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Oleg Vinogradov

The Golden Age of Russian dance, music, and art was dramatically impacted by the seminal figure Oleg Vinogradov. Vinogradov modernized Russian ballet, brought the Kirov-Mariinsky Ballet Theatre back to world renown, and tore down artificial East-West walls by bringing the choreography of artists such as Balanchine, Bournonville, and Béjart to Russia and by bringing the Kirov Company itself to the west for the first time in decades. During the Soviet Glasnost, as communism gave way to capitalism, Vinogradov plunged into the resulting artistic freedom. Vinogradov, now with the St. Petersburg (Russia) Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory, celebrates the 150th Anniversary of the prestigious conservatory and Russia's modern dance history. Vinogradov's longstanding artistic vision is a significant contributing factor in the worldwide revitalization that ballet has seen in the last half-century. He has defined, re-defined, and revitalized Russian ballet more than any other single person of the 20th Century, impacting the ballet world as a dancer, choreographer, painter, and international impresario. Vinogradov is Dean of Musical Theater Direction and Choreography Department at the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory and Artistic Director St. Petersburg Conservatory Ballet.

Early Life and Career

Born in Leningrad 1937, Oleg Vinogradov studied at the prestigious Leningrad Ballet School (now the Vaganova Academy) as a student of Aleksandr Pushkin, graduating in 1958. From there, he joined the Siberian Novosibirsk Ballet as a dancer and became assistant Ballet Master to Pytor Andreievich Gusev, with whom he created his first ballets. In 1961 Vinogradov became Ballet Master at the Novosibirsk Theatre, and created his first important, and decidedly new, ballet stagings of Prokofiev's Cinderella (1964) and Romeo and Juliet (1965) later bringing it to the Kirov/Mariinsky. Critics from Moscow and Leningrad issued the verdict of a "professional birth of daring and original choreographic talents." Vinogradov developed a symbolic movement vocabulary that portrayed a depth of meaning beyond the classic physical lines of beauty. Drawing from earlier training as a visual artist, he first created sketches as the basis for his choreography and later developed actual movements in the rehearsal studio. At the time, Vinogradov declared, "The spectator that comes to the ballet only to admire the beauty of the dancing is robbing himself. Modern Ballet can and should excite not only feelings but thoughts as well." His fresh and even radical productions brought Vinogradov much attention from throughout Russia. In 1967 the preeminent Bolshoi Ballet invited him to stage Asel, music by V. Vlasov, and in 1968 the Kirov Ballet asked him to stage Goryanka (A Mountain Maiden) with music by M. Kashlaiev, and later Coppelia, music by L. Delibes, at the Maly (now Mikhailovsky) Theatre of Opera and Ballet, 1975. From 1968 to 1972 he choreographed for the Kirov Ballet and from 1973 to 1977 he was appointed Artistic Director and Chief Choreographer of the Maly Ballet Theatre. His experimentation here did much to restore the theatre's reputation for innovation and daring.

In 1977 he accepted the position of Artistic Director and Chief Ballet Master of the Kirov (now Mariinsky) Ballet. Here he made drastic and sometimes controversial changes with a mind to revive the once grand company. He imposed a strict aesthetic on the look and style of his dancers. The company, which had not been approached for a tour in many years, started touring abroad to great success.

During his 20 years at the helm of the Kirov, Vinogradov revived the company by bringing in younger dancers, dramatically broadening and modernizing the repertoire, and bringing Western choreographers and/or their repertory to the company for the first time, including George Balanchine, Roland Petit, Jerome Robbins, and [|Maurice Béjart]. Vinogradov explains his inspiration to bring outside choreographers to St Petersburg, "The works of great western choreographers were out of reach for us, behind the iron curtain. Most of my conscious artistic life went without knowing what was happening on the global ballet stage. And that is why my first aspiration, after I became an Artistic Director of Kirov-Mariinsky Ballet, was to change this situation."

Works by George Balanchine, who graduated with honors from the Kirov (at that time the Imperial Ballet School) and defected to the West in 1924, were produced at the Kirov for the first time due to Vinogradov's vision. Vinogradov also engineered the premiere of works by the Danish August Bournonville and French Maurice Béjart, choreographer and founder the Béjart Ballet Lausanne. In the late 1980s, when the effects of Glasnost reached the ballet world, open communication, experimentation, and cultural exchange became options to embrace and Vinogradov took full advantage of the situation. With over 20 years (1977-2003) at the Kirov, Vinogradov shaped the power of classic ballet in innumerable ballets and returned the historic Kirov-Mariinsky Theatre to worldwide prominence.