Vaganova Girls

[Alya]

There are a few threads on here already on similar subjects of ballet and ballet dancers as great thinspo (here on the lifestyle of Russian ballerinas and here with ballet as thinspo) and I have seen the Vaganova Ballet Academy and its students or graduates mentioned a few times. Many of their students have bodies fit for SGF so I thought I would make a thread for girls both training at Vaganova and those who have graduated the school, but don't have enough material for their own thread. Their lifestyles tend to be just as motivational as their bodies. Many of them also post food on their Instagrams, which is interesting to see, and their dedication and work ethic is also something I find very motivating and something I think many on here can relate to.

Here is the Vaganova Ballet Academy Instagram

A few current students:

Maria Ilyushkina

Maria Khoreva

(Not sure her last name, but Anastasia in the same class as Maria Khoreva)

A picture from an exam with many lovely skinny dancers

Some who have graduated the school:

Alina Somova

Viktoria Tereshkina

And so many others (ex. Ulyana Lopatkina, Olga Smirnova, Evgenia Obrastova)

Sometimes I find their legs might be a bit too muscular for some, but their upper bodies are always very tiny and ethereal.
The movie Ballerina is also about dancers in the Mariinsky Ballet who graduated from the Vaganova Academy and is a good view inside the company and school. It shows just how hard the dancers work every day (and of course has lovely bodies to look at ).

I hope you all enjoy

 

[Ellie]

Yes! Looking forward to this thread.

 

[Serea]

Oooh, I love the idea for this thread - thank you for creating it! I will surely be checking it often.

I've always been fascinated by ballerinas. Sadly, I'm far too old to ever try ballet now, but it's sooo inspiring to watch how they move so gracefully and carry themselves with such poise.

 

[lux]

not sure if this has been posted already- it's a documentary about the auditioning/enrolling process at Vaganova- very interesting:

 

[Alya]

not sure if this has been posted already- it's a documentary about the auditioning/enrolling process at Vaganova- very interesting:

It's crazy how competitive and elite it is even at such a young age. Then to know that at least a portion of them won't graduate, and even less will get a job at Mariinsky. All the work these girls put in is crazy, their determination and passion is really admirable.
Also that comment about halfway through from the teacher about how some girls were thin and some weren't, then goes to see who they are...I wish more teachers here could be so frank without all the fuss a comment like that would receive (at least in the US)

 

[PrincessThin]

Watching this thread! Quitting ballet as a kid is one of my biggest regrets. I do wish there were more art forms that valued the thin, ethereal physique, modelling and ballet are so under-respected.

 

[camille]

Ballerinas are goals in so many aspects - discipline, endurance, strength, determination, physique. They are truly inspiring.

 

[Lapin]

not sure if this has been posted already- it's a documentary about the auditioning/enrolling process at Vaganova- very interesting:

All the hard-work these children have gone through and are willing to continue is so admirable! They all come across so sweet and passionate - I feel like the fact they go through all that makes them all the more adorable and likeable, too. So many American/Western children do nothing these days and are so entitled, with no passions or hard-work, etc, and end up with porky bodies and a bad attitude. But these ballerina's are like little angels on earth.

 

[Artemis]

All the hard-work these children have gone through and are willing to continue is so admirable! They all come across so sweet and passionate - I feel like the fact they go through all that makes them all the more adorable and likeable, too. So many American/Western children do nothing these days and are so entitled, with no passions or hard-work, etc, and end up with porky bodies and a bad attitude. But these ballerina's are like little angels on earth.

Agreed! Whenever I watch Dance Moms I get as mad as that psycho instructor because the the *teen* girls who can't be bothered to point their feet, hold even 45 degrees of turnout, or keep their hips level during extensions. The parents come in and yell at the instructor for 'criticizing' their bratty children. It's unreal.

 

[Alya]

A short documentary type thing on Olga Smirnova. She trained at Vaganova and now works at the Bolshoi Ballet.

 

[Serea]

Watching this thread! Quitting ballet as a kid is one of my biggest regrets. I do wish there were more art forms that valued the thin, ethereal physique, modelling and ballet are so under-respected.

I regret this as well - not that I even took ballet for very long to begin with. My mom signed me up when I was probably three years old, but I would cry when she left the building, so she gave into me and took me out of the class. Ah, I could kick myself.

I feel even more pathetic seeing that these children actually have to be away from their parents for extended periods of time, when I couldn't even last an hour! Live and learn . . .

 

[PrincessThin]

I regret this as well - not that I even took ballet for very long to begin with. My mom signed me up when I was probably three years old, but I would cry when she left the building, so she gave into me and took me out of the class. Ah, I could kick myself.

I feel even more pathetic seeing that these children actually have to be away from their parents for extended periods of time, when I couldn't even last an hour! Live and learn . . .

