This past June, the Vaganova Academy hosted its tenth annual international conference and
demonstration. Attendees included ballet teachers and professionals from the U.S., Italy,
Portugal, Russia and the C.I.S. states eager to glimpse the training methodology that has
produced so many of the world's finest dancers. They came to gain pedagogical insights for their
own instruction, while basking in the tradition shrouded for decades in mystery and now open to
the world.
CDA Executive Director Janet Springer was returning for her seventh visit and Business Director
Dennis Mullen for his sixth. Newly appointed Vaganova Academy Rector Vera Dorofeeva
presided over the best organized and presented conference to date. The entire eight-year
training program was demonstrated in sequence by teachers and students of the Academy,
along with historical and character dance lessons. A performance of Swan Lake by the
Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet featured 2003 Vaganova graduate Alina Somova in her debut as
Odette/Odile. Somova was a student of Professor Ludmilla Safronova, who in turn had trained
under Vaganova herself.
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