Kchessinska's "Dancing in Petersburg"

[silvy]

In her “Dancing in Petersburg” Kchessinska at one point makes reference to Lifar’s “History of Russian Ballet”. She claims that Lifar mentions that, at one point, there was another dancer at the Marysinky who was, apparently, upto to Kchessinska’s level, but that dancer is never mentioned (in turn, Kchessinska says that at that time there was only one prima ballerina at the Maryinsky: herself, and that each of them possesed unique qualities).

Do you know who this unmentioned ballerina might be? My guess would be Olga Preobrakenska, but I would like to know for sure.

Thanks a lot

Silvy

[Mel Johnson]

It was probably Preobrajenska; Tillie has a way of leaving out little details like that. Actually, the title was "prima ballerina assoluta" and Kchessinska succeeded Pierina Legnani in that title. I don't believe that Preo ever was appointed to the title, rank and style, but that she was a great favorite among the audiences, so she is sometimes accorded it by some historians.

[rg]

here's what lifar says at the start of disussing kshessinska alongside preobrajenska:

"The two real representatives, or rather living symbols, of Russian ballet in 1890 were Mmes K and P, whose careers ran more or less on parallel lines (Mme P graduated in 1889, a year before Mme K). There is no point in going through the list of all the works in which they appeared; it would in any case be impossible, for the whole repertoire rested on them. They were not rivals, but entirely complementary, and the one could almost always fill the gaps left by the other (ten years later Anna Pavlova was to make up what each of them lacked)."

lifar's 'discussion,' such as it is, goes on for some 7 more paragraphs, covering nearly 2 pp. it follows mention and some discussion of L.P.(?) Vinogradova-Petrova (a name i know nothing about) and segues into a discussion of 'two great stars, Roslavleva and Geltzer' adding that 'the moscow patriots preferred the latter to all the st.petersburg dancers, including anna pavlova.'

-this text comes from arnold haskell's translation of lifar's RUSSIAN BALLET FROM ITS ORIGINS TO THE PRESENT DAY (roy publishers, no date given, the NYPL copy's pub date is 1954) - i believe the french 'original' dates from 1950.

[silvy]

Thank you both of you, Mel and Rg. And thanks for the quotation. From what rg quotes, I would say that Lifar is quite objective, so I see no reason why Kchessinska should be so bitter about his sayings. This surprised me a great deal.

[Mel Johnson]

Legat used to partner Kchessinska. And she had a big, but tender ego. Imagine a history of American theater in the early twentieth century written by Mae West. Wickedly funny, at times, but not exactly impartial.

[rg]

have we got our "L" names mixed up?

lifar wrote the breezy and hardly 'intense' 'history' noted above.

do legat's memoirs also deal w/ Mme K to any extent?

in any case, same difference: a historian is a historian, a former dancer is usually something else...

[Mel Johnson]

I must have conflated Lifar and Legat. Nicolai Legat's hysterical caricatures, including those of himself, are history in themselves. Kchessinska is laden with big sparkly jewels and has her dag-nabbed pet goat with her. Pavlova is impossibly scrawny, with needle-like pointes and her Bayadere chiffon with her.

[canbelto]

I always thought that was a reference to Karsavina, the one dancer Lifar might have really known personally.

It's doubly strange because Karsavina is complimentary to the point of obsequeiousness to Kchessinska, and really saves her bile for Anna Pavlova.

Ballerinas, they're such fun!

[rg]

slightly off topic: if only someone would gather in one luxe edition all the know legat caricatures, it would be a 'must have' on my bookshelf.