Prima ballerina assoluta
Encyclopedia
Prima ballerina assoluta is a rank or title given to notable female ballet dancers. To be recognised as a prima ballerina assoluta is a very rare honour, reserved only for the most exceptional soloists, usually those who have achieved international acclaim.
and was bestowed on a ballerina who was considered to be exceptionally talented, above the standard of other leading ballerinas. The title is very rarely used today and recent uses have typically been symbolic, in recognition of a notable career and as a result, it is commonly viewed as an honour rather than an active rank.
The first recorded use of the title as an official rank, was by the renowned French balletmaster
Marius Petipa
, when he bestowed it on the Italian ballerina Pierina Legnani
in 1894. He considered her to be the supreme danseuse in all of Europe. Legnani performed with the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet
from 1893 until 1901. The second ballerina to be given the title was Legnani's contemporary Mathilde Kschessinska
. Petipa, however, did not agree that she should hold such a title; although an extraordinary ballerina, he felt that she obtained the title primarily via Imperial prestige.
The only two ballerinas to hold the title Prima ballerina assoluta in the Soviet Union
were Galina Ulanova
and Maya Plisetskaya
. The Swiss-born American Eva Evdokimova
became recognised as a Prima Ballerina Assoluta following guest appearances with the Kirov Ballet in the 1970's, when she was named as such by the company ballet mistress, Natalia Dudinskaya
. The title was later recognised by a vote of the German Senate. Other dancers awarded the title include Anneli Alhanko
from Sweden
, Alicia Alonso
from Cuba
, Alessandra Ferri
from Italy
and Alicia Markova
and Margot Fonteyn
from England
. The only French dancer to hold the title is Yvette Chauviré
who was described by Rudolph Nureyev as a "legend". Nureyev also referred to the American ballerina Cynthia Gregory
as America's Prima Ballerina Assoluta, however this has never been formally acknowledged. Another not to hold the title is the great Anna Pavlova, probably the best known ballerina in history.
In South Africa, the only ballerina granted the title Prima ballerina assoluta (1984) was Phyllis Spira
(1943–2008). Since Evdokimova is generally viewed as an international rather than an American dancer and the U.S. has no process for designation of a prima ballerina assoluta, the title for an American ballerina dancing for an American company is frequently considered to have belonged to Cynthia Gregory
with American Ballet Theatre
. Sylvie Guillem
as well as Darcey Bussell
at The Royal Ballet, London, are considered by some to belong in the league of assolutas.
Overview
The term prima ballerina assoluta was originally inspired by the Italian ballet masters of the early Romantic BalletRomantic ballet
The Romantic ballet is defined primarily by an era in ballet in which the ideas of Romanticism in art and literature influenced the creation of ballets. The era occurred during the early to mid 19th century primarily at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique of the Paris Opera Ballet and Her...
and was bestowed on a ballerina who was considered to be exceptionally talented, above the standard of other leading ballerinas. The title is very rarely used today and recent uses have typically been symbolic, in recognition of a notable career and as a result, it is commonly viewed as an honour rather than an active rank.
The first recorded use of the title as an official rank, was by the renowned French balletmaster
Ballet Master
Ballet Master is the term used for an employee of a ballet company who is responsible for the level of competence of the dancers in their company...
Marius Petipa
Marius Petipa
Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
, when he bestowed it on the Italian ballerina Pierina Legnani
Pierina Legnani
Pierina Legnani was an Italian ballerina, a terre-à-terre virtuosa extraordinaire, considered one of the greatest ballerinas of all time.-Career:...
in 1894. He considered her to be the supreme danseuse in all of Europe. Legnani performed with the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet
Mariinsky Ballet
The Mariinsky Ballet is a classical ballet company based at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's leading ballet companies...
from 1893 until 1901. The second ballerina to be given the title was Legnani's contemporary Mathilde Kschessinska
Mathilde Kschessinska
Mathilda-Marie Feliksovna Kschessinskaya She was known in the West as Mathilde Kschessinska or Matilda Kshesinskaya.- Life :Kschessinska was born at Ligovo, near Peterhof. Like all her Polish family, to whom she was known as Matylda Krzesińska, Mathilde performed at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre...
