Oleg Mikhailovich Vinogradov (russian: Оле́г Миха́йлович Виногра́дов; born 1 August 1937) is a Russian former dancer, choreographer and
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 ...
director. He graduated from the
Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet
The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet is a school of classical ballet in St Petersburg, Russia. Established in 1738 during the reign of Empress Anna, the academy was known as the Imperial Ballet School until the Soviet era, when, after a brief hi ...
under
Alexander Ivanovich Pushkin and went on to become a
choreographer
Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...
, working with some of the
Soviet Union
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 national ...
's most important ballet companies, including the
Kirov Ballet
The Mariinsky Ballet (russian: Балет Мариинского театра) is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russ ...
and the
Bolshoi Ballet
The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest ballet companies. In the early 20th century, it came to internatio ...
. In the early 1970s he was artistic director and chief choreographer at the
Maly Theatre Ballet
The Mikhailovsky Theatre (russian: Миха́йловский теа́тр) is one of Russia's oldest opera and ballet houses. It was founded in 1833 and is situated in a historical building on 1, Arts Square in Saint Petersburg. It is named a ...
, and became artistic director of the Kirov Ballet in 1977. During this period, relations between the Soviet Union and the United States grew warmer, and the Kirov Ballet embarked on several US tours for the first time in decades. Vinogradov became the first Soviet ballet master to invite
Maurice Béjart
Maurice Béjart (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French-born dancer, choreographer and opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, talking vast th ...
and
Roland Petit
Roland Petit (13 January 192410 July 2011) was a French ballet company director, choreographer and dancer. He trained at the Paris Opera Ballet school, and became well known for his creative ballets.
Life and work
The son of shoe designer Ros ...
to stage works for the Kirov, and also helped to bring authorized productions of
George Balanchine
George Balanchine (;
Various sources:
*
*
*
* born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...
's ballets to Russia for the first time. He 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 1983.
Early career
Oleg Vinogradov was born in Leningrad on 1 August 1937. At the age of 20 he graduated from the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, then called the Leningrad Choreographic School, where he studied under Aleksandr Pushkin. Between 1958 and 1965, Vinogradov was a
character dancer with a company in
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...
. He later began
choreographing short ballet scenes for
operas
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...
. He staged several
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 ...
s as an assistant ballet master to
Pyotr Gusev
Pyotr Andreyevich Gusev (russian: Пётр Андреевич Гусев) was a ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. He was born on 29 December, 1904 in St. Petersburg. He studied at the St. Petersburg School of Choreography under . He was a ...
, including
Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer ...
's ''
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
'' and ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'' in 1964 and 1965 respectively.
His first two stagings of classic Prokofiev ballets were well received in Russia and he was invited to stage two productions for Russia's largest ballet companies: the Bolshoi Ballet and the Kirov Ballet. In 1967, he staged a relatively unknown ballet called ''Asel'', with music by
Vladimir Vlasov
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Vlasov (russian: Владимир Александрович Власов; 7 January 1903, Moscow – 7 September 1986, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian composer and conductor. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory from ...
, for the Bolshoi, and in 1968 he staged ''Goryanka'' for the Kirov. He received a position with the Kirov as a choreographer and in 1973 he became the artistic director and chief choreographer of the Maly Theatre Ballet.
Artistic director of Kirov Ballet
When Vinogradov became artistic director of the Kirov Ballet in 1977, he fired over half the dancers at the company, and hired younger dancers.
Also in 1977, Vinogradov restaged
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
's ''
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, ...
''. He said he tried to "return to
Petipa's original conception, and to remove the numerous superfluous elements and distortions that have crept in". He worked on this ballet with Soviet historian Yuri Slonimsky who, according to Vinogradov, had access to
Petipa's original scores which he says made it possible to "rectify many mistakes".
In 1986 the company performed in the United States for the first time in 22 years, during a period of thawing relations between the US and Soviet Union.
Natalia Makarova
Natalia Romanovna Makarova (russian: Ната́лия Рома́новна Мака́рова, born 21 November 1940) is a Russian prima ballerina and choreographer. ''The History of Dance'', published in 1981, notes that "her performances set ...
, who had defected from the Kirov in 1970, was allowed to dance with the Russian company again, and Russian dancers were able to make appearances with leading companies in the United States.
Under
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
's relaxed policies, Vinogradov could make independent decisions about the company's repertoire (in the past the repertoire had to be approved by a committee).
The company toured with only 39 dancers in 1987, performing excerpts rather than full-length ballets. The choreographers represented on this tour included Boris Eifmann, Dmitry Bryantsev and an excerpt from
Béjart
Béjart is the name of several French actors of the 17th century.
Family
The four actors listed here were children, and grandchildren, of Marie Hérve and Joseph Béjart (died 1643), the holder of a small government post. There were 10 children ...
's ''
Notre Faust''.
During their 1989 tour of the United States, the Kirov performed a wide range of classical and contemporary works including ''
Le Corsaire'',
Tchaikovsky's ''
The Sleeping Beauty'', and ''
Paquita
''Paquita'' is a ballet in two acts and three scenes originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to music by Édouard Deldevez and Ludwig Minkus. Paul Foucher received royalties as librettist.
History
''Paquita'' is the creation of French compo ...
'' (with music by
Ludwig Minkus
Ludwig Minkus (russian: link=no, Людвиг Минкус), also known as Léon Fyodorovich Minkus (23 March 1826, Vienna – 7 December 1917, Vienna), was a Jewish-Austrian composer of ballet music, a violin virtuoso and teacher.
Minkus is no ...
