Vaganova Today - by Catherine E Pawlick (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Agrippina Vaganova (1879-1951) is revered as the visionary who first codified the Russian system of classical ballet training. The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, founded on impeccable technique and centuries of tradition, has a reputation for elite standards, and its graduates include Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova, and Diana Vishneva. Yet the Vaganova method has come under criticism in recent years.

In this absorbing volume, Catherine Pawlick traces Vaganova's story from her early years as a ballet student in tsarist Russia to her career as a dancer with the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet to her work as a pedagogue and choreographer. Pawlick then goes beyond biography to address Vaganova's legacy today, offering the first-ever English translations of primary source materials and intriguing interviews with pedagogues and dancers from the Academy and the Mariinsky Ballet, including some who studied with Vaganova herself.

Review Quotes

"A must for students and lovers of classical ballet.
... Highly recommended."--Choice

"A
riveting read, which attempts to reveal the secrets of the Vaganova system.
Anyone intrigued by the greatness of Russian ballet, and the Mariinsky in
particular, will absorb this book from a behind-the-curtain view."--Dance International

"Pawlick's
book leaves us wondering if there could ever again be a figure like Vaganova,
so centered on a particular style, and so instrumental in its codification and
development."--Dancing Times

"Shows
the Academy from the other end of the barre for the first time. . . . No other
book gives a reader the opportunity to see the world of Russian ballet from the
perspective of those who create it each day through teaching and coaching
dancers for the stage."--The Russian
Review

"""Provides
readers with new insights into standards and best practices in ballet training,
as well as important philosophical and aesthetic issues besetting the world of
professional ballet in the twenty-first century"""--Dance Chronicle

"Traces Agrippina Vaganova's story from her
student years in tsarist Russia to her career with the Mariinsky to her work as
a teacher and choreographer."--Dance
Studio Life