Victor Gsovsky
{{Short description|Russian ballet dancer}}
Victor Gsovsky ({{langx|ru|Виктор Иванович Гзовский}}; 12 January 1902, Saint Petersburg – 14 March 1974, Hamburg) was a Russian ballet dancer, teacher, balletmaster and choreographer.
Biography
He studied with Mariinsky Theatre prima ballerina Evgenia Sokolova and started his teaching career while still very young.[http://www.ballet-enc.ru/html/g/gzovskiy.html ru: The ballet encyclopedia (Источник: Балет. Энциклопедия, СЭ, 1981)][http://wwv.libedu.ru/avtor_neizvesten/p/74/russkii_balet.html ru: Victor Gsovsky // ГЗОВСКИЙ (Gsovsky) Виктор][http://www.answers.com/topic/victor-gsovsky Oxford Dictionary of Dance: Victor Gsovsky][http://www.tez-rus.net/ViewGood25948.html ru: Gsovsky Victor Ivanovich // ГЗОВСКИЙ Виктор Иванович]
In 1925 Victor Gsovsky left Soviet Russia with his wife Tatjana Gsovsky, whom he had met in Krasnodar. Their first engagement was in Berlin, Germany,[http://uthierope.info/?p=731 ru: Tatjana Gsovsky // Гзовская, Татьяна Николаевна]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} where he worked as dancer and choreographer at the Berlin State Opera (1925–1928) before opening a private school in 1928. From 1930 to 1933 he worked as a choreographer for the German UFA Film Company and undertook smaller tours with his wife and the Ballet Gsovsky.
From 1937 he was ballet master of the Markova-Dolin company; in 1938 he began teaching in Paris and in 1945 was appointed ballet master of the Paris Opera Ballet. In 1946–1947 he was ballet master with the Ballets des Champs-Élysées and again in 1948 and 1953; with the Metropolitan Ballet in London in 1947.
From 1950 to 1952 he was ballet director of the Munich State Opera. After leaving Munich he worked as a choreographer and ballet master in several European locations. He was ballet master in Düsseldorf (1964–1967) and at the Hamburg State Opera (1967–1970). He staged the first post-war production of La Sylphide for the Ballets des Champs-Élysées in 1946. His best-known work by far is the Grand Pas Classique (mus. Auber, 1949), which is still performed in galas around the world. An influential teacher, his students included Yvette Chauviré, Nina Vyroubova, Colette Marchand, Violette Verdy, and Vera Zorina.
Works
Victor Gsovsky's choreography includes:
- Swan Lake Act II, Paris Opera, 1945
- Grand Pas Classique to the ballet music from Daniel Auber's two-act opera Le Dieu et La Bayadere, 1830, created for Yvette Chauviré and Vladimir Skouratoff in Paris, 1949[http://www.answers.com/topic/grand-pas-classique Oxford Dictionary of Dance: Grand pas classique][http://skouratoff.com/danseur_fr.htm Wladimir Skouratoff: Sa carrière comme danseur étoile]
- Masquerade, music by Georges Bizet – Felix Weingartner, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, 1946–1948 (exact date is unknown)
- La Sylphide, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris, France, 1948
- Hamlet, music by Boris Blacher (with Tatjana Gsovsky, Germany, 1950)
- Weg zum Licht, music by Georges Auric (1952, Prinzregententheater Munich, Germany)
- Pas de cœur, music by Gottfried von Einem (1952, Prinzregententheater)
Many dancing revues and divertissements.
References
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Category:Ballets Russes dancers
Category:Dancers from Saint Petersburg
Category:White Russian emigrants to Germany
Category:Russian ballet choreographers
Category:Male ballet dancers from the Russian Empire
Category:Choreographers from the Russian Empire
Category:German male ballet dancers
Category:German choreographers
Category:French choreographers