Nadezhdina, Nadezhda Sergeevna

Nadezhdina, Nadezhda Sergeevna 

Born May 21 (June 3), 1908, in Vilnius. Soviet ballet dancer and choreographer. People’s Artist of the USSR (1966).

From 1918 to 1924, Nadezhdina studied at the Second State Ballet School in Petrograd. Between 1925 and 1934 she danced with the ballet of the Bolshoi Theater. In 1941 she made her debut as a choreographer. From 1943 to 1948, Nadezhdina was a choreographer at the Moscow Estrada; she also staged dances for the Russian Folk Choir in the city of Kalinin. She organized the choreographic ensemble Berezka in 1948; since then she has been its artistic director and choreographer.

An expert on Russian folk choreography, Nadezhdina has created numerous dances imbued with lofty poetry and nobility. These dances include Little Swan, Little Birch, Carousel, Spinner, At the Autumn Fair, Toward the Sunrise The Great Cossack Dance, Northern Lights, and Siberian Suite. The Berezka is world famous.

In 1959, Nadezhdina and the ensemble were awarded the Joliot-Curie Gold Medal by the World Peace Council. In 1950, Nadezhdina received the State Prize of the USSR.

REFERENCES

Chizhova, A. E. Tantsuet “Berezka”. Moscow, 1967.
Chizhova, A. E. ”Berezka.” Moscow, 1972.

M. S. KLEIMENOVA