Pavel Gerdt
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009) |
Pavel Andreyevich Gerdt, also known as Paul Gerdt (near St. Peterburg, Russia, 22 November 1844 — Vamaloki, Finland 12 August 1917), was the Premier Danseur Noble of the Imperial Ballet, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, and the Mariinsky Theatre for 56 years, making his debut in 1860, and retiring in 1916. His daughter Elisaveta Gerdt was also a prominent ballerina and teacher.
Gerdt studied under Alexander Pimenov, a pupil of the legendary Charles Didelot, and with Jean Petipa, Marius Petipa's father, a master of the old pantomime and a student of Auguste Vestris. He was known as the Blue Cavalier of the St. Petersburg stage, creating the roles of nearly every lead male character throughout the latter half of the 19th century, among them, Prince Desirè in Sleeping Beauty, and Prince Coqueluche in The Nutcracker. Nobody in the theatre knew his real age and, when asked, he would always say that he was 23.
Among his pupils at the Imperial Ballet School were Michel Fokine, Vaslav Nijinsky, Tamara Karsavina, George Balanchine, and Anna Pavlova, to whom he taught the soaring leap of Marie Taglioni and Carlotta Grisi.
[edit] See also
 |
This article about someone associated with the art of ballet is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This Russian biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