). They also performed an original ballet by Vinogradov called ''Battleship Potemkin'' and two ballets choreographed by
George Balanchine
George Balanchine (;
Various sources:
*
*
*
* born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...
: ''
Scotch Symphony
''Scotch Symphony'' is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3, "Scottish". The ballet is inspired by Scotland, and evokes the style of the romantic ballet era, particularly ''La Sylphide'', which is set in Sc ...
'' and ''
Theme and Variations
In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve melody, rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.
Variation techniques
Mozart's Twelve ...
''.
The Kirov Ballet had never performed any Balanchine ballets prior to 1989. The
Balanchine Trust only allows Balanchine's works to be performed when the staging is supervised by a ballet master who has been trained in the "Balanchine style". Vinogradov helped bring authorized productions of Balanchine's ballets to Russia for the first time.
Vinogradov also became the first Soviet ballet master to invite
Maurice Béjart
Maurice Béjart (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French-born dancer, choreographer and opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, talking vast th ...
and
Roland Petit
Roland Petit (13 January 192410 July 2011) was a French ballet company director, choreographer and dancer. He trained at the Paris Opera Ballet school, and became well known for his creative ballets.
Life and work
The son of shoe designer Ros ...
to stage works for the Kirov.
In 1991, the ''Washington Post'' wrote that the company had begun to "free itself of its Communist shackles" and "open its doors to Western artists and influences".
Regarding the challenges that
Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor (born William Cook; 4 April 1908 – 19 April 1987) was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer. He founded the London Ballet, and later the Philadelphia Ballet Guild in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., in the mid-1950 ...
's choreography had presented for the
Russian ballet
Russian ballet (russian: Русский балет) (french: Ballet russe) is a form of ballet characteristic of or originating from Russia.
Imperial Russian Ballet
Until 1689, ballet in Russia was nonexistent (ballet has its origins in the cour ...
dancers, Vinogradov said that "Tudor is more difficult for our dancers than even Balanchine. ... Tudor's plastic, impulsive, off-balance approach to the upper torso, head and arms is more problematic for us." He remarked that he had been particularly impressed by Lupe Serrano's dancing in Tudor's ''
Lilac Garden''".
By 1991 the company roster had declined from 21 principal dancers to only 10, and several well-known dancers were no longer dancing with the company, including
Farukh Ruzimatov
Farukh Sadullayevich Ruzimatov (russian: Фару́х Садулла́евич Рузима́тов; born 26 June 1963) is an Uzbek-Russian ballet dancer. Since 2018, Ruzimatov has been artistic director of the ballet company at Navoi Theatre i ...
,
Galina Mezentseva
Galina Sergeyevna Mezentseva (russian: Галина Серге́евна Мéзенцева, born 8 November 1952, Tolyatti, Stavropol) is a Russian ballerina, with a career as professional classic dancer from the early 1970s to the late 1990s. Mez ...
and Yelena Pankova. When the Kirov toured the US that year
Andris Liepa
Andris Liepa (russian: Андрис Ма́рисович Лие́па; born Moscow, USSR, 6 January 1962) is a Russian ballet dancer, director and producer of Latvian ethnicity. He is the son of former Bolshoi Ballet dancer Māris Liepa.
Biog ...
, Veronika Ivanova and
Igor Zelensky
Igor Anatolyevich Zelensky (''also trans.'' Zelenski; rus, Игорь Анатольевич Зеленский; born 13 July 1969) is a Russian ballet dancer.
Early life
Zelensky was born on 13 July 1969, in Labinsk, Russian SFSR. He was a ...
were among the new additions to the company's ranks.
The Kirov Academy of Ballet
The
Kirov Academy of Ballet
The Kirov Academy of Ballet (formerly the Universal Ballet Academy) was a ballet school in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1989. It closed in May 2022 due to financial issues.
Facilities
The Kirov is located on a 1.2 acre campus in northeas ...
, formerly called the Universal Ballet Academy (UBA), opened in Washington DC in 1990. The Gorbachov era policy of
glasnost
''Glasnost'' (; russian: link=no, гласность, ) has several general and specific meanings – a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information, the inadmissibility of hushing up problems, ...
made it possible for Vinogradov to retain his position as artistic director of the Kirov Ballet in Russia, and also spend four months per year in the United States to serve as director of UBA. Though not a teacher at the school himself, Vinogradov appointed four Russian teachers to teach a curriculum based on the Russian Vaganova syllabus: Ludmila Sakharova, Nikolai Morozov, Ludmilla Morkovina and Azari Plissetski.
Post-Kirov
Vinogradov's style of directorship proved controversial and in 1997
Valery Gergiev
Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (russian: Вале́рий Абиса́лович Ге́ргиев, ; os, Гергиты Абисалы фырт Валери, Gergity Abisaly fyrt Valeri; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conductor and opera company d ...
took over directorship of the ballet theatre.
In 1998 Vinogradov became director of the
Universal Ballet
The Universal Ballet was founded in Seoul, South Korea in 1984. One of only five professional ballet companies in South Korea, the company performs a repertory that includes many full length classical story ballets, together with shorter contempora ...
in Seoul, as well as the Kirov Ballet School in Washington DC, and he has staged some productions such as ''La Fille mal gardée'' for the Stanislavsky Ballet. He left Seoul Ballet in 2008 to join the Mikhailovsky Ballet as an associate choreographer.
Recent years
Vinogradov continues to teach and choreograph. He has been a guest teacher and choreographer at the
International Youth Ballet Festival, in conjunction with Classical Dance Alliance, run by ballet pedagogue,
Janet L Springer.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vinogradov, Oleg
Artistic directors
Ballet choreographers
Vaganova graduates
1937 births
People's Artists of the USSR
Living people