Tatjana Gsovsky (/''Tatjana Wassiljewna Gsowskaja'', born Issatschenko ; 18 March 1901 – 29 September 1993) was an internationally known ballet dancer and choreographer who was ballet mistress of the

Berlin State Opera The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the De ...

and

Oper Frankfurt The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Shrek's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, '' Fennimore und Gerda'' by Frede ...

. An influential teacher, she is remembered for first choreographies of works by contemporary composers including

Boris Blacher Boris Blacher (30 January 1975) was a German composer and librettist. Life Blacher was born when his parents (of German-Estonian and Russian backgrounds) were living within a Russian-speaking community in the Manchurian town of Niuzhuang () (he ...

Werner Egk Werner Egk (, 17 May 1901 – 10 July 1983), born Werner Joseph Mayer, was a German composer. Early career He was born in the Swabian town of Auchsesheim, today part of Donauwörth, Germany. His family, of Catholic peasant stock, moved to Augs ...

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as t ...

Giselher Klebe Giselher Wolfgang Klebe (28 June 19255 October 2009) was a German composer, and an academic teacher. He composed more than 140 works, among them 14 operas, all based on literary works, eight symphonies, 15 solo concerts, chamber music, piano w ...

Luigi Nono Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...

and

Carl Orff Carl Orff (; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator, best known for his cantata ''Carmina Burana'' (1937). The concepts of his Schulwerk were influential for children's music education. Life Early life Car ...

Career

Tatjana Issatschenko was born in Moscow and studied there, first

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

. She studied ballet in the studio of

Isadora Duncan Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877 or May 27, 1878 – September 14, 1927) was an American dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance, who performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the US. Born and raised in ...

in St. Petersburg. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, she worked as a ballet trainer in

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern ...

, where she met her colleague

Victor Gsovsky Victor Gsovsky (russian: Виктор Иванович Гзовский; 12 January 1902, Saint Petersburg - 14 March 1974, Hamburg) was a Russian ballet dancer, teacher, balletmaster and choreographer. Biography He studied with Mariinsky Theatre ...

. They got married and emigrated to Berlin in 1924. From 1928 they ran a private ballet school. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she was from 1945 to 1951 the ballet mistress at the ''Deutsche Staatsoper'' (

) (which was from 1949 in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

), where she created a new company. From 1952 to 1953 she served in that function at the

in Buenos Aires, from 1953 to 1966 at the

(then in

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

) and from 1959 to 1966 also at the

. In 1955, Gsovsky founded the ''Berliner Ballett'', a troupe touring in Europe with modern ''

Tanztheater The German Tanztheater ("dance theatre") grew out of German Expressionist dance in Weimar Germany and 1920s Vienna. The term first appears around 1927 to identify a particular style of dance emerging from within the new forms of 'expressionist da ...

'' on a classical base. She died in Berlin and received an

Ehrengrab An ''Ehrengrab'' (English: 'grave of honor') is a distinction granted by certain German, Swiss and Austrian cities to some of their citizens for extraordinary services or achievements in their lifetimes. If there are no descendants or instituti ...

(honorary grave) on the

Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf (Zehlendorf forest cemetery) is a cemetery located in Berlin's Nikolassee district. The cemetery occupies an area of 376,975 m2. An additional Italian war cemetery was created there in 1953. A number of notable people of Ber ...

Work

Gsovsky created choreographies that dominated the dance scene in Germany for 20 years, in a synthesis of classical ballet with elements of ''

Ausdruckstanz ''Expressive dance'' from German ''Ausdruckstanz'', is a form of artistic dance in which the individual and artistic presentation (and sometimes also processing) of feelings is an essential part. It emerged as a counter-movement to classi ...

'', including findings of

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

. She was the first to create choreographies of

's ''Der Idiot'' (Berlin, 1952), Carl Orff's ''

Trionfo di Afrodite ''Trionfo di Afrodite'' (Italian for ''Triumph of Aphrodite'') is a cantata written in 1951 by the German composer Carl Orff. It is the third and final installment in the '' Trionfi'' musical trilogy, which also includes ''Carmina Burana'' (1937) ...

'' (Milan, 1953),

's ''Die chinesische Nachtigall'' (Munich, 1953),

's ''Der rote Mantel'' (''The Red Cloak'', Berlin, 1954),

Henri Sauguet Henri-Pierre Sauguet-Poupard (18 May 1901 – 22 June 1989) was a French composer. Born in Bordeaux, he adopted his mother's maiden name as part of his professional pseudonym. His output includes operas, ballets, four symphonies (1945, 1949, ...

's ''Die Kameliendame'' (Berlin, 1957),

's Menagerie (Berlin, 1958),

Florian Leopold Gassmann Florian Leopold Gassmann (3 May 1729 – 21 January 1774) was a German-speaking Bohemian opera composer of the transitional period between the baroque and classical eras. He was one of the principal composers of '' dramma giocoso'' immed ...

's ''Paean'' (Berlin, 1960), and

's ''Tristan'' (Berlin, 1965). She staged the German premieres of Prokofiev's ''

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 ...

'' (Berlin, 1948) and Weill's ''

The Seven Deadly Sins The seven deadly sins is a classification of vices used in Christian teachings. Seven deadly sins may also refer to: Art * ''The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things'', a 1485 painting by Hieronymus Bosch * '' The Seven Deadly Sins of Moder ...

'' (Frankfurt, 1960). Gsovsky wrote the book ''Ballett in Deutschland'' (Berlin, 1954).

Teacher

One of Gsovsky's most successful students was Natascha Trofimowa who attended her Berlin school and later danced in the ballets she choreographed at the

Awards

Berliner Kunstpreis The ''Berliner Kunstpreis'' (Berlin Art Prize), officially Großer Berliner Kunstpreis, is a prize for the arts by the City of Berlin. It was first awarded in 1948 in several fields of art. Since 1971, it has been awarded by the Academy of Arts ( ...

of the ''

Akademie der Künste The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The Academy's predecessor organization was fo ...

'' (1954) *Member of the ''Akademie der Künste'' (1955) *

Bundesverdienstkreuz The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

(1969) *

Honorary Professor Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in m ...

(20 May 1976) *

Deutscher Tanzpreis The Deutscher Tanzpreis (German Dance Prize) is a prestigious prize for artistic dance in Germany. It has been awarded annually since 1983. The ''Deutscher Berufsverband für Tanzpädagogik'' awarded the prize until 2012. From 2013 to 2017, it wa ...

(1983) *Honorary member of the ''Deutsche Akademie des Tanzes, Köln'' (1987) *

Order of Merit of Berlin The Order of Merit of Berlin (german: Verdienstorden des Landes Berlin) is this highest award of the German State of Berlin. Awarded in the name of the Senate of Berlin, the order had recognized outstanding contributions to the State of Berlin sin ...

(16 December 1992)

Literature

* * *

References

External links

*
Gsovsky, Tatjana
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gsovsky, Tatjana Ballerinas 1901 births 1993 deaths Russian ballerinas German ballerinas German women choreographers Berlin State Opera 20th-century German musicians Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin Burials at the Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf 20th-century German women 20th-century German ballet dancers