Mathilda Kchessinska, some pictures in words

[bart]

rg has been kind enough in the past to post a number of photos of Kchessinska, the prima ballerina assoluta of the Maryinsky during the 1890s and first decade of the 20th century. MK, the daughter of a dancing family (and thus labeled as part of the "demimonde" at the start of her career), rose to become one of the most glamourous and successful women in the capital, mistress of Nicholas II before he became Tsar, and later of 2 Grand Ducal members of his family. Here's a link to a few of rg's pictures: http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.p...c=19267&hl=

I thought some might be interested in some verbal descriptions of Kchessinska. They're from Solomon Volkov's book, St. Petersburg: a Cultural History (1995). Volkov is an emigre living in New York City at the time the book was publsihed, and a friend of Balanchine's.

MK's social allure:

Kchessinska's secret for getting along with men was never to take your eyes off "them," hang on every word, "they love it ... Those where the Petersburg recipes at the start of the century. -- Nadezhda Mandelstam quoting Olga Sudeikina.

Contrary opinions about MK's lifestyle.

The tabloids described Kchessinska's outfits, her diamond necklaces and pearls, the luxurious banquets in her honor at expensive restaurants, and her townhouse in the modern style. The director of the imperial theaters, Vladimir Telyakovsky, who hated her whimis and intrigues, wrote in his diary that she was a "morally impudent, cynical, and brazen dancer, living simultaneously with two grand dukes and not only not hiding it but on the contrary, weaving this art as well into her stinking, cynical wreath of human offal and vice.

MK as a dancer: a positive view

Her demonic artistry sometimes gives of an icy chill. But at other times Kchessinska's rich technique seems like a miracle of a real, high art. At moments like that the audience bursts into wild applause and crazy cries of delight. And the black-eyed she-devil of ballet endlessly repeats, to the bravos of the entire hall, her incredible pas, her blindingly glorious diagonal dance across the stage. -- Critic Akim Volynsky.

MK as a dancer: a negative view.

The directory [Telyakovsky] was disgusted by the open, challenging, and indecorous sexuality of the ballerina, "her too short costume, fat, turned-out legs and open arms, expressing total self-satisfaction, an invitation to an impress." ... The cynical Telyakovsky ... wrote in his diary after another "trite and coarse" performance, "Kchessinska was in good form. The royal box was filled with young grand dukes, and Kchessinska made a real effort."

Sounds like quite a dame.

Does anyone else have any stories or descriptions of Kchessinka, the first Aurora and the first to peform 32 fouettes in Swan Lake?

[canbelto]

I know when she was pregnant, she coached Anna Pavlova in the role of Nikya. Pavlova was considered technically "weak" with her wafer-thin legs and arms and arched feet. Mathilde was sure Pavlova was going to be a great failure. Instead, audiences were enchanted by Pavlova's frail look and ethereal style. As you can see from this picture, Pavlova doesn't really look very different from today's Nikyas.

I also know that Mathilde danced Giselle only once, when she was 40, and it was not considered a great success. Aurora and Esmeralda, however, were considered "her" roles.

[Alexandra]

MK's memoirs -- "Dancing in St. Petersburg" -- is one of my favorite ballet books. The sweetest, dearest, kindest, luckiest woman iin the world, one would think. SHE never thought Pavlova's feet and lack of turnout were a problem, no no. Nor was the weak technique -- in comparison to the Divine Mathilde's, at least -- something to worry about She's the mistress of, among other things, the Backhanded Compliment. And a very great ballerina who lived a long and happy -- not to mention rich, successful and exciting -- life.

[bart]

Thanks, canbelto, for that story. And Alexandra for that ... what shall I call it? ... rather mixed message about MK's capacity for sincerity .

What do we actually know about her dancing? A photo in Volkov's book shows her as Aurora, reclining (but clearly awake and staring at the camera) in dark tutu. She is, surrounded by the most overly-fussily-costumed King, Queen, and Lilac Fairy you could imagine, and what appear to be 2 courtiers, one of whom is probably Catalabutte). It's dated 1890 and is said to have been taken after the premiere. She appears, as in rg's illustrations, to have a short torso, normally proportionally legs, and rather plump arms and shoulders. Photos available in the entry on MK on Wikipedia also suggest a rather large head and exceptionally beautiful face.

What shocks in the Aurora photo, however, is the Theda Bara expression on her face and the melodramatic hand-wringing.

I thought of our contemporary expectations that there will be a joyful, youthful, innocent Aurora bursting onto the stage in Act I, arms spread open to embrace the world. Is Telyakovsky possibly talking about just that moment in this passage?

