Yesterday, Natalya Dudinskaya who for many years was the undisputable prima ballerina of the Kirov Ballet celebrated her jubilee.
The Mariinsky's forum opened a new page in her honour with plenty of photographs:
http://dudinskaya.narod.ru
Click: ENGLISH

What a wonderful site, Coda - thank you very much!

I think that's a great idea for a company to do as a way to honor an important dancer who is no longer dancing, but still influencing generations.

Like Fonteyn for the Royal (though she didn't teach much but she still was a tremendous star), or Ulanova (who did both dance and teach) for the Bolshoi.

Thanks, Coda! I loved the photo of Dudinskaya in street clothes, sur les pointes, with a golf club swung jauntily over her shoulder. The role is Sari, the ballet is "Path of Thunder," but I haven't been able to find out what the ballet is about.

I think that this is a new website started by a dance critic in St. Petersburg. I"ve also received an e-mail announcement about this wonderful site.
But I don't think this site is related to the Kirov/Mariinsky website, since there was no announcement on it.

http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/

<small>[ 08-22-2002, 19:05: Message edited by: Kevin Ng ]</small>

Dear djb, the ballet "The Path of Thunder" was based on a novel by a (South?) African writer Peter Abrahams and told about love between a white girl Sari and a black man Lennie - I think I remember his name correctly. There was a lot of prejudice and trouble surrounding them. Natalya Dudinskaya and Konstantin Sergeyev danced those roles.
Dear Kevin, I indicated that I found Dudinskaya's page on the Mariinsky's FORUM (Russian version).

Coda, sorry about the misunderstanding.

In June I was in St. Petersburg briefly to attend the White Nights Festival, and on one night (Le Corsaire with Svetlana Zakharova and Ilya Kuznetsov) I found Madame Dundinskaya sitting in the same row in the orchestra in the Maryinsky Theatre. I didn't recognise her at first, until my Russian friend told me.

<small>[ 08-23-2002, 20:10: Message edited by: Kevin Ng ]</small>

Coda, thanks for the information. While I was trying to find out the plot of the ballet online, of course the title of the novel kept coming up, but it didn't occur to me that the ballet was based on the novel -- I just figured it coincidentally had the same name.

Coda, I just verified that you are the same person who had information about the plot of La Esmeralda. Do you have old books about Russian ballets, or perhaps books published in Russia? Or do you have some other sources?

<small>[ 08-23-2002, 11:51: Message edited by: djb ]</small>

Yes, djb, I have SOME old books on Russian ballet (in Russian) and I have SOME other sources.
When I phoned Mme Dudinskaya this week to congratulate her on her jubilee, she told me that several ballets will be performed at the Mariinsky theatre in St.Petersburg in November to mark her jubilee.

That's quite a good source!

Two more websites:
http://www.convergentus.se/ballet/dudinska.htm
http://www.xrefer.com/entry/359691

Coda, do you know at what point in her life Dudinskaya began to learn English? I was impressed by her ability to express herself in the documentary The Leningrad Legend.

No, I never asked her about it. I used to admire her on stage when I was still a schoolgirl but never had a chance to meet her. It just happened in the 1980s that I met her and she already could express herself in English very well. And Sergeyev admired her ability to do it.

Sad news: Natalya Mikhailovna DUDINSKAYA died in St.Petersburg today at the age of 90.

From the website of Pravda:

13:44 2003-01-29

Outstanding Ballerina Natalia Dudinskaya Died

Outstanding ballerina Natalia Dudinskaya, 91, died in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, said the press service of the Mariinsky Theatre.

Natalia Dudindskaya, a student of Agrippina Vaganova, graduated from the Leningrad Choreography School in 1931 and was admitted to the company of the Kirov (Mariinsky) Opera and Ballet Theatre. Her creative activity was inseparably linked with the famous Petersburg theatre. Dudinskaya danced all the leading ballet parts on its stage: Odette-Odile ("The Swan Lake"), Aurora ("The Sleeping Beauty"), Snowmaiden ("The Spring Tale"), Sari ("The Path of Thunder") and many others. Natalia Dudinskaya was awarded with the State Prize for the part of Raymonda (ballet "Raymonda").

Since 1951 Natalia Dudinskaya conducted the advanced training class of ballerinas and primas. She was a professor of the Vaganova Russian Ballet Academy and shared her knowledge and experience with students. Such famous ballerinas, as Ulyana Lopatkina, Margarita Kullik, Veronika Ivanova and Polina Rassadina, are among her students.

In 1994 and 1996 the US National Biography Institute named the great dancer "The Woman of the Year". In 1997 the Russian Personality Chamber, attached to the Russian President, entitled her a Russian Princess. In April 1997, Natalia Dudinskaya became a laureate of the Gold Mask national theatre award in the category "For Honour and Dignity".

One of asteroids, discovered in 1989, was named after this unique woman.

<small>[ 29 January 2003, 07:03 AM: Message edited by: librarian ]</small>