Aw, I wouldn't sweat it, a lot of kids have trouble being separated from their parents. On the bright side, you didn't have one of those parents that forces their children into doing things they aren't enjoying, you'd probably just resent it more!

I only lasted in ballet for about a year myself, I did one exam and one show and quit because I hated being dressed up. For some reason I had it in my mind that 6 was far too old to be dressed up like Pinocchio.

 

[bingeonvogue]

Oh my god, the kid at 14:07 in the clip from the extended version is amazing I need to listen to this every morning.

 

[Sasja]

A short documentary type thing on Olga Smirnova. She trained at Vaganova and now works at the Bolshoi Ballet.

Fantastic watch! I love Vaganova girls and everything the academy stands for tbh. Ballet done right. I can also recommend Ballerina. It was one of the first documentaries I watched about ballet that felt very genuine and honest, and didn't really push the ~ballet is so dark~ thing but rather let the people in the industry talk about it from the way they saw it, so it was just this lovely homage to ballet and you could tell all the people there loved what they did, even if it was hard. This seems to be true for all sports at a high level. You sacrifice a lot, but it's for a reason. For an outsider this may sometimes be hard to undertand, but this documentary gives great insight.

Those ribs in the first picture made me fall in love with this thread already. I wish I wasn't a social media n00b and knew how to browse instagram so I had some pictures to share. Let me embed the docu:

 

[ThinLove]

Oh my god, the kid at 14:07 in the clip from the extended version is amazing I need to listen to this every morning.

Not only are the kids so inspiringly dedicated, but they're also really well spoken, which is a rarity now in the West amongst kids their age (I know I'm making a huge generalisation, but at least where I live children don't seem to be able to string more than four words together without using a list of fillers, never mind memorise and recite a poem with feeling like that boy at 14:07)

 

[Alya]

Not only are the kids so inspiringly dedicated, but they're also really well spoken, which is a rarity now in the West amongst kids their age (I know I'm making a huge generalisation, but at least where I live children don't seem to be able to string more than four words together without using a list of fillers, never mind memorise and recite a poem with feeling like that boy at 14:07)

I know poetry is more widespread/well known there, but it's still really impressive.
They are probably a lot less entitled than your average child too (in US at least, and probably a decent amount of adults) because they know you need to work hard to get what you want and even that's not a guarentee. Maybe that contributes to them speaking well?

 

[ThinLove]

I know poetry is more widespread/well known there, but it's still really impressive.
They are probably a lot less entitled than your average child too (in US at least, and probably a decent amount of adults) because they know you need to work hard to get what you want and even that's not a guarentee. Maybe that contributes to them speaking well?

Yes, I completely agree! Those kids who aren't privileged and don't have 'connections' are constantly reminded by their parents that the only way they'll achieve what they want, the only way that they'll escape poverty, is by working hard and trying to excel in everything that they do.

I did some research and according to this website, Russia along with a few other Eastern European countries has a literacy rate of ~99.7%, which is higher than in the UK and I suspect USA (correct me if I'm wrong though- strangely I couldn't find any exact stats on these countries...). From my experience the main thing which contributes to that is the strong emphasis on oral testing and the thorough teaching of grammar:

• From the beginning to the end of school there are compulsory Russian language classes where grammar is the main focus. You have to learn the rules (as they're printed in the textbook) and be able to recite them to the whole class upon request by the teacher whilst standing up.

• Children have to be able to recite poems (often very long ones) in Russian literature classes (also compulsory throughout school). I'm ashamed to say that I've forgotten a lot of what I learned since I moved countries and schools, but my dad, who's in his late 50s, can still perfectly recite what he was taught in school more than four decades ago!!!

• Oral testing is an essential part of the examination system, so students have to be able to eloquently explain concepts and freely discuss them on the spot.

• Children's fluency and articulation in their speech is developed early on in nursery school through lots of tongue twisters and if a child isn't able to properly pronounce a sound, such as roll their 'r', it's not uncommon for them to be quickly sent to a speech therapist to resolve the issue.

 

[Alya]

I came across this little video that some students made there. It's pretty silly, but nice to see that as hard as they work, they're still able to goof around like normal kids and have fun

The clip of a ballet class is pretty interesting too. The teacher is honest about what she sees when she tells one girl she dances like a cleaning lady and Baba Yaga (and part of the joke is probably related to the music the pianist is playing which is Baba Yaga from Pictures at an Exhibition)

 

[Ambi]

A short documentary type thing on Olga Smirnova. She trained at Vaganova and now works at the Bolshoi Ballet.

She is so incredibly beautiful and exceptionally talented! I've been dancing for 7-ish years but ballet was never my forte These beautiful ballerinas has inspired me to get my act together in ballet class and hopefully I'll be en pointe by next year

 

[Alya]

VBA's school year started today