Basic Principles of Classical Ballet by Agrippina Vaganova

Basic Principles of Classical Ballet by Agrippina Vaganova

Although the stars of Russian ballet Anna Pavlova and Tamara Karsavina possessed a national manner of dancing, there was no truly Russian school of dancing until the 1930s. The development of this school was largely due to Mme. Vaganova (1879 1951), not only a great dancer but also the teacher of Galina Ulanova and many others and an unsurpassed theoretician.
The principles of Vaganova's system are presented in this well-known book. Mme. Vaganova's aim of creating a personal approach to the Russian dance was based on the critical assimilation of the experience of her contemporaries. Her ability to choose the best of what had been accomplished in the various ballet traditions (French, Italian, and Russian) and combine these into a unified teaching practice in itself amounted to a new school of dance. She firmly believed that the teaching process should be a planned exercise, ever changing with innovations in the dance. She sought from her pupils emotional expressiveness, strictness of form, a resolute, energetic manner of performance, and the understanding of the underlying coordination of movements.
Her book discusses all basic principles of ballet, grouping movements by fundamental types. Chapters cover battements, rotary movements of the legs, the arms, poses of the classical dance, connecting and auxiliary movements, jumps, beats, point work, and turns as well as material for a sample lesson. Diagrams show clearly the exact foot, leg, arm, and body positions for the proper execution of many steps and movements. The result is a fundamental theory of dance that offers dancers, teachers, and ballet lovers information often difficult to locate in other books.
118 illustrations.

Agrippina Vaganova, Russia s most celebrated ballet teacher, was born in St. Petersburg in 1879. She joined the Maryinsky Theater Ballet in 1897 and was promoted to soloist in 1905 and to Prima Ballerina in 1915. She taught at the State Theater School and was Director of the State Theater Ballet (later known as the Kirov Ballet) from 1931-37. She played a pivotal role in the rebirth of Russian ballet, and her teaching method has gained unparalleled fame throughout the world. She published the 1st edition of her classic book, Foundations of Classical Ballet, in 1934 and this 3rd edition in 1948. Bruce Michelson performed worldwide as a dancer with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Hamburg Ballet, Ballet Rambert, Geneva Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater. He has served as balletmaster and guest teacher for dance companies across Europe and is now Professor at Italy s National Academy of Dance. Correspondent for Dance Europe magazine since 2003, he has also translated numerous dance texts from various languages into English, including Flavia Pappacena s The Language of Classical Ballet. Aleksandr Wilansky was trained in the Vaganova and Tarasov Methods and has had a long career as a dancer, actor, writer and theater director. He is a specialist in Diaghilev-era repertoire and was assistant to the balletmaster Nicolai Beriosoff. In 1996, the Polish Government awarded him the Nijinsky Medal, in recognition of his life's work in preserving, producing and educating in the world of dance.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780486220369
ISBN 10	0486220362
Title	Basic Principles of Classical Ballet
Author	Agrippina Vaganova
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Dover Publications Inc.
Year published	1969-06-01
Number of pages	175
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable