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Mikhail Mordkin (; December 9, 1880,

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

– July 15, 1944, New York) graduated from the

Bolshoi Ballet School The Moscow State Academy of Choreography (), commonly known as The Bolshoi Ballet Academy, is one of the oldest and most prestigious schools of ballet in the world, located in Moscow, Russia. It is the affiliate school of the Bolshoi Ballet. Found ...

in 1899, and in the same year was appointed ballet master. He joined Diaghilev's ballet in 1909 as a leading dancer. After the first season he remained in Paris to dance with

Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova. (born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova; – 23 January 1931) was a Russian prima ballerina. She was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev, but is most recognized for creating ...

. He then formed his own company, the All Star Imperial Russian Ballet, which toured America in 1911 and 1912. Mikhail returned to the Bolshoi and was appointed its director in 1917. He left Russia after the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, first working in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, and finally settling in the United States in 1924. He founded the Mordkin Ballet in 1926, for which he choreographed a complete ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'' and many other ballets. His company included such distinguished artists as Hilda Butsova,

Felia Doubrovska Felia Doubrovska (; born as ''Felizata Dlouzhnevska'' in St Petersburg, February 13, 1896 – d. Manhattan, September 18, 1981) was a Russian dancer and teacher. Doubrovska graduated at the Imperial Ballet School in 1913, was member of the Ma ...

, Pierre Vladimiroff, Vera Nemtchinova and Nicholas Zvereff. After a European tour the company disbanded in 1926. Mordkin continued to be a freelance artist and teacher, including at the Cornish School in the 1920s. From among his students in America he formed a new Mordkin Ballet in 1937. Although he had been pushed into the background, Mordkin helped build the foundation for ballet in America including through the Mordkin Moser Conservatory whose alumni included

Donald Heywood Donald Heywood (24 October 1896 – 13 January 1967) was a Trinidadian-born American songwriter, composer, writer and director. He composed for " I'm Coming Virginia" in 1926, which became a hit for Ethel Waters. He became a prominent figure in bl ...

. Mikhail Mordkin died in

Millbrook, New York Millbrook is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Dutchess County, New York, United States. Millbrook is located in the Hudson Valley, on the east side of the Hudson River, north of New York City. Millbrook is near the cent ...

."Danza E Balletto: Dizionario"
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Cultural depictions

* ''

'', film by

Emil Loteanu Emil Loteanu (6 November 1936 – 18 April 2003) was a Moldovan and Soviet film director born in what is now Republic of Moldova. He moved to Bucharest and Moscow in his early life. His best known films are '' Lăutarii'', '' Gypsies Are Found Ne ...

; portrayed by Grigore Grigoriu (1983).

References

External links

Mikhail Mordkin papers, circa 1885–1979
Jerome Robbins Dance Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mordkin, Mikhail Dancers from Moscow Male ballet dancers from the Russian Empire Ballets Russes dancers 1880 births 1944 deaths Russian ballet teachers American Ballet Theatre White Russian emigrants to the United States Moscow State Academy of Choreography alumni

Cultural depictions

See also

References

External links