The Presidential Library and the Academy of Russian Ballet develop cooperation

On May 24, 2023 the Presidential Library subordinate to the Administrative Directorate of the President of the Russian Federation and the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet signed a cooperation agreement as well as opened an exhibition dedicated to the anniversary of the Academy. Marking the Year of the Teacher and Mentor, the oldest ballet school in Russia, the first in our country and one of the best professional schools in the world, is celebrating 285 years since its foundation. The events were held at the Presidential Library.

Acting Rector of the Academy of Russian Ballet Nikolai Tsiskaridze noted: “In our country, the tradition of ballet is very strong. We can say that it is truly Russian national art. We can be proud of that".

Sergei Leonidovich Grinevich, Head of the Department of Information and Communication Technologies of the Administrative Directorate of the President of the Russian Federation, noted: “Ballet is the national pride of Russia, it can be called the hallmark of our country. It is very important that the exhibition dedicated to the Academy of Russian Ballet is opened in the Presidential Library. It is here that the collections of documents and materials on the history of Russia, including the history of Russian and world culture, are being formed”.

“Today we signed a Cooperation Agreement between the Presidential Library and the Academy of Russian Ballet, which provides for the implementation of joint educational, cultural and educational projects”, - said Yuri Nosov, Director General of the Presidential Library. – It is planned to open an electronic reading room of the Presidential Library at the Academy of Russian Ballet. Thus, all students and teachers of the Academy will have full access to the Presidential Library, which is more than a million depository items”.

The Academy of Russian Ballet has made a great contribution to world choreographic education, has 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 showed the world a galaxy of stars: Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, George Balanchine, Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Yuri Grigorovich, Ulyana Lopatkina and many others.

For many years, the specialists of the Academy has been collecting and carefully storing objects associated with outstanding people of ballet. The exhibition at the Presidential Library is a rare opportunity to see part of this unique collection and plunge into the glorious past of ballet art.

The exposition showcases ballet shoes and theatrical costumes, book rarities, original posters and photographs, works of painting and sculpture, personal belongings of famous graduates of the Academy: the corsage of the stage costume of Matilda Kshesinskaya, the make-up box and stage boots of Anna Pavlova, personal belongings of Agrippina Vaganova, whose name is worn by the Academy since 1957.

The pearls of the art collection of the Academy are pastels by Vaslav Nijinsky, drawings by Zinaida Serebryakova, who in the early 1920s created a series of works on the theme of ballet.

At the opening ceremony of the exhibition, representatives of the Academy of Russian Ballet from the Presidential Library were donated electronic copies of issues of the literary and art magazine The Firebird, published by Russian emigration in 1921-1926 in Paris and Berlin. The magazine contains photographs of famous Russian ballet dancers (Anna Pavlova, Mikhail Fokine, Tamara Karsavina, etc.), articles about ballet art, announcements about ballet performances.

The Presidential Library’s portal features a major electronic collection dedicated to the dramatic art. It includes official documents, archival materials, monographs, serials, pictorial, audiovisual materials, etc. Separate sections are devoted to the history of ballet and ballet dancers, including representatives of the Kschessinsky dynasty, Galina Ulanova, Maya Plisetskaya and others.