In 2009, Aleksei Fomkin defended his dissertation for the degree of Ph D in Pedagogical Sciences at the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A.I. Herzen, titled «Historical Traditions of Modern Ballet Education (Based on the Activities of the Imperial Ballet School — Academy of Russian Ballet Named After A.Y. Vaganova).»
Ballet is an independent art form with a unique specificity. The essence of this specificity lies in the exceptional importance of the dancer’s physical apparatus—their body—which is developed over an eight-year training cycle. The development of curricula and training technologies for ballet dancers in pedagogical science is still in its infancy, with issues revolving around organization, management, structure, and content.
The methodological part of the professional training of ballet dancers was scientifically developed thanks to the activities of the first professor of ballet art, People’s Artist of the RSFSR A.Y. Vaganova. In 1934, her book «Fundamentals of Classical Dance» was published, which rethought and systematized the artistic and performing experience of previous generations, laying the scientific foundation for the theory and practice of ballet education. A.Y. Vaganova is the founder of higher choreographic education. In the late 1920s — early 1930s, pedagogical and choreographic departments were first created under her leadership at the Leningrad Choreographic Technical School, where features of university specializations were formed: choreography pedagogy, choreographer’s art, and the history and theory of choreographic art. However, many of A.Y. Vaganova’s ideas were realized only in the early 1990s when the Leningrad and Moscow Ballet Schools were transformed into higher educational institutions, and ballet dancers began to receive higher professional education.
In Russia, ballet academies train ballet dancers, choreographers, ballet teachers, art historians (ballet critics), performing arts managers, and accompanists. Modern ballet education aims to maintain a high standard of practical training for professional ballet dancers while adapting established ballet training traditions to suit the needs of contemporary society. This can only be achieved by analyzing the historical experience of developing the structure and content of ballet education.
The goal of Aleksei Fomkin’s research was to identify historical traditions that contribute to the development of modern ballet education (using the example of the Imperial Ballet School — Academy of Russian Ballet named after A.Y. Vaganova), which reveal the ideas, content, and methods of training ballet dancers at different historical stages of ballet education development, and to determine the specifics of combining early professionalization and general education in the domestic system of training ballet dancers.
In completing the research tasks, the following goals were achieved:
1. Analysis of scientific and pedagogical literature on the historical development of domestic ballet education traditions and their contradictions.
2. Investigation of changes in training and educational programs for ballet dancers at different historical stages.
3. Identification and justification of the historically established nature of the educational process in ballet educational institutions.
4. Comparative analysis of the established historical traditions of ballet dancer training in Russia and the oldest ballet schools in Western Europe (in France and Sweden).
The research was based on theoretical works that uncovered:
— The history of education development in Russia (T.S. Butorina, Z.I. Vasilieva, M.I. Demkov, A.N. Dzhurinsky, P.N. Milyukov, Z.I. Ravkin, A.V. Rogova, L.A. Stepashko);
— General scientific principles of systemic analysis (I.V. Blauberg, L.F. Bertalanffy, V.N. Sadovsky, E.G. Yudin, etc.);
— Provisions on the correlation of innovations and traditions (I.Y. Alexashina, A.G. Asmolov, T.K. Klimenko, N.L. Selivanova, E.V. Tkachenko);
— The essence of traditions as a means of educating the younger generation (N.P. Dobronravov, I.S. Dritz, I.A. Kolesnikova, A.S. Makarenko, V.V. Strunin, I.F. Syubareva, B.A. Titov, B.E. Shirvindt);
— Spiritual and value foundations of education and upbringing (A.A. Aronov, A.I. Arnoldov, O.A. Blokh, Z.I. Vasilieva, V.A. Volobuev, E.O. Galitskikh, L.S. Zorilova, A.V. Kiryakova, N.V. Sedova);
— Features of personality-oriented education (V.P. Bespalko, P.I. Pidkasisty, G.K. Selevko, V.V. Serikov, I.K. Shalaev, I.S. Yakimanskaya, etc.);
— Ways of using art for aesthetic education and personality development (M.M. Bakhtin, M.A. Verb, A.S. Zapesotsky, G.N. Kudina, A.A. Melik-Pashaev);
— Issues of specialist training in the field of culture (T.I. Baklanova, A.D. Zharkova, V.G. Kuznetsova, V.P. Podvoysky, V.S. Sadovskaya, V.I. Chernichenko, N.N. Yaroshenko);
— Problems of ballet education development (E.P. Vulukin, V.Y. Nikitin, N.A. Dogorova, N.R. Smirnova, I.K. Izmailova, T.I. Kalashnikova, G.V. Burtseva, M.N. Yurieva, L.A. Savelieva, E.V. Nikolaeva, L.V. Bogomolova, L.F. Maistrova, E.N. Popova, A.B. Cherednyakova, Y.V. Ushakova, S.N. Temlyantseva, Y.A. Gerasimova, T.I. Kalashnikova, E.N. Fokina, V.N. Nilov, O.A. Ryndina);
— Theoretical foundations of dance art education (M.I. Petipa, H.P. Johansson, N.G. Legat, A.Y. Vaganova, V.I. Ponomarev, A.I. Pushkin, V.S. Kostrovitskaya, N.P. Bazarova, V.P. May, N.I. Tarasov, etc.);
— Structure and content of different levels of education (S.M. Arkhangelsky, S.Y. Batyzhev, V.P. Bespalko, B.S. Gershunsky, N.F. Talyzina, I.G. Shamsutdinova, etc.);
— Problems of elite education (G.K. Ashin, A.I. Repet, V.M. Lobzarov).
Research methods: system analysis, historical and pedagogical method, providing for the theoretical analysis of pedagogical and psychological literature and the use of methods of historical reconstruction; comparative pedagogical method for analyzing and systematizing domestic and foreign experience in training ballet specialists.
