Ninel Aleksandrovna Kurgapkina (russian: Нинель Александровна Кургапкина; 13 February 1929,
Leningrad – 10 May 2009,
Beloostrov) was a Soviet and Russian dance teacher and former
prima ballerina for the
Kirov Ballet with over 50 years stage experience. She was named a
People's Artist of the USSR
People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union.
Nomenclature and significan ...
in 1974.
Ninel Kurgapkina was one of the last pupils of
Agrippina Vaganova. She graduated her ballet school and joined the
Kirov Ballet in 1947, where she danced such roles as Aurora (''
The Sleeping Beauty''), Myrtha (''
Giselle
''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, ...
''), Odette-Odile (''
Swan Lake
''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...
''), Kitri (''
Don Quixote''), Jeanne (''
Flames of Paris'') and Parasha (''
The Bronze Horseman'').
Despite their age difference, Ninel Kurgapkina was the first female ballet partner to
Rudolf Nureyev, and later also to
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov ( rus, Михаил Николаевич Барышников, p=mʲɪxɐˈil bɐ'rɨʂnʲɪkəf; lv, Mihails Barišņikovs; born January 28, 1948) is a Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Latvian-born R ...
, both of whom were trained at the Kirov.
[
From 1969 she was a primary coach at the Kirov and also taught master classes at institutions including the New York City Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, and the La Scala Opera Ballet. She was appointed a director of the Vaganova Academy in 1972. She was an Associate Ballet Mistress at the Masterpiece Dance Theatre since 1994.][
She died, aged 80, in a road accident in Beloostrov, on 10 May 2009.][
]
See also
* List of Russian ballet dancers
References
External links
Biodata (Ballerinagallery.com)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurgapkina, Ninel
1929 births
2009 deaths
20th-century Russian ballet dancers
Dancers from Saint Petersburg
Honored Artists of the RSFSR
People's Artists of the RSFSR
People's Artists of the USSR
Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Ballet teachers
Mariinsky Ballet dancers
Prima ballerinas
Vaganova graduates
Russian ballerinas
Soviet ballerinas
Pedestrian road incident deaths
Road incident deaths in Russia