Ulanova Biography Ballet

St. Petersburg 2nd Krasnoarmeyskaya St. The People's Artist of the USSR, twice the Hero of Socialist Labor, she struck with his spirituality in the performances “Swan Lake”, “Giselle”, “Romeo and Juliet” and others. She applauded the General Secretaries and the Presidents, the Queen and the Prime Ministers. She devoted her whole life to the ballet, and then to her students, the first of whom was Ekaterina Maksimova.

She died at the age of 88 after two strokes. The legendary ballerina Galina Ulanova childhood, youth, family Galina was born on January 8 of the year in a new style in the family of Petersburgers Sergey Ulanova and Maria Romanova. The girl’s parents were the soloists of the Mariinsky Theater, danced in the entreprise of Anna Pavlova. Later, Sergei Nikolaevich became theater director, and Maria Fedorovna began teaching at the choreographic school.

From the youngerness, Galya was brought up in many respects as a boy: dad often took her with him for fishing, taught to catch fish not only with a fishing rod, but also with a network. The girl dreamed of becoming a sailor and did not even think of any ballet. But the hungry year has come, and at the school of future ballerinas at least fed, dressed and shod.

So at the age of nine, Galya began to study choreography. I was too small when I was brought to the school on Rossi Street. Then there was no need to think about any other business. On the first lesson, Ulanova came in an overwhelmed dress that her mother used to wear. It was mom, Maria Fedorovna, who became the first ballet teacher Gali. Later, the girl began to study with Agrippina Vaganova.

The girl showed remarkable perseverance in the classroom, other teachers also noted her talent. At the age of 18, having completed her studies, Ulanova entered the service in the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater named after Sergey Kirov later returned to him the name Mariinsky. She immediately became a soloist, debuting in the party of Florin from the "sleeping beauty." Galina told about her debut: no thoughts, no other feeling, except for fear and the desire to do everything just as you were taught, I did not even experience any pleasure from the performance.

For the first earned money, the novice ballerina bought cakes in the Nord cafe - so she noted her debut. In the year, she was already entrusted with the parties of Odette and Odillia in the "Swan Lake" and Princess Aurora in the "sleeping beauty". Galina did not immediately work out. But the head of the ballet troupe Fedor Lopukhov believed in her talent and entrusted her with the most difficult party in technical terms.

Galina Ulanova is dancing, the year of the newsreel, the creative career gradually began to reincarnate in her heroines not only externally, but also internally. Especially bright in this regard was her Giselle from the production of the same name. Working on the creation of the image, Galina intuitively conveyed his greatness and integrity, embodied the spiritual power of the heroine on the stage.

It was said that when many years later the ballerina spoke in London in front of Elizabeth II, the audience in the final of the performance forgot about etiquette in relation to their queen and rushed to the stage, without stopping applauding. Few people noticed how the crowned person left the hall. The fateful for Ulanova was a meeting with Sergey Prokofiev, the author of music for the ballet Romeo and Juliet.

In Moscow, they refused to stand such a performance, he came to Leningrad, to the former Mariinka. The artistic director Leonid Lavrovsky agreed to put the ballet by appointing Galina Ulanova to the main party. She was already thirty, but, fragile and airy, she approached the role perfectly, although she did not understand at first what and how to do such unusual music, unlike the soft, light music of Tchaikovsky, through which it was easier to express love and drama.

But Ulanova coped brilliantly, although for a long time she recalled her torment and work on the image for a long time: the performance is very unusual, this was not there before. Then I also said to Prokofiev: “I did not understand you in romance, in a love topic, but I couldn’t do anything now in the second part of Romeo and Juliet, in the dramatic things, which the heroine later went if there weren’t your music.” In particular, the whole last act, when it all trembles completely, is unknown why and only in death is a way out to her.

And here is the music that makes you be trembling. I am still a more lyrical dancer. And thanks to Prokofiev, it turns out, it became dramatic. I myself became different. Later, the composer, shocked by the talent of Ulanova, especially for her wrote music for the Cinderella ballet, but she danced the party only five years later, in the victorious year on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.

During the Great Patriotic War, Galina went with performances in hospitals of different cities. She was evacuated with the theater to the Urals, but went to Alma-Ata, where she worked at the local theater. Then she was awarded the title of People's Artist of the Kazakh SSR. By the end of the war, the ballerina was transferred from the Party Central Committee to Moscow, to the Bolshoi Theater.

She repeatedly said that she would never move from her hometown, but could not resist the decision of the great authorities.It was the scene of the Bolshoi Theater that brought Ulanova world fame. Almost immediately, she became a prima, danced the party of Maria in the Bakhchisarai Fountain, Giseli, Lebed and Odetta in Lake Lebedin. For the first time she went abroad and danced on the stage of the Vienna Theater.