. Petipa, however, did not agree that she should hold such a title; although an extraordinary ballerina, he felt that she obtained the title primarily via Imperial prestige.
The only two ballerinas to hold the title Prima ballerina assoluta in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
were Galina Ulanova
Galina Ulanova
Galina Sergeyevna Ulánova is frequently cited as being one of the greatest 20th Century ballerinas. Her flat in Moscow is designated a national museum, and there are monuments to her in Saint Petersburg and Stockholm....
and Maya Plisetskaya
Maya Plisetskaya
Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya , born is a Russian ballet dancer, frequently cited as one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century. Maya danced during the Soviet era at the same time as the great Galina Ulanova, and took over from her as prima ballerina assoluta of the Bolshoi in 1960...
. The Swiss-born American Eva Evdokimova
Eva Evdokimova
Eva Evdokimova-Gregori was a prima ballerina with the Royal Danish and Berlin Opera Ballets.Born in Geneva, Switzerland to a Bulgarian father and an American mother, Evdokimova, an American citizen, began her ballet studies as a child in Munich, before attending the Royal Ballet School in London,...
became recognised as a Prima Ballerina Assoluta following guest appearances with the Kirov Ballet in the 1970's, when she was named as such by the company ballet mistress, Natalia Dudinskaya
Natalia Dudinskaya
Natalia Mikhailovna Dudinskaya was a Russian prima ballerina who dominated the Kirov Ballet in the 1930s and 1940s.Dudinskaya's mother was Natalia Tagliori, a ballerina coached by Enrico Cecchetti. Trained by Agrippina Vaganova, Dudinskaya matriculated from her school in 1931. She danced all the...
. The title was later recognised by a vote of the German Senate. Other dancers awarded the title include Anneli Alhanko
Anneli Alhanko
Anneli Elisabeth Alhanko Skoglund, born on December 11, 1953, in Bogotá, Colombia is a Swedish ballet dancer and actress.Alhanko was a dance student at Operabaletten, The Opera Ballet in Stockholm, Sweden...
from Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Alicia Alonso
Alicia Alonso
Alicia Alonso Martínez is the Cuban prima ballerina assoluta and choreographer. Her company became the Ballet de Cuba in 1955....
from Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Alessandra Ferri
Alessandra Ferri
Alessandra Ferri is a retired Italian prima ballerina assoluta. She received her training at the La Scala Theatre Ballet School and the Royal Ballet School...
from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Alicia Markova
Alicia Markova
Dame Alicia Markova, DBE, DMus, was an English ballerina and a choreographer, director and teacher of classical ballet. Most noted for her career with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and touring internationally, she was widely considered to be one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of the...
and Margot Fonteyn
Margot Fonteyn
Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias, DBE , was an English ballerina of the 20th century. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of all time...
from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The only French dancer to hold the title is Yvette Chauviré
Yvette Chauviré
Yvette Chauviré is a French prima ballerina who was born in Paris. Her dancing career was from 1937 to 1972. She celebrated her 90th birthday in 2007. She was the étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet, and later its director. She is also the holder of the Légion d'Honneur...
who was described by Rudolph Nureyev as a "legend". Nureyev also referred to the American ballerina Cynthia Gregory
Cynthia Gregory
Cynthia Kathleen Gregory is an American ballerina.-Career:Born in Los Angeles, Gregory’s parents encouraged her to take up dancing when she was five, hoping exercise would stem a history of childhood illnesses. By age six, she was en pointe...
as America's Prima Ballerina Assoluta, however this has never been formally acknowledged. Another not to hold the title is the great Anna Pavlova, probably the best known ballerina in history.
In South Africa, the only ballerina granted the title Prima ballerina assoluta (1984) was Phyllis Spira
Phyllis Spira
Phyllis Bernice Spira was a South African ballerina and was awarded the title of prima ballerina assoluta in 1984.The latter statement is not entirely secure, despite its repetition in several obituaries: see talk page. She was the daughter of Lazar and Fanny Pauline Spira...
