Valery Lagunov

Biography

Thanks to his powerful, incredibly high leap Lagunov received the name of a “flying man” from a great Russian choreographer Kasian Goleizovsky.

He was born in Moscow on July 2, 1942. In 1962 he finished the Moscow Choreographic School (now the Moscow State Choreographic Academy) where his teacher was a great dancer Alexey Ermolaev. After graduation he joined the Bolshoi Ballet Company. He refined his excellence under the guidance of Asaf Messerer and rehearsed under the guidance of Nikolai Fadeechev.

In 1979 he graduated from the teaching department of the Ballet-master faculty of the Russian University of Theatre Arts (GITIS) n.a. A.V. Lunacharsky (now RATI/ The Russian Academy of theatrical arts). He finished his career of a dancer in 1983.

Since 1996 he has been a choreographer-repetiteur at the Bolshoi Theater. Ballet soloists Mikhail Lobukhin, Vladislav Lantratov, Denis Medvedev rehearse under the guidance.

Repertoire

He was the first to dance the following parts:

Garland (Scriabiniana to music by A. Scriabin, K. Goleizovsky production, 1962)

Prince Fortuné (The Sleeping Beauty by P.Tchaikovsky, choreography by M. Petipa, Y. Grigorovich version, 1963)

Shepherd boys (Nutcracker by P. Tchaikovsky, production by Yuri Grigorovich, 1966)

Archon ( Icarus by S. Slonimsky, V. Vasiliev production, 1971)

Little Count Cherry (Cipollino. Music by Karen Khachaturyan. Genrikh Mayorov production, 1977) — creator of the role at the Bolshoi theater

Classical Pas de deux (These magic sounds to music by G. Torelli, F. Corelli, J.F. Rameau and W.I. Mozart, V. Vasiliev production, 1978)

Capulet (Romeo and Juliet. Music by S. Prokofiev. Declan Donnelan and Radu Poklitary production, 2003)

He also danced the following parts:

Boys (Boris Asafiev’s The Fountain of Bakhchisaray; choreography by R. Zakharov, 1963)

Pas de trios (Swan Lake by P. Tchaikovsky. Choreography by A. Gorsky, Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, A. Messerer, 1964)

Interpolated Pas de Deux (Giselle by A. Adam, choreography by J. Coralli, J. Perrot and M. Petipa in L. Lavrovsky version, 1964)

Friends to Ferkhad (A Legend of Love. Music by Arif Melikov. choreography by Yuri Grigorovich, 1965)

Neapolitan dance (Swan Lake, 1967)

Troubadour (Romeo and Juliet by S. Prokofiev, choreography by L. Lavrovsky, 1969)

Soloist (Chopiniana to music by F. Chopin, choreography by M. Fokine, 1969)

Muzhik at the train station (Anna Karenina by R. R. Shchedrin, choreography by M. Plisetskaya, N. Ryzhenko and V. Smirnova-Golovanova, 1972)

Dance teacher (Cinderella by S. Prokofiev, choreography by R. Zakharov, 1972)

Evil genius (Swan Lake by P. Tchaikovsky, choreography by A. Gorsky, M. Petipa, L.Ivanov. in Y. Grigorovich version, 1972)

Albrecht (Giselle, 1975)

Black Man (Mozart and Salieri, to music by W.I. Mozart and A. Salieri, choreography by V. Bokkadoro, 1976)

Don Juan (Love for Love. Music by Tikhon Khrennikov. Vera Boccadoro production. Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing adaptation to the ballet, 1976)

“Symphony No. 40” by W.I. Mozart (These magic sounds to music by G. Torelli, F. Corelli, J.F. Rameau and W.I. Mozart, V. Vasiliev production, 1978)

Especially for him Tikhon Khrennikov wrote the variation of Don Juan in the ballet Love for Love.

In 1984 he revived Chopininana in the Serbian National Theatre (Novi Sad, Yugoslavia).

In 1985 he rehearsed with dancers of the Finnish National Ballet during the Nutcracker (Y. Grigorovich production) revival.

He starred in the TV films-concerts Duet (1973) and These magic sounds choreography by V. Vasiliev, directors V. Vasiliev and F. Slidovker, CTV “The Screen”, 1981)

He wrote a book Thorns and Roses of the Big Ballet (M., 2006)