Valery Panov

Valery Panov (1938-2025)

Born in Vitebsk, Belarus (then part of the Soviet Union), he began studying ballet at age six in Vilnius, Lithuania. In 1949, at age 11, he was admitted to the Leningrad Ballet Academy, where he studied with Agrippina Vaganova until graduating in 1957.
In 1957-64, Panov danced as a first soloist in Maly Ballet in Leningrad, included in such classic dances as Lopukhov’s Ballad of Love (1959), Davitashvili’s Daphnis and Chloe (1960), and Boyarsky’s Petrushka (1961). In 1964, Panov left Maly Ballet to join the Kirov, where he remained until 1972 as a soloist, performing in Jacobson’s Land of Miracles (1967), Sergeyev’s Hamlet (1970), and Kasatkina’s and Vasiliov’s Creation of the World (1971). At Kirov, he met the prima ballerina Galina Ragozina, his future second wife.
In 1972, Panov and his wife applied for exit visas to Israel. This application led to a high-profile struggle against Soviet authorities which included the Panovs’ expulsion from the Kirov, brief imprisonment and ban on giving ballet lessons for two years. Public and political pressure by Israeli authorities and Western artists (including British Actor Laurence Olivier) finally led to their immigration to Israel in 1974.  Their debut performance in the West was held in 1975, with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1975-77, the Panovs danced as soloists in Batsheva and Bat-Dor and also participated in recitals by representative delegations worldwide.

Panov was guest choreographer and principal dancer with the Berlin Opera Ballet between 1977 and 1983. There he choreographed several ballets, including Cinderella (1977), The Idiot (1979), and War and Peace (1980). He was also active in the San Francisco Ballet, Vienna State Opera Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet (1983), and Norwegian National Ballet. In 1984-86 he was artistic director of the Royal Ballet of Flanders.
In 1993, Panov established a ballet troupe and school in the Ashdod Art Center. This troupe formed the basis for the Panov Ballet Theater founded in 1998. Ever since then, he was active in his company and school, teaching and choreographing. His most recent choreographies include La Sylphide (2001), Carmen (2006), and Romeo and Juliet in Jerusalem (2012).