Ganimet Vendresha, the first principal ballerina of the Opera and Ballet Theater in Albania, has passed away at the age of 88.

Ganimet Vendresha was born in Tirana on September 19, 1934. She studied classical ballet and choreography at the Ballet Academy of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.

After 6 years of studies, together with three other ballerinas who completed the same education, returned to Tirana and opened the First Ballet School in Albania.

Then they were co-founders of the Academy of Arts, where they worked as lecturers, and the Opera and Ballet Theater, where they worked until the end of their lives.

Ganimet Vendresha holds many career awards, as well as high titles, among them ‘Honour of the Nation’, ‘Naim Frashëri’ and ‘Grand Master’.

Ganimet Vendresha left behind a great treasure in Albanian ballet, the foundations of a school that continues to be inherited today and that honors our country everywhere in the world.

/Klara Ruci/