The research was based on the following sources:
— Materials from the Russian State Historical Archive (RGIA), the Central State Archive of Literature and Art (TSGALI SPb), the Central State Archive of St. Petersburg (TSGA SPb), the archive and museum of the Vaganova Ballet Academy.
— Reference materials in education and pedagogy, as well as theatrical and choreographic arts.
— Publications in the periodical press dedicated to the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatre School, the Vaganova Ballet Academy, and issues of ballet education.
— Documents and materials reflecting the formation and development of education and theater affairs in Russia.
— Normative documentation (legislative acts, statutes of educational institutions, instructions, protocols, curricula), materials from congresses, meetings, and discussions on choreographic education issues.
— Memoirs of ballet art figures.
The research was conducted in three stages:
1. The first stage (2002-2004) involved studying art history, psychological, sociological, pedagogical, and specialized literature to theoretically comprehend the problem, its relevance, and its development in scientific research. The problem was assessed, research tools and methodology were developed, the problem was clarified, and the author’s hypothesis was formulated.
2. The second stage (2004-2006) involved collecting empirical data on the activities of the Vaganova Ballet Academy through archival work, interviews, surveys, and pedagogical observation. At this stage, the main historical periods of the formation of the ballet education system in Russia were identified. The initial hypothesis was refined and deepened, and the concept of «ballet education» was clarified in relation to training specialists for the ballet theater.
3. The third stage (2006-2008) involved further theoretical comprehension of the problem. Based on the conducted analysis, the main historical traditions of ballet dancer training were identified, empirical data were summarized, necessary clarifications and changes were made, conclusions were formulated, and the work was completed.
Key findings for defense presented:
1. The formation of ballet education in Russia includes the following periods:
— First period (1710-1756) — the initial training of dancers in Russia at the Imperial Ballet School, focused on craft training (technical dance training).
— Second period (1756-1829) — integrated training in all types of art (ballet, drama, music, painting) with further specialization based on achieved successes.
— Third period (1829-1917) — organizational and methodological formation of ballet education, primarily aimed at professional ballet dancer training, involving reduced general education content and volume.
— Fourth period (1917-present) — a harmonious combination of general education with specialized training for ballet dancers, meeting modern society’s requirements and preserving ballet traditions.
2. The historical significance of professional and pedagogical experience accumulated at different stages of ballet education development in Russia lies in creating the necessary prerequisites for forming and developing the ballet education system.
3. The defining feature of ballet education is the integral unity of specialized training and general education.
4. The combination of specialized and general education is the leading condition for the progressive development of ballet education in Russia. This combination is ensured by developing new educational programs, including state and additional programs for ballet schools.
5. The essence of the established traditions of ballet dancer training is based on the practical professional experience of generations of ballet artists and pedagogues. Previous generations’ artistic and performing skills are summarized and synthesized in the educational process, creating the necessary basis for ballet artists’ training.
6. The practice-oriented approach to ballet education, developed throughout the history of ballet education in Russia, ensures the organic combination of special and general education for ballet dancers. The level of educational process organization and the content of curricula determine the quality of training ballet dancers, forming the basis for their future professional activity.
7. The modern system of ballet education in Russia, combining unique and general education, allows for solving the task of training professional ballet dancers in accordance with contemporary social and cultural conditions. The educational process at ballet schools ensures the necessary level of general and special education, creating conditions for students’ comprehensive development and training ballet dancers of the highest level of professional skill.
The dissertation’s scientific novelty lies in the systematization and theoretical understanding of the historical traditions of domestic ballet education, the identification of the specifics of combining special and general education in ballet dancer training, and the justification of the practice-oriented approach as a leading condition for the progressive development of ballet education in Russia.
The research’s practical significance lies in the fact that the identified and systematized historical traditions of ballet education can be used to develop new educational programs for ballet schools, ensure the necessary level of general and special education for ballet dancers, and meet modern society’s requirements. The research results can also be used in the professional training of ballet educators and the development of pedagogical and methodological literature on ballet education.
The research’s scientific novelty stems from:
1. The historical analysis of the formation and development of ballet education in Russia.
2. Clarifying pedagogical concepts: «choreographic education,» «ballet education.»
3. Identifying historical traditions and demonstrating specific features (organizational, substantive, methodological) of the domestic system of training ballet dancers.
4. The proposal of a periodization of the main stages in the history of ballet education.
5. The identification of pedagogical models presented in ballet education.
6. The introduction of information about the structure and content of training in the oldest ballet schools in Europe – the Paris Opera Ballet School and the Royal Swedish Ballet School – into scientific circulation for the first time.
Dissertation Research Approval:
The central positions and results of the dissertation research are presented in 20 publications, in reports on scientific projects of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science for 2005-2007, and were reflected in presentations at various conferences: «Cultural Space of Russia: Problems and Development Prospects» (Tambov, 2004); «Choreographic Education at the Turn of the 21st Century: Experience, Problems, Development Prospects» (Tambov, April 28-29, 2005); 4th All-Russian Correspondence Scientific and Practical Conference «Modernization of the Professional Education System Based on Regulated Evolution» (Chelyabinsk, November 14, 2005); 14th International Conference «The Child in the Modern World. Education and Childhood» (Herzen State Pedagogical University, April 18-20, 2007), and others.
Research Base:
The research was conducted at the Vaganova Ballet Academy.
Dissertation Structure:
The dissertation consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion, a bibliography, and appendices, and it is presented on 186 pages of typed text.
Based on the dissertation, the monograph «Ballet Education: Traditions, History, Practice» was published (2012).
Author’sabstract of the dissertation for the degree of candidate of pedagogical sciences
Автореферат диссертации на соискание ученой степени кандидата педагогических наук