The shock for the audience was her Cinderella from the performance of the same name, the premiere of which took place in the fall of the year. The audience was conquered by a simple, kind and cheerful heroine, and the ballerina's partner Yuri Zhdanov recalled: ... it turned out to be a large ceremonial performance with a rich and diverse choreography.

Galina Sergeevna played the role of Cinderella, this was one of her first roles on the scene of the Bolshoi. In the image of her heroine, realistic and fabulous features were remarkably combined. In my opinion, the whole surroundings of Cinderella were overly natural in the fashion of that time, which in some places destroyed the charm of a fairy tale. But Ulanova’s talent overcame everything.

The romantic “star waltz” and the final duet of Cinderella and the prince, whose excellent performer was Mikhail Gabovich, remained in the memory. Galina Ulanov began to be called the genius of Russian ballet, his soul and poetic truth. She was written letters, expressing their admiration, and ordinary workers, and famous people. So, Boris Pasternak admitted that during the viewing of Cinderella, he cried, because he felt a truly large and clean side by side.

And Sergey Eisenstein called the ballerina "the spirit of God" and "miraculously." Ulanova herself, with all the praises and a huge number of state awards, remained modest and even shy, did not like noisy big celebrations, preferring to spend his free time in nature. In the year, a legend during the life of the ballerina announced the end of the dancer’s career by the Chopenian ballet.

After that, Galina Sergeevna switched to pedagogical activity. Her very first student was Ekaterina Maksimova, then Vladimir Vasiliev joined her, although Ulanova worked mainly with girls. Ulanov was invited to the jury of international competitions, where she also opened new names, including Marisa Liepa. The merits of Galina Ulanova in the ballet are so great that in honor of her they released the postal brand of Galina Ulanova, one of the permanent partners of Ulanova on the stage of the Kirov Theater was Konstantin Sergeyev, with whom she perfectly danced in Giseli, and then in Romeo and Juliet.

Their duet was struck by his harmony on the stage, and those who knew a couple are closer, said that there was a serious and deep feeling between them, despite the fact that Sergeyev always called Ulanov on "you". When the war began, their paths parted, but they always spoke about each other with great warmth. Konstantin himself no longer became a couple with anyone in the play "Romeo and Juliet." Galina Sergeevna herself did not like to spread to topics of her personal life, considered it too intimate moment.

But rumors about her novels, actual marriages and the only official marriage were spread very quickly. It was rumored that for the first time the ballerina married the accompanist Isaac Melikovsky, who was much older than her, then seventeen years old. They lived together not for long. Actor Yuri Zavadsky met Galina on vacation in Barvikha in the thirties and arrived in Leningrad to ask her hands and hearts.

The couple lived together for quite some time, although this marriage could be called more than guest: Yuri lived with his mother, Galina in his apartment, they rarely met. Ulanova herself once said about the nature of the relationship with her husband: and this is not because we were not interested in each other, on the contrary, two creative people only, in my opinion, can exist.

He came to me to rest. We even talked a little, he just sat in a chair opposite the TV and watched it for a long time. He was just enough of my presence. Again, these are just episodes. Our life consisted of his work and my work. It is difficult to talk about it, this is mine, intimate. The ballerina also had other novels: with actor and director Ivan Bersenev, who for her gap with his wife, actress Sofia Giacintova.

For the sake of two years of relations with Ulanova, a man sacrificed thirty -five years of family life. Galina also met with conductor Evgeny Dubovsky for a short time, then with the artist of the Bolshoi Theater Vadim Ryndin.

With the latter, she parted because of his addiction to alcohol. Ulanova knew how to maintain friendly relations with former lover, for example, Ryndin, after parting, gave all books on art from her library, and did not divide officially with Zavadsky. Death and memory, even in the last years of life, the ballerina gave master classes, wanted to write memoirs.

She lived, as before, in an apartment on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment with a companion - journalist Tatyana Agafonova. Agafonova took over all the household chores, fenced Ulanov from uninvited visitors. Galina Sergeevna called her a daughter and did not pay attention to gossipers who saw in her relationship with Tatyana something more.When Agafonova died of cancer at sixty years old, Ulanova grieved about her as a native child, whom she was never allowed to give birth.

According to the artist herself, her parents opposed the birth of children, as this could harm her career. The ballerina survived her named daughter for only four years. She was 88 years old, and she had two strokes one by one. Numerous fans of her human and professional talent, including famous politicians and actors, said goodbye to the legend of the world ballet in the White Hall of the Bolshoi Theater on March 25.

On the same day, she was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery near the grave of Yuri Nikulin. Even during the life of the great ballerina, two monuments were erected-in St. Petersburg and Stockholm.