#ayupova

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Zhanna Ayupova and Farukh Ruzimatov. “Swan Lake” rehearsal at Opera Garnier. Photos were taken by Daniel Cande during the Mariinsky’s tour in Paris. 1990.

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Zhanna Ayupova and Stanislav Belyaevsky in the Mariinsky’s production of “Cinderella”. 1980s.

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On November 17, as part of the VI St Petersburg International Cultural Forum, Vaganova Ballet Academy teachers received awards for their hard work. The awards ceremony took place at the Hermitage Theatre.

The following Vaganova Ballet Academy teachers received the award this year:

Irina Babaeva

Maria Gribanova

Yulia Zaitseva

Lyudmila Kamolova

Irina Sitnikova

Yulia Rozental (music)

Irina Tsaregradskaya (music)

During the same ceremony, Vaganova Ballet Academy Artistic Director, Zhanna Ayupova, was formally presented with a book about her, which the academy prepared (in secret) for her 50th birthday.

Photos by Viktor Vasiliev and Pavel Markin.

s o u r s e  ( r u )

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Zhanna Ayupova as Princess Aurora in the Mariinsky Theatre’s production of “Sleeping Beauty”. The 1980s.

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Today, October the 12th is the birthday of Zhanna Ayupova, the wonderful ballerina and Artistic Director of Vaganova Ballet Academy. Happy birthday!

Zhanna Ayupova was born in Petrozavodsk. In 1984 she graduated from the Leningrad Choreographic School (now Vaganova Ballet Academy), class of Ninel Kurgapkina. After graduation, she was invited to become a member of the Kirov Ballet Company (now Mariinsky Theatre). From 1987 Zhanna Aupova appeared as a featured soloist with the company, preforming both lyrical and dramatic parts. From 2000 to 2013 she had been coaching ballet dancers at the Mikhailovsky Theatre.

In 2013 Ayupova was appointed First Vice-Rector and Artistic Director of Vaganova Ballet Academy.

Over the course of her dance career Zhanna Ayupova has performed a great number of roles in major classical and neo-classical works. Her most prominent roles include Giselle (”Giselle”), Princess Aurora (”The Sleeping Beauty”), Marie (”The Nutcracker”), Raymonda (”Raymonda”), Kitri (”Don Quixote”), Nikiya (”La Bayadère”), Odette/Odile (”Swan Lake”), Manon (”Manon”), Soloist (”Theme and Variations”), Soloist (”Symphony in C”), Terpsichore (”Apollo”), Young Lady (”Le Spectre de la Rose”) and many others.

Zhanna Ayupova at Vaganova Ballet Academy, the late 1970s:

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Zhanna Ayupova on Nikolai Tsiskaridze

Nikolai Tsiskaridze was appointed Acting Rector of Vaganova Ballet Academy on the 28th of October 2013 (a move which was not at all controversial and caused no drama whatsoever). He was eventually formally elected as the Rector by the academy’s staff on the 29th of November 2014.

Ever since that fateful day, the academy has held a celebration on the anniversary of Nikolai’s appointment. In 2016, the staff produced a book which looked back on Tsiskaridze’s past three years at the academy. A single copy was printed and presented to Nikolai as a gift, while digital copies became available online.

The book included messages from Vaganova Ballet Academy teachers. I translated some of them.

“As I see it, Nikolai Maximovich possess one of the most important qualities: not only does he know how this or that movement or combination should be performed, but he can teach the students how to perform them, and he always achieves the desired result. You can see it in the achievements of our students and the graduation performances, where every participant knows exactly what they’re doing.

For the graduation performances, he selects a wide repertoire which only the world’s leading companies are capable of performing. This way, our students get tremendous amounts of practice in the corps. Not everyone is going to become a soloist in the future. We prepare artists who are familiar with the repertoire and know how to dance as a group.” - Zhanna Ayupova

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Nikolai Tsiskaridze and Zhanna Ayupova (Rector and Artistic Director of Vaganova Ballet Academy respectively) a taking a bow after the June 14 graduation performance at the Mariinsky Theatre. Photos by Aleksander Ku.

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Nikolai Tsiskaridze, Zhanna Ayupova, Svetlana Zakharova and Vaganova Ballet Academy students Eleonora Sevenard and Egor Gerashchenko after the International Gala at La Scala yesterday.