May 28
Born Today:
Konstantin Zaklinsky
Ballet dancer Konstantin Zaklinsky (1955-) studied at the Leningrad Ballet School and began dancing with the Kirov Ballet in 1974. In 1980 he was promoted to principal dancer and was selected by famed ballerina Natalia Makarova (1940-) to partner her in 1988 when she reunited and danced with the Kirov Ballet in London, the same city she sought protection from when she defected from the Soviet Union in 1970. Zaklinsky married fellow Kirov ballerina Altynai Asylmuratova (1961-) and he has appeared as an international guest artist until his retirement in the late 1990s.
Also Born Today: Alena Přetáková (1936-2021) was a Czechoslovakian pedagogue, ethnographer, dancer and choreographer. Ballerina Elizabeth Anderton (1938-) studied at the Sadler's Wells School and in 1955 she joined the Royal Ballet (then called the Sadler’s Wells Opera Ballet) and continued to dance with the company until 1974. In 1976 Anderton joined the London Festival Ballet, where she served as a teacher, guest dancer, and the assistant artistic director (1979-1990), before returning to the Royal Ballet in the 1990s.
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Ballet Premere: Giselle in 1841