A Kirov in L.A.’s Future?

Golden and Nadezhda Koscuik envision nothing less than a new world-class ballet company in Los Angeles.

They have no money. They have no theater. They have no dancers.

Yet.

What they may have is two big names: Oleg Vinogradov and the Kirov.

Vinogradov, for the uninitiated, has long been the head of the Kirov Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia, the 214-year-old company that produced such talents as Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Now called ballet master and chief choreographer at the Russian company, he has been in Los Angeles since Thursday, considering a contract under which he would become “permanent guest artistic director” for the company the Koscuiks hope to hatch, which they are tentatively calling the California Kirov Ballet.

Which is not to say that the Koscuiks’ dream represents a formal alliance with the famed St. Petersburg ballet, only with Vinogradov, who has a number of such freelance associations. “The deal is with Vinogradov,” Golden Koscuik says. “He has the rights to the Kirov name which will come with him.”

One of the first steps toward making a California Kirov a reality will come Sunday with a silent auction and fund-raiser at a supporter’s home in L.A. The Koscuiks will be auctioning off one Mercedes-Benz E-320, a Steinway grand piano, jewelry, paintings and sculptures.

Nadezhda Koscuik studied with Natalya Dudinskaya at the Kirov in the early ‘70s, though she was never a company member, and has maintained ties with the group ever since. She speaks of the California Kirov with an if-you-build-it-they-will-come conviction.

“The goal is to make sure that classical ballet and the traditions that we all hold sacred are carried on into the 21st century,” she said.

To get started, the Koscuiks say they need to raise $250,000 with the auction, memberships and donations. “That would be plenty to get everything moving,” Nadezhda Koscuik said. “We’re being very, very conservative in trying to raise a quarter [million]. . . . I like to have a cushion.” They will proceed on a more limited basis as long as they net $150,000. For now, they have pledges from some local arts patrons, and a North Carolina-based software company has given them a $6,000 grant.

If all goes according to plan, this fall 10 Russian Kirov dancers--under Vinogradov’s auspices--would come here as the seed troupe. Vinogradov would determine the exact personnel, the Koscuiks said, but these would be soloists, not corps dancers. The Koscuiks would also dance.

The $250,000 would pay salaries, the dancers’ living expenses and the costs of producing a handful of performances this fall to lure potential donors and audiences. They envision staging one-act ballets that suit their personnel and budget, like Vinogradov’s “A Knight in a Tiger Skin” or Saint Leon’s “La Vivandiere.” They have spoken with venues like Occidental College, the UCLA Center for the Performing Arts and the Los Angeles Theatre Center, but no dates have been set.

“We will cut our clothes according to our cloth,” Nadezhda Koscuik said. “But the product we’re marketing is the best in the world.”

If they find the financial and audience support, in 1998 the Koscuiks would continue to build the California Kirov slowly, beginning with a $1.2-million annual budget. At the same time, they plan to retool their little-known Ballet Ecarte school into the California Kirov Academy. Eventually, the academy would feed dancers and tuition money into the company. Golden Koscuik said that after five years, the operation should be self-sufficient.

This is not the first time Vinogradov has freelanced using the Kirov name. For seven years he was affiliated with the Kirov Academy in Washington, D.C., which receives support from the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. He expressed interest in having a dance company in America into which that school’s 80 students could graduate. He is also a consultant for the Universal Ballet in Seoul and, he says, he is considering other projects in different countries.

Those in dance circles have speculated for years that Vinogradov is leaving--or being pushed out of--the Kirov, which in Russia uses its pre-revolutionary name, the Maryinski Ballet. Even after being accused--though never formally charged--with bribery in 1995, he held onto a job there.

Late last year, Valery Gergiev, conductor of the Kirov Opera Orchestra, was named overall artistic director of both the ballet and the opera, however Vinogradov insists that he still remains the ballet’s artistic director. Asked directly Thursday if he was departing, Vinogradov shrugged his shoulders and said, in English, “Why not?”

Then, in Russian with Nadezhda Koscuik translating, he said that he’s been the head of the best dance company in the world; he trained with and choreographed for the most accomplished dancers; he brought Russian ballet to the West.

“And if America wants it,” he said, “it can have the best ballet company.”