Vladimir Kostenko (Ukrainian, Володимир Костенко, Russian, Владимир Костенко) (June 11, 1903 – November 7, 1967) was a Ukrainian-born American ballet dancer primarily remembered for his long association with the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma!.
Life and career Kostenko was born on June 11, 1903, near the city of Kiev,U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes 1952 Russian Empire (an area that is today part of Ukraine). He emigrated to the U.S. in 1938.Passenger manifest SS Georgic October 10, 1938
Soon after his arrival, he began performing with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo under the directorship of Léonide Massine.Léonide Massine and the 20th century ballet (2004) By Leslie Norton In February 1940, Kostenko married ballerina Maria Nikolaevna Korjinska (1916Central State Archive of Moscow, f.203, inv.782, file 388, p. 488–1994),California Death Index a native Muscovite,Passenger Manifest SS Brazil - August 19, 1940 while the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo was touring the American West Coast.El Paso Herald-Post, February 19, 1941
Kostenko took over the role of Dream Jud on June 1, 1943, after George Church left the cast of Oklahoma! just two months into the musical's long run. Church had let the show’s producers know, months earlier, that he wanted to leave, but he was persuaded to stay past the show’s Broadway premier.Carter, Tim. Oklahoma!: the making of an American musical (2007) Kostenko continued to play the part of Dream Jud on Broadway for the following six years before reprising the role in London and later in touring productions across America.Boyden Reporter, December 16, 1948 During the musical’s long run Kostenko also filled in to play the part of Jess and as supervisor of ballet.IBDb.com His wife Maria also joined the cast of Oklahoma for its entire Broadway run and later as one of the postcard dancers.IBDb.com
In the early 1950s, Kostenko became the director of the San Francisco Studio of Ballet Art, located in the city’s Castro district, where he influenced a number of future performers. Kostenko spent the rest of his life living in the San Francisco Bay Area, becoming an American citizen in 1952 and performing demonstration ballet shows at a various civic functions.
Death He died on November 7, 1967, in San Francisco at the age of sixty-four.California Death Index
References