Perm State Choreographic College

Perm State Choreographic College (Russian: Пермский государственный хореографический колледж, commonly known as the Perm Ballet School) is an internationally renowned, professional ballet school, based in Perm, Russia. It is the associate school of the Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre, with the majority of dancers in the company having trained at the school. The school also produces dancers who gain employment with other leading ballet companies in Russia and around the world.

History

The origins of the school lie in the 1941 Siege of Leningrad, during which the ballet and opera companies of the then Kirov Theatre were evacuated to Perm (then known as Molotov), along with the Leningrad Choreographic School. The ballet school remained in the city until the blockade of Leningrad was lifted in 1944 and plans were immediately put forward for a permanent ballet and opera theatre in Perm. The ballet school was officially opened on April 2, 1945 and has remained on the same site throughout its history, with student performances being staged at the Perm Academic Theatre since 1984.

The first artistic director of the school, until 1956, was Ekaterina Heidenreikh. Heidenreikh was a graduate of the Imperial Theatre School in St Petersburg and a soloist with the Mariinsky Ballet. Prior to her appointment as head of the Perm ballet school, she had been a teacher at the Leningrad Choreographic School. The current artistic director of the school is Liudmila Shevchenko.

Notable Graduates

• Nadezhda Pavlova
• Vadim Muntagirov

References