This is the most respected and most widely-read Russian ballet manual in the world, written in 1938 by Agrippina Vaganova (Russia’s most influential ballet teacher of all time) and published in its final version (renowned as the 3rd edition) in U.S.S.R. in 1948. The book is presented – for the first time in English! – in its complete, unabridged, original form.  Agrippina Vaganova played a pivotal role in the rebirth of Russian ballet, and her teaching method has gained unparalleled fame throughout the world. This Russian ballet techniques reference manual is the basis for all other classical ballet textbooks. The book contains the original text, additional documentation, contextual analysis, a biographical essay of Vaganova’s lifetime achievements, photos, specific illustrations of movements, forms and positions of her ballet method, and a fundamental new study on the influence of the Italians (led by Enrico Cecchetti) on the development of Russian ballet.

The sensational discovery of this work by Grazioso Cecchetti, son of the great Italian ballet master Enrico (1850-1928), represents the only direct testimony of the famous Cecchetti method of classical ballet (the Italian School), until now passed down exclusively through the writings of his followers and students. Over 700 original sketches and drawings by the author himself, included in this work, make it a truly complete handbook on the most celebrated and widely used classical dance method in the anglo-saxon world. The work is divided into two volumes, as was the original.  This first volume explores theory of the positions, barrre exercises, porte de bras, exercises in the center, poses, adagio movements and adagi.

This is the most respected and most widely-read Russian ballet manual in the world, written in 1938 by Agrippina Vaganova (Russia’s most influential ballet teacher of all time) and published in its final version (renowned as the 3rd edition) in U.S.S.R. in 1948. The book is presented – for the first time in English! – in its complete, unabridged, original form.  Agrippina Vaganova played a pivotal role in the rebirth of Russian ballet, and her teaching method has gained unparalleled fame throughout the world. This Russian ballet techniques reference manual is the basis for all other classical ballet textbooks. The book contains the original text, additional documentation, contextual analysis, a biographical essay of Vaganova’s lifetime achievements, photos, specific illustrations of movements, forms and positions of her ballet method, and a fundamental new study on the influence of the Italians (led by Enrico Cecchetti) on the development of Russian ballet.

The sensational discovery of this work by Grazioso Cecchetti, son of the great Italian ballet master Enrico (1850-1928), represents the only direct testimony of the famous Cecchetti method of classical ballet (the Italian School), until now passed down exclusively through the writings of his followers and students. Over 700 original sketches and drawings by the author himself, included in this work, make it a truly complete handbook on the most celebrated and widely used classical dance method in the anglo-saxon world. The work is divided into two volumes, as was the original.  This first volume explores theory of the positions, barrre exercises, porte de bras, exercises in the center, poses, adagio movements and adagi.