The Ballet of the Serbian National Theatre (SNP) in Novi Sad was founded on March 8, 1950. The first artistic dance in Novi Sad, however, could be seen in the 18th century during the visits of the troupe of Josef Bauerfeind and Franz Schwarz, and during the 19th century only sporadically thanks to visiting foreign troupes, such as the German Trauer Lust-Sing-spiele und Ballet. In the interwar period, Novi Sad was visited by foreign ballet dancers, couples, groups and the ballet ensemble of the National Theatre in Belgrade with the performance of Coppelia . These were mainly artists brought up in the tradition of the Russian classical school: L. Vizjakova – V. Veček, J. Polyakova – S. Stršnev, the Froman couple, N. Kirsanova – A. Fortunato, O. Solovyeva, E. Kučaj, A. Miloš, T. Karsavina – Lester, K. Grund, A. Zhukovsky, N. Bošković – M. Ristić, R. Levi, Yurenjeva, Lučezarskaya, M. Olenina, Udej Shan-Karali and the Dance Ballet of the National Theater in Belgrade with K. Isachenko, the School of Rhythmic and Plastic Dances of M. Magazinović, the school of M. Jovanović, R. De Laban with the troupe, S. Mandukić with the group, etc.

From 1920 to 1927, artistic dance was nurtured at the SNP thanks to Klemens Klemenčić, a dancer, choreographer, director, actor and singer. He not only prepared all the choreographic numbers for operas, operettas and dramatic pieces with singing, but also participated in them and rehearsed the dancers. He made his first ballet attempts with his partner Valentina Valjina. In the late thirties, Milena Čutuković-Popović was hired to replace Klemenčić at the SNP, as a dancer and choreographer, who continued to prepare dances for all SNP performances after World War II. With the renovation of the Opera in 1947, there was a strong need for dance staff, so a Ballet Department was formed within the then theater Drama Studio at the end of that year, which grew into a Secondary Ballet School in 1948. Until the establishment of the Ballet at the Serbian National Theatre, Danica Živanović worked as a choreographer, who in 1948 choreographed the comic opera Ero s onoga svijeta by J. Gotovac with folklore dancers and soloists Petar Jerant and Irena Kish, at that time the only engaged ballerina at the Theatre.

In February 1950, the then director of the SNP, Jovan Konjović and Margita Debeljak, held an audition, after which 24 members of the folklore group of the art ensemble of the Central House of the Yugoslav People’s Army in Belgrade were admitted under the leadership of Marina Olenina. This was the beginning of the work of the SNP Ballet. The first head, choreographer and teacher of the ballet ensemble was Marina Olenina, an experienced Russian artist trained in the tradition of classical ballet. The first performance of Scheherazade by N. Rimsky-Korsakov was premiered on May 25, 1950. At the beginning of the work, excerpts from the famous ballets The Fountain of Bakhchisarai by B. Asafiev and Raymond by A. K. Glazunov were performed, as well as shorter ballet performances of symphonic works such as Night on Bare Hill by M. Mussorgsky. At the same time, work was also carried out on staging the opus of local authors, and thus The Ohrid Legend by S. Hristić, Licitarsko srce by K. Baranović, Devil in the Village by F. Lotka and others.

The following soloists performed in the newly founded Ballet: Jelena Andrejev, Vera Blažić, Margita Bratonožić, Anita Grahek, Nada Simić, Jelica Ninković, Jelena Glavonic, Sonja Stojanović, Boyka Đorđević, Edita Anau, Branislava Kovačević, Vera Bojanovski, Dušanka Atlagić, Slavica Hatwager, Olivera Gromiko, Irena Kić, Ksenija Gligorić, Erna Polenak, Vera Mihajlović, Ruzica Gasparević, Ljubinka Korel, Boris Radak, Rista Kovačević, Krsto Kuzmanovski, Petar Jerant, Stevan Izrailovski, Žarko Milenković, Aca Stojanović, Živorad Mitrović, Đorđe Milošević, Dušan Kovačević, Radovan Krnajski, Radislav Glumac, Petar Kloc, Vitomir Tankosić, Dragan Andjelković, Nikola Alimpić, Danilo Zirojević, Slavko Pavletić, Krste Kuzmanovski, Stevan Grebeldinger, Milorad Živanović and Milan Garić.

One of the most important dates in the history of the SNP Ballet is January 8, 1955, when P. I. Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake was first performed with the first generation of graduates of the Ballet School. Gaspar R. Plunkett’s ballet The Thief, premiered in 1956, was a significant step forward in the direction of the modern understanding of artistic dance. In the following years, the engagement of young, highly educated ballet dancers who have left an indelible mark on the history of the Serbian National Theatre Ballet continued, such as Danica Rakelić, Mirjana Popović-Seneši, Nikola Petrov, Stevan Grebeldinger, Franjo Hajek, Mirjana Matić-Milenković, Rade Vučić, Mirjana Grujić, Ksenija Gligorić, Jelena Mihajlović-Hajek, Jelica Ninković-Prokić, Ignjat Ignjatović, Branka Tipelac, Helmut Nedelko, Mira Tapavica, Gradimir Pankov, Erika Marjaš, Dobrila Novkov, Biljana Maksić-Njegovan, Otto Ries, Julijana Sremac, Apostol Christidis, Leonora Müller, Gisela Tot, Rastislav Varga, Živojin Novkov, Vladimir Jelkić, Amalija Petrić-Uzelac, Mira Ruškuc, Gabriela Teglaši Velimirović, Olivera Kovačević, Jasna Kovačić, Dijana Kozarski.

