Dance – Russian Federation

Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in twentieth-century ballet.

Born in 1910 in Saint Petersburg into a family with artistic leanings, she trained at the Leningrad Choreographic School and became one of the foremost students to embody the principles of the Vaganova method: clarity of line, expressive arms, clean épaulement and polish of footwork. In addition, she incorporated elements of modernism and the avant-garde.

Ulanova's early career was with the Kirov (Mariinsky) company in Leningrad. In the mid-1940s, she became the Bolshoi Theatre's leading ballerina in Moscow. During her long performing career, she was celebrated for her landmark interpretations of great Romantic and Classical heroines, such as Giselle, Juliet, Odile and Aurora.

Her stage presence combined a luminous lyricism and an apparent spontaneity; she seemed to make the rehearsed appear newly discovered in the moment. This combination established her as a reference point for later generations of dancers and teachers across the world.

Ulanova achieved this synthesis through meticulous musical phrasing and an actor’s attention to motivation, as well as paying close attention to her breathing. She approached phrasing as she would speech, shaping phrases with inhalations and exhalations and varying weight and balance to create expressive contours within classical lines.

Collaborations with pioneering choreographers encouraged her to adopt subtler dynamics and asymmetries more typical of avant-garde idioms, but always disciplined by classical alignment and feet technique. The result was a synthesis of a classical technique that served expressive intention, and a modern expressivity that remained anchored in technical purity.

Ulanova’s influence extended beyond her own performances to encompass pedagogy and the aesthetic of the Soviet ballet school. She taught and mentored younger dancers, delivered masterclasses, and appeared in filmed performances that were used as study materials.

She was honoured repeatedly and became an emblematic figure of the Russian ballet, demonstrating how technical mastery could be combined with dramatic authenticity. Her interpretations were widely admired internationally, while dancers and historians continue to study her legacy.

To find out more about Ulanova’s biography, please follow the links below:   

https://www.culture.ru/persons/8765/galina-ulanova, https://www.culture.ru/materials/255399/5-istorii-iz-zhizni-galiny-ulanovoi, https://unesco.ru/news/ulanova-110/

To watch Ulanova's performances, please click here:

https://vk.com/video-228174322_456246381

https://dzen.ru/video/watch/61ddc797e6a27f7b61f71a2a

Courtesy of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation

#ICBSS #MoC2025 #CultureBSEC #RussianFederation #Dance