Igor Youskevitch

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Igor Youskevitch (13 March 1912-13 June 1994) was a ballet dancer of Russian-Ukrainian origin, famous as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century and as a dance partner to Alicia Alonso.

Born in the village of Pyriatin, Poltava Oblast, Ukraine (then in Imperial Russia), Youskevitch was the son of a judge. The family fled the Russian Revolution and in 1920 settled in Belgrade. He came to dance relatively late in life, after finishing secondary school and spending a year in university. However, his talent led to rapid promotion, and in 1932 he made his first appearance on the Paris stage. He studied ballet for an additional two years in Paris before joining Les Ballets de Paris. In 1938 he joined Le Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as first dancer, touring with them in the late-1930s.

In 1944 he joined the US Navy and became an American citizen. After the war, he struggled to return to shape for dancing and began a successful career in the United States in 1946 by joining the American Ballet Theater. In the late 40s, he began to partner with Alicia Alonso, with whom he had his greatest renown.

He retired from dance in the 1960s, and operated a ballet school in New York for several years. In 1971, he accepted an appointment to the dance program at the University of Texas at Austin, and remained there until 1982.

[edit] External links

• Photo of Igor Youskevitch from 1936 or 1937, by Max Dupain, at the National Library of Australia Digital Photo Collection
• Igor Youskevitch at the Internet Movie Database

His daughter, Maria Youskevitch, was also a dancer. She was a soloist with American Ballet Theatre and danced with Maryland Ballet. She currently teaches at American Repertory Ballet's Princeton Ballet School.

[edit] References

• Igor Youskevitch (1912-1994)
• In Memoriam - Igor Youskevitch at the University of Texas at Austin
• Igor Youskevitch at Australia Dancing