The heads, or directors, of the ballet from its founding to the present day have been: Marina Olenina, Georgi Makedonski, Max Kirbos, Jelena Weiss Beložanski, Ivan Iko Otrin, Boris Tonin, Nikola Nikić, Žarko Milenkovic, Helmut Nedelko, Ivanka Lukatelli, Erika Marjaš Brzić, Mirjana Ruškuc, Dobrila Novkov, Biljana Njegovan, Nada Kokotović, Rastislav Varga, Gabriela Teglaši Velimirović, Andrew Peter Greenwood, Olivera Kovačević Crnjanski and Vladimir Logunov.

A significant mark on the SNP Ballet was also left by Georgi Makedonski, a soloist, Ballet Director, choreographer and teacher (1952-1955 and 1958-1964), who modernized the repertoire, as well as Iko Otrin, a teacher, choreographer, Ballet Director and occasional dancer (1964-1968), who tried to introduce innovations and modernize the repertoire with the works The Spider’s Feast , E=mc² , Mammon (1964), but also retained works of classical ballet such as Cinderella by S. S. Prokofiev (1965), Don Quixote by L. Minkus (1968), The Nutcracker by P. I. Tchaikovsky (1968), Esmeralda by C. Puni (1969), The Little Mermaid by L. J. F. Herold (1973). Under the leadership of Boris Tonin, a pedagogue and choreographer, the Ballet performed for two seasons (1969-1971) and included local composers in the repertoire, primarily Rudolf Brucchi.

During the 1970s, ballet performances were staged for the youngest audiences for the first time, and the following were included in the repertoire: Peter Pan by B. Bielinski, Little Red Riding Hood by T. Hartig, Pippi Longstocking by K. Tzipi, and later The Horseman by R. Shchedrin, and Max and Moritz by G. Rossini.

By hiring a group of Romanian male dancers in 1980 and moving into the new SNP building, whose stage offered previously unimaginable possibilities, the SNP Ballet began to conquer new artistic tasks. The first performance in the new building was The Legend of Ohrid by S. Hristić on April 13, 1981. The SNP Ballet has collaborated with many choreographers such as Max Kirbos, Vera Kostić, Karol Tot, Pia and Pino Mlakar, Jelena Weiss-Belozhanski, Vera Bocadoro, Stella Pirogova, Milica Jovanović, Lidija Pilipenko, Vladimir Logunov and Krunislav Simić, Nada Kokotović, Andrew Peter Greenwood, Eldar Aliyev (USA), Gyula Harangozo (Hungary), Guy Weizman (Netherlands), Ronnie Haver (Netherlands), Staša Zurovac (Croatia), Rosana Hribar (Slovenia), Gregor Luštek (Slovenia) and others. as well as pedagogues such as Ljudmila Kostina, Rajko Pakasi, Ljiljana Mišić and others.

One of the most significant performances in the history of Ballet is certainly Zorba the Greek by Mikis Theodorakis, choreographed by Krunislav Simić, which premiered in 1994 and has been continuously in the repertoire ever since.

From 1982 to 1991, the Yugoslav Ballet Competition was held biennially for dancers and choreographers. The founder of this unique competition in the history of Yugoslav ballet was the Concert Branch of the Vojvodina Music Center of the Serbian National Theater. The Council of the Yugoslav Ballet Competition initiated the establishment of the National Dance Committee at UNESCO. The competition was initiated and led by Branka Rakić.

Until 1991, the SNP Ballet regularly performed on all theater stages in Yugoslavia, but also abroad, in Italy, Romania, Egypt, Belgium, and the Netherlands. This practice is still relevant today. Since 2002, the Forum for New Dance has been operating as a subunit within the SNP Ballet, with the aim of enabling the research of contemporary dance and the creation of new theatrical expression. Since then, this formation, initiated by Olivera Kovačević-Crnjanski, has provided young dancers with the opportunity to research and expand their experience, enabling them to improve their skills in contemporary dance through various educational programs – workshops and lectures with eminent choreographers from the country and abroad. The result of this approach is numerous performances and choreographic miniatures.

(text based on sources and documentation compiled by Dr. Milena Leskovac)
Literature (selection compiled by Ira Prodanović): https://www.snp.org.rs/ (text compiled by Dr. Milena Leskovac); Collection of the Serbian Academy of Sciences for Performing Arts and Music No. 45, Novi Sad, Matica srpska, 2011. (Dr. Svenka Savić, Choreographers in the Ballet of the Serbian National Theatre: Iko Otrin (1963–2011); Gabriela Teglaši Velimirović, Ballet of the Serbian National Theatre in a new building; Svetozar Rapajić; Ljiljana Mišić, Ballet – a long journey to equality , Scena – a magazine for theatre art, Novi Sad, Sterijino pozorje, 2011; Ljiljana Mišić, Choreographers and dancers – a ballet time machine in words and images, Pozorište no. 3, Novi Sad, 1986; Ljiljana Mišić, Ballet from the pen of over fifty collaborators of the Pozorište magazine (1968 – 88), Pozorište no. 2/3, Novi Sad, 1988; Forty years of the Ballet of the Serbian National Theatre, monograph (ed. Vesna Krčmar, Dušanka Radmanović, Smiljana Lagator, Dobrila Novkov), Novi Sad, Serbian National Theatre, 1990; Ljiljana Mišić, Artistic Dance in Novi Sad from 1919 to 1950, Novi Sad, Theatre Museum of Vojvodina, 2009; Encyclopedia of Novi Sad, ed. D. Popov, volume 3, Novi Sad, 1994.