Miguel Terekhov (August 22, 1928 – January 3, 2012) was a Uruguayan-born American

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

and ballet instructor. Terekhov and his wife,

Yvonne Chouteau Myra Yvonne Chouteau () (March 7, 1929 – January 24, 2016) was an American ballerina and one of the "Five Moons" or Native Americans in the United States, Native ''prima ballerinas'' of Oklahoma. She was the only child of Corbett Edward and Luc ...

, one of the Five Moons, a group of Native American ballet dancers, founded the School of Dance at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

in 1961.

Early life

Terekhov was born on August 22, 1928, in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. His mother, Antonia Rodriguez, was a Charrúa Indian, a people indigenous to Uruguay and southern Brazil. His father, Mikhail Terekhov, a former dancer, immigrated to Uruguay from

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. At the age of 8 or 10 Miguel Terekhov watched a company perform in his hometown and knew he wanted to perform. He built up the courage to ask his father if he could take ballet class; this is when he learned that his father was a professional ballet dancer. Miguel's father taught him the basics of ballet dance until he began to train with a dancer who was with Diaghilev's company. Not long after he started dancing he was taken into the National Ballet of Uruguay. During Miguel's time there he was still in high school and no one at school was aware of his dancing. A newspaper article lauded to his success with the company and his abilities were exposed to his classmates. Even with his new success his father would still rehearse with him in their family garage.

The Original Ballet Russe of Colonel de Basil

In 1942 the Original Ballet Russe of Colonel de Basil came to Uruguay and desperately needed male dancers for their season touring South America, so Miguel Terekhov joined the company at 14; never finishing high school. His parents had to give parental consent for a passport because he was so young. At 14 he did not know how to care for himself so the stage director Serge Grigoriev became like a father to him. Miguel was learning the rep for the company while already on tour, learning up to two ballets a day. His first year with the Ballets Russe's he felt as if he was a part of history, with notable dancers coming before him like Michel Fokine,

Léonide Massine Leonid Fyodorovich Myasin (), better known in the West by the French transliteration as Léonide Massine (15 March 1979), was a Russian choreographer and ballet dancer. Massine created the world's first symphonic ballet, ''Les Présages'', and ...

, and Anna Pavlova. Miguel stayed with the

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Russian Revolution, Revolution ...

for 5 years. His time with the company ended in 1947 when they finished the American leg of their tour and were planning to make their way through Europe. Many company members had decided to stay in the United States and terminate their contracts with the

, Miguel did not want to see the demise of the company, with so many of the main dancers leaving, so he returned home to Montevideo for 2 years and danced with a company in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo

In 1954 Terekhov joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. His friend Victor Moreno introduced him to the director of the company, Sergei Denham. They came to an agreement that Terekhov would join the company for 1 year. When he tried to get his passport to the United States they did not want to give him a work visa. Sergei Denham pulled strings and he was given a work visa with no questions. Terekov met his wife

when he joined the company. Chouteau was about the same age as Terekhov when he joined the Ballet Russe. When he decided he wanted to marry Chouteau he had to ask the permission of Alexandra Danilova, Chouteau's mentor. When everyone was leaving rehearsal one night and Danilova said "Miguel, I hear you want to marry my Yvonne," to which he replied "yes." Danilova said "we must talk about this." They both left the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo after the birth of their first daughter, Christina.

Post Performance Career

The couple decided that they could not return to the touring life required of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo so Terekhov auditioned for things on Broadway like

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

, but was turned down because he danced too much like a ballet dancer. So the couple decided to go to South America to see his family and introduce them to their grandchild. While they were visiting South America they had their second child Elizabeth, who later changed her name to Toni in honor of her grandmother. After a year in Montevideo the couple went to visit Chouteau's family in Oklahoma in 1961. While there the president of the University of Oklahoma asked if Terekhov and Chouteau would teach a ballet class. Terekhov then designed the curriculum for a degree in dance at the university and was the chairman for the department. At the University of Oklahoma Terekhov and Chouteau have their own company, present productions, and dance there themselves. Terekhov died at his daughter's home in Richardson, Texas, of complications from lung fibrosis on January 3, 2012, at the age of 83. He and his wife, who survived him, were residents of

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

Notable roles

;Shah in Schéhérazade ;The father in The Prodigal Son ;the crusty old General in Graduation Ball ;Dr. Coppélius, the eccentric inventor, in Coppélia ;Understudy for Cain in Cain and Abel ;Evil Genius in Swan Lake

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Terekhov, Miguel 1928 births 2012 deaths American male ballet dancers American ballet teachers University of Oklahoma faculty Uruguayan emigrants to the United States American people of Ukrainian descent Uruguayan people of Ukrainian descent Artists from Oklahoma City Entertainers from Montevideo Uruguayan people of Charrúa descent 20th-century American ballet dancers 20th-century American educators