2 3 Throwback Thursday and the Panovs | Ballet Webb

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Throwback Thursday and the Panovs

Throwback Thursday and the Panovs

In the Soviet Union during the early 1970s, husband and wife ballet dancers Galina and Valery Panov applied for exit visas to Israel. Overnight, Valery was arrested and Galina was demoted from prima ballerina of the Kirov to the corps de ballet. Soon after, the KGB demanded that she divorce her husband or never dance again, and she resigned from the company.

Two years later, the visas were finally obtained and the couple left Russia for Israel. Artistically, they then became ballet gypsies, moving from place to place and country to country until in 1977 when they joined the Berlin Ballet as permanent guest artists, helping the company receive international recognition.

Today, Valery Panov is the artistic director and found of Panov Ballet Theatre in Israel which was founded in 1998.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Dance History Factoid #66:  
Valery Panov is a ballet dancer who was imprisoned in the Soviet Union." 

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