Background
Youskevitch, Igor was born on March 13, 1912 in Piriytin, Ukraine, Russia. Son of Ivan and Sophia (Lipsky) Youskevitch. came to the United States, 1939, citizen 1944.
Youskevitch, Igor was born on March 13, 1912 in Piriytin, Ukraine, Russia. Son of Ivan and Sophia (Lipsky) Youskevitch. came to the United States, 1939, citizen 1944.
Student, Belgrade U., 1930-1931; studied ballet with, Nadejda Poliakova, Belgrade, 1931; studied ballet with, Olga Preobrajenska, Paris, 1933; honorary doctorate, University Texas, 1982.
The family fled the Russian Revolution and in 1920 settled in Belgrade. He did not begin his ballet training until the age of twenty although prior to that he was active in a Slavic athletic organisation and received early training as a gymnast. In 1932, the Yugoslavian ballerina Zenia Grunt saw him at a tournament and persuaded him to take up dancing as a career.
He came to dance relatively late in life, 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 1937 he joined Le Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo under the direction of Leonid Massine as first dancer, touring with them in the late-1930s.
Youskevitch came to as a leading dancer with the Monte Carlo Russian Ballet on their 1936–1937 tour. He danced all the leading roles during the tour, scoring particular success with Helene Kirsova in Le Carnaval.
In 1944, Youskevitch joined the United States. 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 Theatre in New New York He appeared in films and on television His unique ability to blend athleticism with artistry is vividly captured in his aerialist sequences for Gene Kelly"s pioneering 1956 ballet film Invitation to the Dance.
Thereafter he returned to Le Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as artistic director and dancer
In 1971, he accepted an appointment to the dance program at the University of Texas at Austin, and remained there until 1982.
He was the Artistic Director of New York International Ballet Competition (NYIBC) from 1983 to 1994. In that capacity he enriched the dance world by teaching and inspiring the NYIBC dancers from all over the world, passing on the secrets of his art, acquired over many years.
She was a soloist with American Ballet Theatre and danced with Maryland Ballet. She currently teaches at American Repertory Ballet"s Princeton Ballet School.
New York Times, Jack Anderson, 14 June 1994
New York Times, 18 November 1939, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in Giselle.
With United States Navy, 1944-1945.
Married Anna Scarpa, June 27, 1938. 1 child, Maria.