Igor Yushkevych is a world-class Ukrainian dancer, a native of Poltava region, who was called the “architect of American ballet” for his significant contribution to its development. The artist was one of the most outstanding dancers of the 20th century and left a noticeable mark in the world history of ballet art.
This was reported by Ukrainian Magazine.Chicago.
Igor Ivanovich Yushkevych was born on March 13, 1912, into the family of a judge in the city of Pyriatyn in Poltava region. In 1920, fleeing the Bolshevik revolution, his family ended up in Belgrade (Kingdom of Yugoslavia). There, the future artist studied at the Russian-Serbian gymnasium, and later entered the University of Belgrade, where he began to study law.
Despite his passion for sports, particularly wrestling and athletics, Yushkevych discovered ballet at a relatively late age. His physical training attracted the attention of the Yugoslav ballerina Zena Grunt, who invited him to become her partner. After a year of intensive training, Yushkevych made his debut in Paris in 1932.
Paris opened up new opportunities for him. Yushkevych continued his studies with the famous ballerina Olga Preobrazhenskaya. In 1934, he joined the troupe of Les Ballets de Paris under the direction of Bronislava Nizhynska. In 1935, the artist joined the troupe of Leon Wojciechowski. It was then that he met his future wife, the dancer Anna Skarpova. The couple married in 1938 and that same year began working at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, where Yushkevych became a principal dancer.
At the peak of his career in 1944, he left the stage and joined the US Navy during World War II. After two years of service, returning to ballet was difficult, but through hard training he regained his form.
In 1946, Yushkevich joined the Ballet Russe Highlights under the direction of Leonid Massin, and in the fall of that year he became a principal dancer at the Ballet Theatre (now the American Ballet Theatre). On the stage of this theatre, he performed leading roles and performed with famous ballerinas, including Alicia Markova, Tamara Tumanova, and Natalia Krasovskaya. One of the most famous was his collaboration with Alicia Alonso in the production of Giselle and in productions by George Balanchine.
In 1947, the artist performed in Cuba, and a year later he went on tour in Latin America with Alicia Alonso's troupe. In the Alicia Alonso Ballet, he performed, among other things, the role of Romeo in Alberto Alonso's production of Romeo and Juliet. Yushkevich and Alonso became one of the most prominent figures on the ballet scene of the time.
Among their joint projects were performances in Anthony Tudor's The Shadow of the Wind (1948) and participation in Gene Kelly's Invitation to Dance (1952). In 1955, Yushkevich returned to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and in 1960 he rejoined the American Ballet Theatre as a guest artist and took part in the troupe's first visit to the Soviet Union.
In 1962, Igor Yushkevich ended his career as a dancer. Together with his wife Anna Skarpova, he opened his own ballet school in New York. He later worked as a ballet master and teacher in many ballet schools in the United States. His teaching activities spanned various states, from New York to Texas, where he taught on the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin from 1971 to 1982.
In 1985, together with Ilona Kopen, he founded the New York International Ballet Competition, which brought together young dancers from around the world.
Yushkevich's contribution to the development of ballet in the United States was recognized by a number of awards. In 1958, he received the Dance Magazine Award, in 1991, the Capezio Dance Award, and in 1993, he became the laureate of the Cuban prize Premio del Gran Teatro de La Habana.
Igor Yushkevich died on June 13, 1994 in New York. His style, which combined athletic strength, grace, and elegance, became an important reference point for the development of male ballet on the American continent.
Photo: ukrainianchi
Author: Danylo Pievchev