Victor Gsovsky (; 12 January 1902, Saint Petersburg – 14 March 1974, Hamburg) was a Russian ballet dancer, teacher, balletmaster and choreographer.
Biography He studied with Mariinsky Theatre prima ballerina Evgenia Sokolova and started his teaching career while still very young.ru: The ballet encyclopedia (Источник: Балет. Энциклопедия, СЭ, 1981)ru: Victor Gsovsky // ГЗОВСКИЙ (Gsovsky) ВикторOxford Dictionary of Dance: Victor Gsovskyru: Gsovsky Victor Ivanovich // ГЗОВСКИЙ Виктор Иванович
In 1925 Victor Gsovsky left Soviet Russia with his wife Tatjana Gsovsky, whom he had met in Krasnodar. Their first engagement was in Berlin, Germany, where he worked as dancer and choreographer at the Berlin State Opera (1925–1928) before opening a private school in 1928. From 1930 to 1933 he worked as a choreographer for the German UFA Film Company and undertook smaller tours with his wife and the Ballet Gsovsky.
From 1937 he was ballet master of the Markova-Dolin company; in 1938 he began teaching in Paris and in 1945 was appointed ballet master of the Paris Opera Ballet. In 1946–1947 he was ballet master with the Ballets des Champs-Élysées and again in 1948 and 1953; with the Metropolitan Ballet in London in 1947.
From 1950 to 1952 he was ballet director of the Munich State Opera. After leaving Munich he worked as a choreographer and ballet master in several European locations. He was ballet master in Düsseldorf (1964–1967) and at the Hamburg State Opera (1967–1970). He staged the first post-war production of La Sylphide for the Ballets des Champs-Élysées in 1946. His best-known work by far is the Grand Pas Classique (mus. Auber, 1949), which is still performed in galas around the world. An influential teacher, his students included Yvette Chauviré, Nina Vyroubova, Colette Marchand, Violette Verdy, and Vera Zorina.
Works Victor Gsovsky's choreography includes: Swan Lake Act II, Paris Opera, 1945 Grand Pas Classique, music by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (to the ballet music from his opera Le Dieu et La Bayadere, 1830), created for Yvette Chauviré and Vladimir Skouratoff, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris, 1949Oxford Dictionary of Dance: Grand pas classiqueWladimir Skouratoff: Sa carrière comme danseur étoile Mascarade, music by Georges Bizet (Variations chromatiques, orchestrated by Felix Weingartner), Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris, 1948Guilly, René (1948). "Les ballets des Champs-Elysées créeront quatre oeuvres de Boris Kochno", Combat, 3 November 1948, p. 2. Hamlet (together with Tatjana Gsovsky), music by Boris Blacher, Prinzregententheater Munich, 1950 Regner, Otto Friedrich: In der Staatsoper: Gsovskys Debüt, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 21 November 1950, p. 3. La Sylphide, music by Jean-Madeleine Schneitzhoeffer, Prinzregententheater Munich, 1951 Regner, Otto Friedrich: Ballettabend II in der Staatsoper „La Sylphide“ und „Kain Innocentius“, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 30 April 1951, p. 2. Weg zum Licht, music by Georges Auric, Prinzregententheater Munich, 1952 Regner, Otto Friedrich: Eine französische Uraufführung in München“, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 25 March 1952, p. 2. Pas de cœur, music by Gottfried von Einem, Prinzregententheater Munich, 1952 Regner, Otto Friedrich: Staatsoper als Auftraggeberin“, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 22 Juli 1952, p. 2.
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