Michael Semyonovich Godenko

Mikhail Godenko was born on May 1, 1919 in Dnepropetrovsk. After moving to Moscow with his parents, he graduated from the Moscow Choreographic Studio. During the Great Patriotic War, he served in the ensemble of the Second Ukrainian Front, was awarded the medals "For Military Merit", "For the capture of Budapest", "For the capture of Vienna", "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945".

After the end of the war, Mikhail Semyonovich had the opportunity to work in different cities of our country.: He worked in Moscow and Khabarovsk, Chita and Norilsk, Irkutsk, Baku and Arkhangelsk, including eight years as chief choreographer at the Northern Russian Folk Choir.

Working in this team became an important milestone in Mikhail Semenovich's creative life – here, for the first time, his talent as a director of folk dances was fully revealed. It was while working in the Northern Russian Folk Choir, in 1960, that Mikhail Godenko was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR.

One of the most fruitful periods of his work is associated with Krasnoyarsk. Here, in 1963, at the age of 44, Mikhail Semenovich became the head of the Krasnoyarsk State Dance Ensemble of Siberia, where he worked until his last days. It was under Mikhail Semenovich that the ensemble gained its recognizable style and gained worldwide fame. It was said about Godenko that he discovered Krasnoyarsk to the world.

In 1965, Mikhail Godenko was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Tuvan ASSR, in 1970 – the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR, and in 1977 – the title of People's Artist of the USSR. On September 26, 1984, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Mikhail Semenovich was awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor with the award of the Order of Lenin.

In 1980, Godenko was the chief choreographer of the opening and closing of the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. In 1985, he became the chief choreographer of the opening and closing of the XII World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow and was awarded the USSR State Prize.

For 28 years, Mikhail Godenko has been the permanent leader and inspirer of a unique dance group, the Siberian Dance Ensemble. From the very beginning, Mikhail Semenovich actively took up work in his new post: he increased the number of artists – from 100 or more people danced in the team over the years, and transformed the style of the ensemble.

Based on the elements of Russian dances, Mikhail Semenovich also took into account modern youth views and rhythms, combined folklore and pop music. As a result, a diverse, multicolored image of Siberia, its people at work and at home, in joy and fun, appeared on the stage. It was a bold move at the time. And it is still difficult to attribute the peculiar synthesis of Mikhail Semenovich's productions to any one genre. Critics call this style "Godenkovsky". The pace, the intrigue and the beautiful ending… Godenko himself believed that dancing should be understandable not only to scientists, but also to ordinary people. That's why they're popular.

It should be noted that Mikhail Godenko turned out to be right, the ensemble he led became a laureate of various international competitions, toured in more than 70 countries around the world and glorified Krasnoyarsk and Siberia on all continents with his work.

And the ensemble's artists were well received everywhere, and in many countries, tickets to the ensemble's concerts were sold out long before they started.

During his time in the ensemble, Mikhail Godenko has staged over 150 dances, choreographic paintings, and one-act ballets. At the same time, thanks to his talent, he was able to preserve the unity of a unique style in a variety of performances, such as "Siberian Round Dances", "Men's Dancing", "Siberian Fun", etc.

Under the guidance of M. S. Godenko, many recognized talented ballet dancers grew up: People's Artists of the RSFSR L. Dzobak, L. Movchan (Korkina); Honored Artists of the RSFSR V. Borisov, I. Cheremisin, N. Goroshevsky, I. Mikhlina and many others.

Interestingly, in Godenko's personal fund there is a sheet on which Mikhail Semenovich himself wrote out a few words from the publication of Joseph Tumanov, People's Artist of the USSR, chief director of the mass theatrical opening and closing of the XXII Olympiad, in the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda on August 6, 1980.

"What the stadium didn't know": "We may be able to repeat what we saw in Moscow during the opening and closing of the Olympic Games, but we will never surpass it."

These words perfectly express the essence of Mikhail Godenko's great talent, which directly embodied the sports performance at the legendary stadium.

In 1995, for outstanding achievements in the field of Soviet and Russian choreography, Mikhail Semenovich's main life work, the Siberian Dance Ensemble, was awarded the academic title, and in 2009 the status of a particularly valuable cultural heritage site of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Today, the team holds the bar set by the Master high; participates in cultural events and events at the highest level both in Russia and abroad.

In 1977, on the initiative of Mikhail Semenovich, the people's department was opened at the Krasnoyarsk College of Arts. And in 1984, a Large concert Hall of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Philharmonic was built and opened in the regional center. It was created specifically for the Siberian dance ensemble.

Mikhail Semyonovich Godenko died on March 14, 1991 in Leningrad, but he was buried in the Krasnoyarsk land, which became his native land and which he glorified all over the world with his work.

For thirty years now, Krasnoyarsk has been carefully and proudly preserving the memory of Mikhail Semyonovich Godenko, an honorary citizen of the city. A memorial plaque has been installed on the facade of the house on Mira Avenue in Krasnoyarsk, where the Master once lived, and the stars of glory of M. S. Godenko and the Krasnoyarsk State Academic Dance Ensemble of Siberia named after M. S. Godenko are laid on the porch of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Philharmonic. Godenko.

A scholarship named after M. S. Godenko has been established for gifted students engaged in choreography. In 2008, the name of the famous choreographer was given to one of the streets of Krasnoyarsk, located in Oktyabrsky district. In 2009, the Mikhail Godenko motor ship was launched, and in 2017, a monument to Mikhail Godenko was unveiled in the park opposite the City Palace of Culture on Svobodny Avenue. In 2019, the State Prize of the Krasnoyarsk Territory named after M. S. Godenko in the field of choreographic art was established. In 2020, Aeroflot decided to assign one of the airline's aircraft named after Mikhail Godenko.

However, the main priceless legacy of the famous choreographer is the Krasnoyarsk State Academic Dance Ensemble of Siberia, which has been proudly bearing the name of its artistic director and inspirer since 1992.