January 8, 1910 was born ballerina Galina Ulanova

Galina Ulanova was born in St. Petersburg on January 8, 1910 (December 26, 1909, old style). Her mother Maria Romanova was a classical dancer at the Mariinsky Theater, then a famous teacher. Father Sergei Ulanov was a ballet dancer in the same theater, and later a ballet director. So little Galina knew very well how hard it is to get audience applause. “I had a clear idea that my mother never rests and never sleeps. Probably, this was quite close to the truth. And I, hearing talk about how I would have to study and become a ballerina, thought with horror and despair: really and I’ll have to work so hard and never sleep?” – Galina Ulanova recalled.

And yet, in 1919, the parents sent their daughter to a choreographic school. Despite her shyness and stage fright, the girl had excellent hearing, plasticity and musical sensitivity. The first months of study were especially difficult for Ulanova, despite the fact that her mother became the teacher of the future ballerina. Maria did not single out her daughter among other students; moreover, she considered Galina a ballerina of very modest talent.

Ulanova’s true talent was not seen by her second teacher, the experienced Agrippina Vaganova. A girl from an intelligent family did not have enough ways to express emotions in movement. Therefore, many mistakenly considered her to be “cold” and unemotional. But Ulanova just needed a little more time to open up. In addition, the first post-revolutionary years in which she had the opportunity to study were especially difficult in the country. The school building was not heated. To somehow keep warm, students came to classes in sweaters and even fur coats. But, as they say, through thorns to the stars.

At her graduation, Galina Ulanova danced La Sylphide in Chopinian, and everyone who was in the hall at that time was so amazed by her performance that there was no doubt left – before them was the future star of world ballet. 18-year-old Ulanova was immediately invited to the Leningrad State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after Kirov (today it has returned its historical name – Mariinsky).

Galina Sergeevna’s premiere role in the theater was Florina in “The Sleeping Beauty” by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Then the ballerina shared her feelings from this first performance: “I entered the stage neither alive nor dead. The velvet of the tiers, the lights of the spotlights, the wings – the whole world was spinning madly and capsizing… No thoughts, no other feeling except fear and the desire to do everything just like that “as you were taught.”

At the age of 19, Ulanova already had a leading role. She danced Odette-Odile in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Preparing for the role, the ballerina spent hours watching swans swim. But for the first time, the ballerina was able to fall in love with her heroine and master the art of transformation only after playing Giselle in the ballet of the same name by Adolphe Adam. Moreover, Ulanova had to work on the image completely independently. After all, she had never seen the famous performers of this role, Anna Pavlova and Tamara Karsavina, dance Giselle.

In 1934, Ulanova’s performance was seen by the then People’s Commissar of Defense of the USSR and the future Marshal of the Soviet Union, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Kliment Voroshilov. He was so impressed that the troupe was invited to perform in Moscow. After some time, Stalin himself visited the Leningrad State Academic Theater. Ulanova’s brilliant performance of the role of Diana in the ballet “Esmeralda” did not leave even the leader indifferent. The ballerina was informed that she was being transferred to work in Moscow. Despite her love for her hometown, Galina Ulanova, of course, did not dare to contradict the leader. So the ballerina turned into the Kremlin’s darling. Four times she became a laureate of the Stalin Prize.

Galina Ulanova with two signs of the Stalin Prize. 1946 Photo: Auction house “On Liteiny”

The image of Juliet became special for Galina Ulanova. The sincerity and tenderness of Shakespeare’s heroine resonated in the soul of the ballerina. At first, the directors of the play had great doubts about whether it was possible to play Shakespeare using body language alone. But the brilliant duet of Ulanova – Juliet and Konstantin Sergeev – Romeo dispelled all possible doubts. The magnificent production of “Romeo and Juliet” became one of the last for Ulanova on the stage of her native theater. Galina Sergeevna moved to Moscow…

From 1944 to 1960, Ulanova was the leading soloist of the Bolshoi Theater ballet. By that time, the whole country knew and adored her. But at the same time, there was no more hardworking and modest person in the Bolshoi. “Ulanova entered the stage quietly, as if not noticing the audience, as if looking down in embarrassment,” noted theater critic Boris Lvov-Anokhin.

Indeed, in her dance there was no exaggerated facial expressions or any feigned self-affirmation. Ulanova achieved what dancers have been trying to achieve for centuries: she brought the art of ballet closer to life. Each of her movements, down to the smallest gesture, was not only honed to perfection, but also expressed the inner world of the ballerina, what she lived on stage at the moment. And this gift could not leave anyone indifferent. Everyone was in love with Ulanova. The writer Boris Pasternak expressed boundless admiration for her work for the ballerina: “Dear Galina Sergeevna! I watched you yesterday in Cinderella with a wet face all the time. This is how the presence of everything truly big nearby in space affects me…”

Galina Ulanova in “Cinderella”. 1951 year. Photo: Artmaximum auction house

“She developed her own, “Ulan” style,” wrote musicologist and cultural critic Solomon Volkov. And he continued: “There was nothing defiantly “starry” in her figure and face. Outwardly, she looked simple, even ordinary. But this ordinaryness was illuminated from within by lyricism of the highest standard.”

It was thanks to Ulanova that Russian ballet re-opened for European audiences. The Bolshoi Theater first went on tour to London in 1956. Ulanova was over 40 when she danced Giselle and Juliet for an English audience. The triumph was unconditional. Juliet Ulanova became, as foreign critics wrote, an unattainable ideal of ballet art. No less success awaited this amazing production both in Paris and in the USA.

Meanwhile, Galina Ulanova had only four years left to dance. The ballerina said goodbye to the audience on December 29, 1960. Ironically, the ballerina ended her career with the performance with which she began – “Chopiniana”. The circle has closed, the curtain has fallen. But after leaving the big stage, Galina Sergeevna did not leave the theater.

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Almost until the end of her days, Ulanova worked at the Bolshoi as a choreographer-tutor. Her students were Ekaterina Maksimova, Vladimir Vasiliev, Lyudmila Semenyaka, Alla Mikhalchenko, Nikolai Tsiskaridze, Irina Prokofieva, Ida Vasilyeva and many others. Ulanova also worked with soloists of the Paris Grand Opera, the Royal Swedish Ballet and dancers of Japanese ballet troupes. She was a strict teacher and loved discipline and order in everything. She demanded a lot from herself and her students. There was absolute silence during her classes – everyone listened to Ulanova’s every word.

Galina Sergeevna is the only artist in the history of the USSR who became a Hero of Socialist Labor twice – in 1974 and 1980. The ballerina was also awarded four Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (1939, 1951, 1959, 1967) and two Orders of Lenin (1953, 1970). In December 1997, Ulanova was awarded the Presidential Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of literature and art.

For her 90th birthday, she planned to write a book telling her life story. Unfortunately, the plans were not destined to come true – the great Galina Sergeevna Ulanova passed away on March 21, 1998. The ballerina was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.

S. Konenkov. Sculptural portrait of Galina Ulanova. 1961 Photo: RIA Novosti