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Vladimir Ponomarev


Vladimir Ponomarev is a principal character artist of the Kirov Ballet. As one of the company's greatest mimes he leaves an undeniable mark on most of the story ballets in the repertory, be it as the formidable High Brahmin in La Bayadère, as the magnificent King Florestan in The Sleeping Beauty, as the delightful Mr. Stahlbaum in The Nutcracker (Vainonen), or as the wandering Don in Don Quixote.

Definitely a man with a thousand faces, Ponomarevs portrayals range from starkly dramatic (the unyielding Karenin in Anna Karenina, the lecherous goaler in Manon) to hilariously funny and grotesque (Seid Pasha in Le Corsaire or the corrupt policeman in Petrushka). By his high stature as much as by his expansive, but slow-moving acting style his characters are commanding, yet full of nobility and poise. One of his most memorable portrayals is without doubt that of the tormented Khan Guirei in Zakharov's The Fountain of Bakhchisarai.

Vladimir Ponomarev was born in Leningrad, studied at the Vaganova Academy and graduated into the Kirov Ballet in 1964.

He is an Honoured Artist of Russia since 2002.

Marc Haegeman


His repertoire includes:

  • Duke of Courland in Giselle (Coralli/Perrot, Petipa)
  • Don Quixote in Don Quixote (Petipa, Gorsky)
  • The High Brahmin in La Bayadère (Petipa, staged by Ponomarev, Chabukiani)
  • The High Brahmin in La Bayadère (Petipa, staged by Vikharev)
  • Chamberlain in Swan Lake (Petipa-Ivanov, staged by K. Sergeyev)
  • King Florestan XIV in The Sleeping Beauty (Petipa, staged by K. Sergeyev)
  • King Florestan XIV in The Sleeping Beauty (Petipa, staged by Vikharev)
  • Seid Pasha in Le Corsaire (Gusev after Petipa)
  • Mr. Stahlbaum in The Nutcracker (Vainonen)
  • Mr. Stahlbaum in The Nutcracker (Shemyakin)
  • King Andreas II in Raymonda (Petipa, staged by K. Sergeyev)
  • Coppelius in Coppelia (Vinogradov)
  • Kastchei in The Firebird (Fokine)
  • Shah Shahryar in Scheherazade (Fokine)
  • Policeman in Petrushka (Fokine, staged by S. Vikharev)
  • The Sage in The Rite of Spring (Nijinsky, staged by M. Hodson/K. Archer)
  • Lord Capulet in Romeo and Juliet (Lavrovsky)
  • Khan Guirei in The Fountain of Bakhchisarai (Zakharov)
  • The Father in The Prodigal Son (Balanchine)
  • Karenin in Anna Karenina (Prokovsky)
  • the gaoler in Manon (MacMillan)
Copyright © 2003
Text and photos of  Vladimir Ponomarev Copyright © 2003 Marc Haegeman. All rights reserved.