05.07.2012
Freinds and pupils say farewell to Nikita Dolgushin
Friends, pupils, and colleagues have paid their last respects to Nikita Dolgushin. Before the funeral ceremony, which took place on 14 June at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, rare shots of Dolgushin as a dancer were shown on a screen: excerpts from the ballets Giselle, ou Les Wilis, Legend of Love, and The Moor’s Pavane.
Those who made speeches at the ceremony spoke of Dolgushin as a noble knight of dance who had written his own special page in the history of world choreography. He will always be remembered as an elegant dancer, an assiduous guardian and restorer of the classical ballet heritage, and a wise teacher, philosopher, and intellectual.
Funeral orations were given by People’s Artist of the USSR Oleg Vinogradov; Marina Vasilieva, Dean of the Performing Faculty of the Vaganova Ballet Academy; Yury Fateyev, Director of the Mariinsky Ballet; choreographers Yury Petukhov and Alexander Polubentsev; Nadezhda Malygina, Chief Ballet Mistress of the Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre; and Boris Illarionov, First Deputy Chairman of the Cultural Committee. Vladimir Kekhman, General Director of the Mikhailovsky Theatre, read out a telegram from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A poignant farewell to Nikita Dolgushin — “my first unforgettable partner and friend” — was sent by the great ballerina Natalia Makarova: ‘Eternal Remembrance to the Last Romantic’.
The Mikhailovsky Theatre’s ballet company, which is currently on tour in Canada, is in deep mourning for its mentor. A letter from the artists, paying their last respects to the great master, was read at the ceremony. Dolgushin’s colleagues from all over the world responded to the news of his death: letters and telegrams were received from Moscow, Novosibirsk, Samara, Cheboksary, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and Tallinn. The ballet company of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus dedicated a performance of La Sylphide to the St Petersburg choreographer, who was once an inimitable James in the ballet.
The Mikhailovsky Theatre also received letters and telegrams expressing condolences and sympathy over Nikita Dolgushin’s untimely passing.
Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky remarked that Nikita Dolgushin’s interest in artistic experiments, which had not waned over the years, had given us genuine masterpieces of music and plastique. In his telegram, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko called Nikita Dolgushin an amazing man with a great talent and a tireless pursuit of perfection. The Union of Theatrical Workers sent its condolences. Colleagues in the business consider that, with the passing of Nikita Dolgushin, Russian culture has lost a unique artist and a great creator.
Nikita Dolgushin was buried at the Smolensk Cemetery on 14 June.
Those who made speeches at the ceremony spoke of Dolgushin as a noble knight of dance who had written his own special page in the history of world choreography. He will always be remembered as an elegant dancer, an assiduous guardian and restorer of the classical ballet heritage, and a wise teacher, philosopher, and intellectual.
Funeral orations were given by People’s Artist of the USSR Oleg Vinogradov; Marina Vasilieva, Dean of the Performing Faculty of the Vaganova Ballet Academy; Yury Fateyev, Director of the Mariinsky Ballet; choreographers Yury Petukhov and Alexander Polubentsev; Nadezhda Malygina, Chief Ballet Mistress of the Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre; and Boris Illarionov, First Deputy Chairman of the Cultural Committee. Vladimir Kekhman, General Director of the Mikhailovsky Theatre, read out a telegram from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A poignant farewell to Nikita Dolgushin — “my first unforgettable partner and friend” — was sent by the great ballerina Natalia Makarova: ‘Eternal Remembrance to the Last Romantic’.
The Mikhailovsky Theatre’s ballet company, which is currently on tour in Canada, is in deep mourning for its mentor. A letter from the artists, paying their last respects to the great master, was read at the ceremony. Dolgushin’s colleagues from all over the world responded to the news of his death: letters and telegrams were received from Moscow, Novosibirsk, Samara, Cheboksary, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and Tallinn. The ballet company of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus dedicated a performance of La Sylphide to the St Petersburg choreographer, who was once an inimitable James in the ballet.
The Mikhailovsky Theatre also received letters and telegrams expressing condolences and sympathy over Nikita Dolgushin’s untimely passing.
Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky remarked that Nikita Dolgushin’s interest in artistic experiments, which had not waned over the years, had given us genuine masterpieces of music and plastique. In his telegram, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko called Nikita Dolgushin an amazing man with a great talent and a tireless pursuit of perfection. The Union of Theatrical Workers sent its condolences. Colleagues in the business consider that, with the passing of Nikita Dolgushin, Russian culture has lost a unique artist and a great creator.
Nikita Dolgushin was buried at the Smolensk Cemetery on 14 June.