" ... her too short costume, fat, turned-out legs and open arms, expressing total self-satisfaction, an invitation to an impress."

What CAN this Aurora have looked like? Could MK project the innocence and freshness required for an Aurora?

[Alexandra]

All the classical ballerinas had "normally proportioned legs" -- no extremes allowed. I was shocked to learn last summer (undoubtedly 10 years after the phrase was coined -- that such dancers are called "half-'n-halfers." She's "classically proportioned," they would have said -- the proportions based on Greek statuary. And I have to say, what may look melodramatic to US did not look so at the time. The costumes, the acting, were in the style of the time, and it is not inferior to ours, I would argue, but merely different. Acting styles changed drastically after film. People wore more clothes then, and the women often look plump because A) they were wearing padded tights, in teh fashion of teh day, because men liked plump legs; and/or B), they were wearing a lot of undergarments, including a corset tied as tightly as possible so they couldn't breathe freely, and then many petticoats, camisoles, etc. over top.

How did she dance? She was top drawer. The first Russian to learn the secret of spotting from the Italians, an impeccable technician. Petipa would have stood for no less. My copy of Smakov's "The Great Russian Dancers" is at school, so I can't find the passage, but he describes her special gift as being rigorously classical (I'm writing from an old memory). She didn't "act." She danced. People were sometimes at first disappointed at her "coldness" but she won them over with the purity of her dancing. She became an excellent teacher later in life.

[Hans]

I thought Legnani was the first to do the 32 fouettés and that Carlotta Brianza was the first Aurora...did you mean the first Russian to do these?

Her life was certainly long, but toward the end it seems to have been quite difficult, according to "Imperial Dancer," as she and her husband were plagued by financial and physical problems. A very sad end for such an important figure.

[Leigh Witchel]

You have to read her autobiography. She's some sort of cuddly monster. But no less an artist for it.

[Alexandra]

I thought Legnani was the first to do the 32 fouettés and that Carlotta Brianza was the first Aurora...did you mean the first Russian to do these?

Yes. That's what I wrote. "The first Russian to learn the secret of spotting from the Italians, an impeccable technician. Petipa would have stood for no less." (Legnani was the first to do fouettes; created the role of Cinderella and, later, Odette/Odile, which included fouettes. Kschessinska was the first Russian to figure out how she did it -- ie., the secret of spotting -- and to do the fouettes.)

[Hans]

I apologize, Alexandra--in my first paragraph I was responding to Bart's post, which I ought to have quoted in the interest of clarity.

[cubanmiamiboy]

She didn't "act." She danced.

...an ahead of the times "Balanchine's ballerina"...?

[Alexandra]

No apologies necessary, Hans! I just wanted to be sure it was clear.

Cristian, that's what I thought, too, when I read it. Or, if not Balanchine (hard to imagine him staging "EAsmeralda"), at least a very "modern" ballerina.

[bart]

Alexandra and Hans, you are both right. I quoted too quickly from the Mary Clarke - David Vaughan Encyclopedia of Dance and Ballet, and indeed did leave out the word "Russian" in both cases.

Alexandra, "acting" style seems quite relevant to the way this and many other photos of the period are staged. Several other Kchessenska photos seem quite modern (glamourous but natural) -- though never as much as the best photos of of Pavlova.

People wore more clothes then, and the women often look plump because A) they were wearing padded tights, in the fashion of the day, because men liked plump legs; and/or B), they were wearing a lot of undergarments, including a corset tied as tightly as possible so they couldn't breathe freely, and then many petticoats, camisoles, etc. over top.

Another very helpful explanation. I did not know about padded tights, and it never occurred to me that dancers might be wearing almost as much underwear as the grand ladies in the audience.

Lighting, I suppose, would also have an effect, possibly flattening out -- and therefore broadening -- the image of the dancer. (Isn't it odd that so much is written about Diaghelev's radical developments in stage design, and so little about the way these ballets were lighted?)

Any more impressions of Kchessenska? Or suggestions about just why she was considered to be as great -- and unforgettable -- as she was?

[Alexandra]

I hope others will write, too -- is Andrei reading this? Or Marc or Natalia? I'd love to have a Russian impression of Kschessinska. But I also wanted to thank bart for posting this topic, and for taking the time to put in all of those quotes

[ViolinConcerto]

Seeing those photos, I was reminded of a few characteristics of Pavlova's face - the big, heavy lidded eyes, the dark curly hair and awful teeth. Other similarities -- they made it through to Europe (Mathilde after the revolution with great difficulty) and established studios in Paris and London where they taught. Mathilde had a pet goat in St. Petersberg and Pavlova had a pet Swan in London.

