education. The edition of this book was based on the accurate
translation of the fourth Russian Edition which was corrected according to the
manuscript notes of Agrippina Vaganova on the last edition, which were foundd
after her death.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
BASILIS TOMANAS (1986) CLASSIC BALLET MAIN PRINCIPLES
THESSALONIKI , 3 KATOUNI STREET
FERDINAND RAINA (1980) HISTORY FOR BALLET
ATHENS , 7 GRABIAS STEET
LENA ZAMPOURA (1991) NEWSPAPER ELEUTHEROTYPIA
AGRIPPINA YAKOVLEVVA VAGANOVA 1879-1951
WEBSITES
www.balletromania.hpg.ig.com.br/agrippina.ht
21. 12 .2005
www.petitpapillon.org/technique.html
21 .12 .2005
www.acb-oakland.com/vaganova.html
22 .12 .2005
www.ascotacademies.org/aba11.php
22 . 12 . 2005
www.dudinskaya.narod.ru/agrippina vaganova.htm
22 . 12 .2005
www.dcda.com/vaganoma.html
23 .12 .2005
www.vaganova.ru/eng.html
23 .12 .2005
www.acb-oakland.com/vaganova.html
23 .12 2005
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