(1943–2008). Since Evdokimova is generally viewed as an international rather than an American dancer and the U.S. has no process for designation of a prima ballerina assoluta, the title for an American ballerina dancing for an American company is frequently considered to have belonged to Cynthia Gregory
Cynthia Gregory
Cynthia Kathleen Gregory is an American ballerina.-Career:Born in Los Angeles, Gregory’s parents encouraged her to take up dancing when she was five, hoping exercise would stem a history of childhood illnesses. By age six, she was en pointe...
with American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today...
. Sylvie Guillem
Sylvie Guillem
Sylvie Guillem CBE is a French ballet dancer. She was the top-ranking female dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet from 1984 to 1989, before becoming a principal guest artist with the Royal Ballet in London. She is currently performing contemporary dance as an Associate Artist of London's Sadler's...
as well as Darcey Bussell
Darcey Bussell
Darcey Andrea Bussell CBE is a retired English ballerina. Trained at the Arts Educational School and the Royal Ballet School, she was later employed by the Royal Ballet, where she was promoted to the rank of Principal Dancer and would become recognised as one of the greatest English ballerinas of...
at The Royal Ballet, London, are considered by some to belong in the league of assolutas.
Chronological list
| No | Name | Country | Date |- | 1 | Pierina Legnani Pierina Legnani Pierina Legnani was an Italian ballerina, a terre-à-terre virtuosa extraordinaire, considered one of the greatest ballerinas of all time.-Career:... | Imperial Russia | 1893 |- | 2 | Mathilde Kschessinska Mathilde Kschessinska Mathilda-Marie Feliksovna Kschessinskaya She was known in the West as Mathilde Kschessinska or Matilda Kshesinskaya.- Life :Kschessinska was born at Ligovo, near Peterhof. Like all her Polish family, to whom she was known as Matylda Krzesińska, Mathilde performed at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre... | Imperial Russia | 1901 |- | 3 | Alicia Markova Alicia Markova Dame Alicia Markova, DBE, DMus, was an English ballerina and a choreographer, director and teacher of classical ballet. Most noted for her career with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and touring internationally, she was widely considered to be one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of the... | United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... | 1933 |- | 4 | Galina Ulanova Galina Ulanova Galina Sergeyevna Ulánova is frequently cited as being one of the greatest 20th Century ballerinas. Her flat in Moscow is designated a national museum, and there are monuments to her in Saint Petersburg and Stockholm.... | USSR | 1944 |- | 5 | Alicia Alonso Alicia Alonso Alicia Alonso Martínez is the Cuban prima ballerina assoluta and choreographer. Her company became the Ballet de Cuba in 1955.... | Cuba Cuba The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city... | 1959 |- | 6 | Maya Plisetskaya Maya Plisetskaya Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya , born is a Russian ballet dancer, frequently cited as one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century. Maya danced during the Soviet era at the same time as the great Galina Ulanova, and took over from her as prima ballerina assoluta of the Bolshoi in 1960... | USSR | 1960 |- | 7 | Eva Evdokimova Eva Evdokimova Eva Evdokimova-Gregori was a prima ballerina with the Royal Danish and Berlin Opera Ballets.Born in Geneva, Switzerland to a Bulgarian father and an American mother, Evdokimova, an American citizen, began her ballet studies as a child in Munich, before attending the Royal Ballet School in London,... | United States of America | 1976 |- | 8 | Margot Fonteyn Margot Fonteyn Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias, DBE , was an English ballerina of the 20th century. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of all time... | United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... | 1979 |- | 9 | Anneli Alhanko Anneli Alhanko Anneli Elisabeth Alhanko Skoglund, born on December 11, 1953, in Bogotá, Colombia is a Swedish ballet dancer and actress.Alhanko was a dance student at Operabaletten, The Opera Ballet in Stockholm, Sweden... | Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... | 1984 |- | 10 | Phyllis Spira Phyllis Spira Phyllis Bernice Spira was a South African ballerina and was awarded the title of prima ballerina assoluta in 1984.The latter statement is not entirely secure, despite its repetition in several obituaries: see talk page. She was the daughter of Lazar and Fanny Pauline Spira... | South Africa South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans... | 1984 |- | 11 | Alessandra Ferri Alessandra Ferri Alessandra Ferri is a retired Italian prima ballerina assoluta. She received her training at the La Scala Theatre Ballet School and the Royal Ballet School... | Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... | 1992 |- |} |
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