Vaganova Today

Catherine Pawlick began studying ballet at the age of six in the San Francisco Bay Area. She performed with regional ballet companies in both California and Washington, D.C. She lives in Saint Petersburg, Russia and is a ballet critic. Pawlick has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, The Moscow Times, Ballet Review, Dance Magazine, and CriticalDance.com. She also works as correspondent for Dance Europe and Danza i Danza. More of her writing can be seen at http://VaganovaToday.com.

“A must for students and lovers of classical ballet. … Highly recommended.”—Choice“A riveting read, which attempts to reveal the secrets of the Vaganova system. Anyone intrigued by the greatness of Russian ballet, and the Mariinsky in particular, will absorb this book from a behind-the-curtain view.”—Dance International“Pawlick's book leaves us wondering if there could ever again be a figure like Vaganova, so centered on a particular style, and so instrumental in its codification and development.”—Dancing Times“Shows the Academy from the other end of the barre for the first time. . . . No other book gives a reader the opportunity to see the world of Russian ballet from the perspective of those who create it each day through teaching and coaching dancers for the stage.”—The Russian Review“Provides readers with new insights into standards and best practices in ballet training, as well as important philosophical and aesthetic issues besetting the world of professional ballet in the twenty-first century”—Dance Chronicle“Traces Agrippina Vaganova’s story from her student years in tsarist Russia to her career with the Mariinsky to her work as a teacher and choreographer.”—Dance Studio Life""An extensive and thorough compilation of numerous sources with unique insights on Vaganova and her methodology. The author has had access to several important figures in Russian ballet who knew Vaganova and/or her students. Confronting the dilemmas facing the art of classical ballet, Vaganova Today is a thought-provoking read.""--John White, author of Advanced Principles in Teaching Classical Ballet