Gediminas Taranda: biography and personal life (photo)

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Honored Worker of the Russian Federation, Gediminas Leonovich Taranda, was born on February 26, 1961 in the glorious city of Kaliningrad. Gediminas' mother (whose maiden name was Solovyov) was from the Cossacks, and his father, Leonas Taranda, was a colonel of Lithuanian origin.

Biography of Gediminas

After several years of marriage, the father and mother divorced, after which the woman and her children moved back to Voronezh. Even in his childhood and youth, Gediminas was seriously interested in wrestling, canoeing, football and judo. At the same time, his mother worked in Voronezh, at the Opera and Ballet Theatre, thanks to which the young man attended all the performances. Undoubtedly, this had a significant impact on Gediminas, as a result of which, in 1974, after graduating from the 8th grade, he entered the Voronezh Choreographic School, and then, two years later, after long and hard training, the Moscow Choreographic School. Subsequently, according to the distribution, the young Gediminas enters the Bolshoi Theater, where he performs for the first time in the play Don Quixote. By the way, Taranda's debut was not entirely successful: in addition to the fact that the actor was late on stage (due to the fact thatforgot to take off his woolen socks), so he also fell.

Nevertheless, perhaps, it was from that moment that Gediminas' dizzying career began. Then, in the 80s, people went to the Bolshoi Theater to see a talented artist rather than the ballet itself.

The performances "Raymonda" and "Golden Age" were specially staged for the young artist by Yuri Grigorovich. In 1984, Gediminas Taranda was on tour abroad for the first time - this happened in Mexico. The consequences of this trip were not the most successful - he was banned from leaving the country for 4 years, and in 1993 he was completely fired from the Bolshoi Theater.

A year later, Gediminas created the world-famous "Imperial Russian Ballet", which has a troupe of 40 people, and 15 magnificent productions in the theater's repertoire. At the beginning of the 21st century (2004), Taranda was accepted into the staff of the Mossovet Theater as an actor.

Private life

At first glance, Gediminas' personal life was not easy. So, for quite a long time he was assigned the title of "the main Don Juan of the Russian ballet", and all because of numerous novels. He first married at the age of 19, however, both the first and second marriages did not last long.

Gediminas Taranda is currently married to Anastasia Drigo. He met her when a very young Nastya came to enter the choreographic studio. However, at first the head of the studio did not want to take the girl to the ballettroupe, referring to the young age. Nevertheless, Anastasia was accepted, and even then the head of the Imperial Russian Ballet drew attention to the diligent young ballerina, who regularly followed all the instructions of the teacher and listened with bated breath to his every word. At that time, she was only 17, and he was 41.

Love story

The story of Gediminas and Anastasia is very romantic. It began during a French tour. In order to invite Nastya on a first date, Taranda threw stones at her window at night, and they met the dawn in an old knight's tower. Then, early in the morning, Gediminas proposed to her.

Anastasia is 22 years younger than Gediminas, but this does not affect their relationship in any way. Some time later, in 2004, the young couple had a daughter, Deimante (translated from Lithuanian, her name means “pearl”). Taranda does not have a soul in a little princess, moreover, he himself says that for a father there is nothing better than the birth of a daughter. It is worth saying that Deimante is already interested in ballet at such a young age, she is happy to watch performances with her father instead of cartoons. Many are already predicting the girl's career as a ballerina - little Deimante has amazing flexibility and plasticity. After all, genes are a great power!

Gediminas Taranda, whose biography is not as simple as it seems at first glance, has another daughter from a civil marriage with Channel One TV presenter Marina Baranova. Elizabeth is now studying at the choreographic school and has already managed to becomewinner of many awards.

Imperial Ballet…

The idea of creating a grandiose team, whose fame has now reached the world scale, came to Gediminas after the young dancer was fired from the Bolshoi Theater. This ballet was created in honor of the most famous dancers of the whole world, and its activities are dedicated to the real "emperors" and "kings" of the big stage. Gediminas Taranda, in order to maintain his theater, was forced to engage in commercial activities - he created a series of cosmetic products for foot care. However, in this field of activity, he did not achieve such success as in ballet.

…and another career

In addition to the theater, Taranda to some extent mastered his acting career. So, he took part in the filming of the film "Youth of Bambi", the musical "Bureau of Happiness", and also starred with Inna Churikova and even played hockey at the Olympics in Turin.

In addition, the famous dancer took part in popular large-scale television projects - "King of the Ring" and "Ice Age". In the last one, Gediminas Taranda and Irina Slutskaya (his partner was a 2-time world champion in figure skating) delighted the audience with their incredible skill and professional skills.

Epilogue

The Bolshoi Theater is inextricably linked with such a name as Gediminas Taranda. Ballet, as a direction in art, cannot be imagined without this person, and the Imperial Russian Ballet even more so. It is worth paying tribute to the famousdancer - he managed to preserve and increase the unity and integrity of the Russian ballet school, the traditions of which have been passed down from generation to generation for many years. Of course, the name of the team speaks for itself. Stars of not only Russian ballet, but also famous dancers from other countries take part in theatrical performances. And all this is led by Gediminas Taranda. The photos presented to your attention allow you to appreciate the genius and artistry of a famous person.

This man has made an invaluable contribution to the history of Russian ballet and art in general. Gediminas Taranda is a great dancer who went to his glory firmly and confidently, despite the difficulties and obstacles that arose along the way.