Mariinsky ballerina Irina Gensler has died
On the 97th year of life died honored artist of the RSFSR, ballerina of the Mariinsky theater Irina Gensler, said the Academy of Russian ballet them.
At the 97th year of life, the honored artist of the RSFSR, ballerina of the Mariinsky Theatre Irina Gensler died, the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet reported.
“On October 22, at the 97th year of life, Irina Georgievna Gensler died <...> We will remember her demanding to the purity of dance and responsive to innovations, strict and smiling,” the statement said.
Farewell will be held on Tuesday, October 27, in the Cathedral of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity in St. Petersburg. She will be buried at 15:30 in the Gromov cemetery.
People's Artist of Russia Nikolai Tsiskaridze called Gensler "one of the most outstanding characteristic prima donnas of the ballet world.".
“Every minute I spent with Irina Georgievna was a joy, both in life and in work. Dear Irina Georgievna, today I was orphaned again, he wrote.
Gensler was born in 1930 in Leningrad. In 1948, she graduated from the Leningrad Choreographic School and entered the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre (now the Mariinsky Theatre), on the stage of which she performed until 1981.
Gensler was known primarily as the performer of the roles of the Gadita Maiden in the ballet Spartacus, the Young Gypsy in the Stone Flower and Fanny in the Path of Thunder. Her repertoire also included dances in the ballets Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Raymonda and Guyane. In 1960, the actress was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR.
Since 1972, Gensler taught characteristic dance at the Leningrad Choreographic School. Later, she became a professor at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, where she worked until 2024.
