Asaf Mikhailovich Messerer (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Асаф Михайлович Мессерер, November 19, 1903 - March 7, 1992) was a highly influential

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...

and ballet

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. He was born in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. From 1919 until 1921 he trained as a dancer at the Moscow Bolshoi Ballet School. He then joined the

Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, literally "Big Theater", p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈatər) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and ope ...

, where he became one of its most important principal soloists, a position he retired from in 1954. Today Messerer is best remembered as a choreographer and an instructor; he was both the choreographer and ballet master for the Bolshoi Theatre. His book ''Classes in Classical Ballet'' is a thorough study of proper ballet technique and is still used today. Messerer was the brother of Sulamith Messerer and

Rachel Messerer Rachel Mikhailovna Messerer-Plisetskaya (russian: Рахиль Михайловна Мессерер-Плисецкая; 4 March 1902 – 20 March 1993), also known by her stage name Ra Messerer, was a Russian silent film and theatre actress ...

and the uncle of

Maya Plisetskaya Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya (russian: link=no, Майя Михайловна Плисецкая; 20 November 1925 – 2 May 2015) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer, choreographer, ballet director, and actress. In post-Soviet times, she he ...

Alexander Plisetski Alexander Mikhailovich Plisetski (russian: Александр Михайлович Плисецкий) (20 October 1931 — 29 October 1985) was a Russian ballet master and choreographer and a younger brother of the famous Russian ballerina Maya ...

and Azari Plisetski, as well as of Mikhail Messerer. He was married to

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

star,

Anel Sudakevich Anel Sudakevich (born Anna Alekseyevna Sudakevich; Russian: Анель Судакевич; December 27, 1906 – September 22, 2002) was a Soviet silent film actress. Anna was born in a Belarusians, Belarusian-Polish people, Polish family. She wa ...

(russian: Анель Судакевич). They had one son, Boris Messerer (russian: Борис Мессерер). He won multiple awards from the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and from

External links

* Asaf Messerer, soloist (1940):
Ribbon Dance
', Music by Reinhold Gliere (1875-1956), Choreography by Messerer and Lashchulin, Open Source Movies
Archive film of Asaf Messerer's Spring Waters in 1979 at Jacob's Pillow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Messerer, Asaf 1903 births 1992 deaths Dancers from Vilnius People from Vilensky Uyezd Plisetski–Messerer family Lithuanian Jews Soviet male ballet dancers Ballet choreographers Soviet choreographers Ballet teachers Soviet educators Jewish dancers Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples People's Artists of the USSR People's Artists of the RSFSR Stalin Prize winners Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery

See also

External links