The Honored Worker of the Russian Federation, Gediminas Leonovich Taranda, was born on February 26, 1961 in the glorious city of Kaliningrad. Gediminas’s mother (Solovyov’s maiden name) came from Cossacks, and his father, Leonas Taranda, was a colonel of Lithuanian descent.
Gediminas Biography
After several years of marriage, the father and mother divorced, after which the woman moved with her children 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 theater, thanks to which the young man visited all the performances. Undoubtedly, this had a significant impact on Gediminas, as a result of which he entered the Voronezh Choreographic School in 1974, after graduating from the 8th grade, and then, two years later, after long and hard training, the Moscow Choreographic School. Subsequently, according to the distribution, the young Gediminas ends up at the Bolshoi Theater, where he performs for the first time in the play Don Quixote. By the way, Taranda made his debut not entirely successfully: in addition to the fact that the actor was late to enter the stage (due to the fact that he forgot to remove his woolen socks), he also fell down.
Nevertheless, perhaps from that moment on, the dizzying career of Gediminas began. Then, in the 80s, the Bolshoi went to see a talented artist rather than the ballet itself.
The performances of Raymond and the Golden Age were specially staged for the young artist Yuri Grigorovich. In 1984, Gediminas Taranda first appeared on tour abroad - this happened in Mexico. The consequences of this trip were not the most successful - he was forbidden to leave the country for 4 years, and in 1993 he was completely dismissed from the Bolshoi Theater.
A year after this, Gediminas creates the world-famous Imperial Russian Ballet, whose troupe consists of 40 people, and the theater’s repertoire - 15 magnificent productions. At the beginning of the XXI century (2004), Taranda was accepted into the staff of the Mossovet Theater as an actor.
Personal life
At first glance, the personal life of Gediminas was not easy. So, for quite a long time, he was assigned the title of “chief don Juan of the Russian ballet”, and all because of numerous novels. He first married at the age of 19, however, the first and second marriage were not long.
Gediminas Taranda is currently married to Anastasia Drigo. He met her when a very young Nastya came to enter a choreographic studio. However, at first the head of the studio did not want to take the girl to the ballet troupe, referring to a 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, 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 the French tour. In order to invite Nastya on a first date, Taranda threw stones at night through her window, and they met the dawn in the 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. After some time, in 2004, the daughter of Daimante was born to the young spouses (her name means “pearl” in Lithuanian). Taranda doesn’t mind the little princess, moreover, he himself says that for the father there is nothing better than the birth of a daughter. It is worth saying that Daimante was already interested in ballet at such a young age, she happily watches performances with the participation of the pope instead of cartoons. Many already predict the girl’s career as a ballerina - little Daimante has amazing flexibility and plasticity. Still, 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 the TV presenter of Channel One Marina Baranova. Elizabeth is currently studying at a choreographic school and has already managed to become a laureate of many prizes.
The Imperial Ballet ...
The idea of ​​creating a grandiose collective, whose fame has now reached 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 activity is dedicated to the real "emperors" and "kings" of the big stage. Gediminas Taranda, in order to maintain his own theater, was forced to engage in commercial activities - he created a series of cosmetics 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 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 latter, 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 a name such as Gediminas Taranda. Ballet, as a direction in art, cannot be imagined without this person, and the “Imperial Russian Ballet” - all the more so. It is worth paying tribute to the famous dancer - he managed to maintain 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. Theatrical performances are attended not only by Russian ballet stars, but also by famous dancers from other countries. And Gediminas Taranda directs all this. The photos presented to your attention allow you to appreciate the genius and artistry of a famous person.
This man made an invaluable contribution to the history of Russian ballet and art as a whole. Gediminas Taranda is a great dancer who walked towards his fame firmly and confidently, despite the difficulties and obstacles that arose on this path.