Maximo Dance Studio is a Russian ballet school, which was first opened at the Queensland Russian Community Centre (QRCC) in Brisbane (Australia) in 2004. According to the Studio's head, Olga Shikina, she wanted to provide creative space for children, where teaching would be based on the age-old Russian system of ballet training - the method of Agrippina Vaganova.
As part of its training program the Maximo Dance Studio organizes a large concert every year to demonstrate the fruits of children's persistent work and give students a chance to take a real stage.
This time, the Maximo Dance Studio surprised viewers with the World Wide [DANCE] Tour. for two hours the visitors were taken away by an nimaginary airliner to England, Holland, Finland, Russia, Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, India, Austria and Australia, and saw the dance of each country.
For 12 years alredy the Maximo Dance Studio has followed the classical Vaganova method, mastered only by teachers who were educated in Russia and the former Soviet Union. The Vaganova Method, according to Olga Shikina, stands out among the rest of the ballet teaching approaches. It is an incredibly verified and elaborate program. However, this technique is not a rigid dogma; the program goes on evolving and becoming more sophisticated, at the same time keeping up the best traditions of Russian classical ballet.
"Ballet troupes of Russia make waves on the world stage because the audience can see not just virtuosity and performing skills, but spirituality, the highest level of artistry", - the head of the Maximo Dance Studio emphasizes.
At the end of the concert Olga Shikina was awarded the medal For Diligence by the Australian Council of Russian Compatriots for her pursuit of the ideal and long-term contribution into uniting cultures of Australia and Russia. Maria Plotnikova, chairman of the Queensland Community-based Coordination Council, expressed deep respect of the activity of Shikina Olga among the Russian-speaking community in Australia.
Author: Vera Ivanova