Vaganova Method

Agrippina Vaganova & The Vaganova Method

Agrippina Vaganova was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1879. As a dancer with the Imperial Ballet, later the Mariinsky, she was known as the “queen of variation” and also well known teacher and choreographer.

She created an instructional system that became known to the world as the standard for ballet instruction: The Vaganova Method. The Vaganova Method leaves a dancer with a strong lower back, plasticity of the arms and endurance in the muscles for the most difficult movements.

The Vaganova Academy, which was once the old Imperial Ballet School, has taught such dancers as Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova, Mikhail Baryshnikov and George Balanchine.