The Presidential Library provides a virtual tour into the world of Russian ballet

On the eve of World Theater Day, which is celebrated annually on March 27, the Presidential Library invites ballet fans to the virtual exhibition “285 Years of Russian Ballet” available on the institution’s portal. The exhibition dedicated to the anniversary of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet was opened for visits in the Presidential Library in 2023.

The oldest ballet school in Russia, the first in our country and one of the best professional schools, has made a great contribution to world choreographic education, managed to preserve and develop the traditions accumulated by generations of dancers and teachers, and has won the recognition of millions of people. Russian ballet has presented the world with a galaxy of stars who have delighted audiences throughout the ages.

Two virtual exhibition halls display items from the collection of the Cabinet of the History of Russian Ballet, a chamber “museum” of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, which was opened at the Leningrad Choreographic School in the autumn of 1957.

The virtual tour provides a rare opportunity to see part of this unique collection and closely examine individual exhibits.

The exhibition tells about the history of Russian ballet, which began on May 4, 1738 with the decree of Empress Anna Ioannovna on the opening of Her Majesty’s Dance School, as well as about the outstanding graduates of the Academy who glorified Russian ballet.

The exhibition features ballet shoes and theatrical costumes, book rarities, original posters and unique photographs, works of painting and sculpture, and personal belongings of famous dancers.

Among the exhibits are real relics: the corsage of Matilda Kshesinskaya’s stage costume, Olga Preobrazhenskaya’s ballroom gloves, a makeup box and Anna Pavlova’s stage boots. She also owns another unique exhibit that invariably attracts a lot of attention - this is the embroidered image of the Savior, which was hidden under the makeup mirror. It was discovered only after the mirror broke. In 2017, the rector of the Academy of Russian Ballet Nikolai Tsiskaridze brought the icon from Great Britain.

The real artistic pearls of the Academy’s collection are the pastel “Girls with Muffs” (1919) by Vaslav Nijinsky, which, according to his wife, delighted Pablo Picasso, and the drawings of the famous Russian artist from the “World of Art” group, Zinaida Serebryakova. She created a series of works on the theme of ballet in the early 1920s.

Since 1957, the Academy of Russian Ballet has been named after Agrippina Vaganova. A separate showcase is dedicated to her, which displays photographs, personal belongings, and household items.

Thanks to the virtual tour of the exhibition “285 Years of Russian Ballet” one can see many interesting exhibits relating to the history of Russian ballet, as well as learn new facts about the people who glorified this art form throughout the world. These are Marina Semyonova, Galina Ulanova, George Balanchine, Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Vakhtang Chabukiani, Yuri Grigorovich and many others.

Virtual projects are an actively developing area of activity of the Presidential Library, thanks to which unique materials become available to a wide audience. One can view virtual tours and excursions on the Presidential Library's portal in the Exhibitions section at https://www.prlib.ru/about_exhibition.