A fragile elderly woman walks slowly from Karetny Ryad Street  toward the center of Moscow along Petrovka Street. Olga Georgievna Tarasova, the former magnificent ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet, choreographer, and professor. MY PROFESSOR. Olga Georgievna is heading to the Department of Choreography at GITIS, where she has taught for over 50 years.

Dozens of choreographers from around the world proudly refer to her as “my professor.” And all of us are grateful to this delicate, charming woman for guiding us into the grand world of ballet.

I met Olga Georgievna long before I became her student. As a young dancer at the Bolshoi Ballet, I frequently assisted students from the Department of Choreography as a performer. Young choreographers would set their coursework choreography on me for presentations at assessments and exams. I enjoyed participating not only because I love dancing but also because I enjoyed the process of exploration and experimenting. I often tried to help by suggesting movements and contributing my own vision.

In Olga Georgievna’s classes, there was always a highly creative atmosphere of exploration. I remember once dancing in nearly all the exam pieces of students from one class. The assignment was on a single theme and almost the same musical material. It resulted in an astonishingly interesting exam program.

After the exam, Olga Georgievna often invited students to her home. This time, as the “main performer,” I was included. I found myself in the apartment of Olga Georgievna and her husband, Anatoly Mikhailovich Adoskin, a renowned actor from the Mossovet Drama Theatre. They lived in the Artists’ House of the Bolshoi Theatre on Karetny Ryad. The world of theater and art surrounded everyone within. The walls, objects, and people in the apartment, whether present at the moment or having left their mark earlier, breathed with this world. I listened with great interest to Olga Georgievna’s stories about theater, dancers, actors, performances, the analysis of contemporary productions, and, of course, the work of her students.

Despite my passion for the ballet profession, I always wanted to try choreographing myself. Perhaps this motivated me to work with young choreographers as a performer. The students often said to me: “Come study yourself, give it a try.”

A few years after that evening with Olga Georgievna, I enrolled in her course. We had a small but very creative and diverse group. Thus began the unforgettable years of searching for myself, finding my voice in dance, and, most importantly, engaging in deep discussions and close communication with our professor, Olga Georgievna Tarasova.

The uniqueness of Professor Tarasova lies in her continuation of the traditions of the department’s founder and the author of the teaching method for choreographers, Rostislav Vladimirovich Zakharov, whom Olga Georgievna studied with as his student and assistant. She approaches her subject with great attention to the foundation of the musical material. She fosters a deep understanding of the musical forms and content that the choreographer uses. It’s about recognizing that not only the rhythmic or melodic basis should be reflected in the choreographic material but also the inner world that the composer has embedded in their composition. Working exclusively with classical music in the early stages of study, Olga Georgievna guides her students to a profound analysis and evaluation of what they are about to choreograph, why, and how they align with the composer’s vision.

I will never forget our first assignments: an étude called “Butterfly.” Searching for movements that create the image of a butterfly while aligning perfectly with the musical theme and melodic nuance. To this day, I remember my étude and, when starting a new choreographic project, often return to the comments I received many years ago from my professor. And that was over 30 years ago.

Times change, aesthetics evolve, the pace of life quickens… But for Olga Georgievna, the laws of art, theater, music, and choreography remain constant, as do the laws of life. She once confided in me that she finds it increasingly difficult to understand young people. Their music is different, their outlook on life has changed. “What should I do?” she asked me. “Beethoven and Tchaikovsky remain the same; they just need to be seen in a contemporary light in choreography.” I couldn’t give her an answer. I knew that the next day, Olga Georgievna would enter the classroom again to discuss, debate, and teach, just as she did with our group, with her students before us, and those who came after. She has been doing this for over 50 years.

A fragile elderly woman walks slowly from Karetny Ryad Street toward the center of Moscow along Petrovka Street. In a few days, she will turn 92. She is on her way to teach—teaching young people to love theater, music, and dance; to be as dedicated to this art as she is! Look closely at this woman, and you will hear in her slow steps the love, music, and joy of life.

© Konstantin Uralsky