Galina Sergeyevna Mezentseva ' onMouseout='HidePop("77607")' href="/topics/Tolyatti">Stavropol

Tolyatti

Tolyatti , also known as Togliatti, is a city in Samara Oblast, Russia. It serves as the administrative center of Stavropolsky District, although it is administratively separate from it...

) is a Russian ballerina

Ballerina

A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...

, with a career as professional classic dancer from the early 1970s to the late 1990s. She was the first of the crop of tall Kirov ballerinas with long and thin lines, introducing a new aesthetic
look to ballet audiences. Mezentseva is recognized as an dramatic
performer, and is known for her improvisation.

Career

Mezentseva completed her dancing studies in 1970 at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

, Russia. After graduation, she got the position of principal dancer at the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet

Mariinsky Ballet

The Mariinsky Ballet is a classical ballet company based at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's leading ballet companies...

, keeping it for almost 20 years. In 1990 she left Russia to live in the UK. From 1990 to 1994, Mezentseva worked as a guest dancer at the Scottish Ballet (Glasgow). From 1994 to 2000, she toured the US and other countries as guest star with the Saint-Petesburg State Academic Ballet, directed by Askold Makarov

Askold Makarov

Askold Anatolievich Makarov was a Russian ballet dancer and ballet professor, leading soloist at the Kirov Ballet during the 1960s and early 1970s. Director of the Saint-Petesburg State Academic Ballet from 1976 to 2000. Awarded with: State Prize of the USSR and People's Artist of the USSR...

. Since then Mezentseva has worked as a ballet teacher and as an occasional performer.

Awards

Galina Mezentseva received many prestigious awards and titles: First Prize Laureate Award of the International Ballet Competition in Moscow (1977), Honored Artist of Russia (1978), National State Prize Winner (1980), Gold Medal at the International Ballet Competition (Japan, 1980) and The People's Artist

People's Artist

People's Artist is a honorary title in the Soviet Union, Union republics, in some other Eastern bloc states , as well as in a number of post-Soviet states, modeled after the title of the People's Artist of the USSR....

 of Russia (1983).

The intensity of Mezentseva's best live performances is believed to not translate well into the (few) available recorded presentations. Most of these recordings were taken after a severe achilles tendon

Achilles tendon

The Achilles tendon , also known as the calcaneal tendon or the tendo calcaneus, is a tendon of the posterior leg. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to the calcaneus bone.- Anatomy :The Achilles is the tendonous extension of 3 muscles in the lower leg:...

 rupture experienced by her in the early 1980s.

Ulyana Lopatkina on Mezentseva

Ulyana Lopatkina

Ulyana Lopatkina

Ulyana Vyacheslavovna Lopatkina is a principal dancer at the Kirov Ballet/Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. She studied at the Vaganova Academy with Natalia Dudinskaya. Upon graduation Lopatkina joined the Kirov/Mariinsky Theatre Ballet in 1991, and was promoted to principal dancer in 1995...

, the Kirov's principal dancer (2007), compared Galina Ulanova

Galina Ulanova

Galina Sergeyevna Ulánova is frequently cited as being one of the greatest 20th Century ballerinas. Her flat in Moscow is designated a national museum, and there are monuments to her in Saint Petersburg and Stockholm....

, Ekaterina Maximova

Ekaterina Maximova

Ekaterina Sergeevna Maximova was a Soviet and Russian ballerina of international renown.-Career:Maximova was born in Moscow, Soviet Union. An artist who combined great technical prowess with piquant prettiness, Maximova enjoyed her greatest successes in Giselle, Don Quixote, Cinderella and The...

and Galina Mezentseva, her favorite ballerinas, in an interview given in 2005:

They all had different personalities. Ulanova was sincere, she astonished ballet-goers with her utter fidelity to human feelings. Maximova had exceptional physique and moved very beautifully. And Mezentseva – oh, she was serene, she was a queen, she had poise, beautiful lines and a profound dramatism. She could cast a spell effortlessly. The strongest impression anyone has made on me was Mezentseva with her Dying Swan.

• Mezentseva performing Dying Swan (video at YouTube) (retrieved January 2, 2008)

Filmography

• Galina Mezentseva's Filmography Ballet lessons and ballet performances at MSN Movies (retrieved January 7, 2008)
• Galina Mezentseva, Ballet Dancer (film-concert) Lentelefilm/Ochakovo Films (Russia, 75 min, color, 1981, retrieved January 7, 2008)