In Coryne Hall's book, "Imperial Dancer" there's a photo of Mathilde in a long-ish tutu, with the caption: "K. wearing the tutu designed to hide her short legs."

I also noticed on the portrait close-up that rg posted (THANKS!), it said (in Russian) "Kschessinska II." Both her father and mother danced, but her mother danced (at the Maryinsky) under her maiden name. Does anyone know who K.I was?

[canbelto]

To give an idea of Kschessinska's life, I found this picture of her mansion before the Revolution.

I also found this rather unballerina-like picture of Mathilde dancing something by Petipa: Mathilde is shorts?

As for Mathilde's weight, Tamara Karsavina said that Mathilde would party and dine lavishly, but when it came time to perform, she put herself on a fanatically strict diet, eating no lunch and drinking no water.

[ViolinConcerto]

To give an idea of Kschessinska's life, I found this picture of her mansion before the Revolution.

I also found this rather unballerina-like picture of Mathilde dancing something by Petipa: Mathilde is shorts?

As for Mathilde's weight, Tamara Karsavina said that Mathilde would party and dine lavishly, but when it came time to perform, she put herself on a fanatically strict diet, eating no lunch and drinking no water.

How very healthy....no water.....That picture of her is startling, doesn't look like any of the others I've seen. The photo of her "house" is obviously taken after the revolution (color, and cars). In the Hall book they say that it was basically trashed and pillaged during the revolution, so it is in no way up to its former glory. It's like living in the Metropolitan Opera House. I was going to say the Met Museum, but that Met is much bigger than poor Mathilda's little hut.

[Paul Parish]

NOt sure about that "not acting" thinng. I haven't read up on MK lately, but my impressions of her are that she was most famous for her Russian dance, and for portraying the poor Esmeralda in hte Hunchback of Notre Dame, with some of the real feeling of Zucchi, and was particularly affecting because of her acting.

She was also a famously great terre-a-terre dancer, brilliantly fast and accurate, and as a teacher... well, didn't Fonteyn say she didn't feel she could learn anything from Kchessniska, because she always said 'Today we'll go for speed"? (Maybe it was Karsavina.)

MK and Preobrajenska were certainly competing teachers in Paris at hte same time, but Preo's students, I am under the impression, did better than MK's. (Fonteyn went to Preo.)

Maybe i'm prejudiced -- I found her autobiography boring, mostly a list of dinner parties and compliments paid to her, written in very trite language with little insight. But that's my impressoin from many years ago; I haven't re-read the book, though I have not thrown it away. She must have been scintillating as a person, and as a performer, in complete command of the stage -- just not as a writer. THE one memorably wonderful thing I seem to remember from her writing was her spontaneous response to seeing Isadora Duncan for the first time -- she was thrilled, she stood on her chair and clapped. Now THAT -- well, I love that.

[rg]

the foto of MFK in shorts is from UNDINE, OR THE NAIAD AND THE FISHERMAN, the perrot ballet petipa restaged in russia. in this guise, a somewhat famous travesty role in the russian ballet, the naiad appears to matteo, the ballet's hero, as a fisherman. (i first saw a copy of this picture when natalia kindly showed me her house program from the recent lacotte reworking of UNDINE for the maryinsky.)

[rg]

didn't see the note about kshesinska I - this was Matilda's older sister Julia. her younger brother Josef also danced but died, grotesquely of starvation, i believe, in an embattled leningrad.

josef's and matilda's and julia's father was also a famous dancer - Felix - w/ whom MFK often danced the 'blue mazurka' beloved of tsar nikolai II.

[bart]

To give an idea of Kschessinska's life, I found this picture of her mansion before the Revolution.

Thanks, canbelto. I believe that this house, more like a small palace than a town house, was given or lent to her by one of her Grand Dukes. Ironically, it became the headquarters of the Bolshevik party after Lenin's return to Petrograd in 1917. Lenin made one of his early public speeches from the balcony, demanding that Russia drop out of the war with Germany (which later it did).

Regarding that wonderful picture from Undine: that fisherman must have been very nearsighted, to be persuaded that she was a boy.

About MK's family of dancers. This can be looked at in a rather different way by a social historian. Volkov writes:

Kchessinska ... was the symbol and proof of the success to which an artist, a woman from the demimonde, could aspire.

The 1890s weren't all that far away from the day when artists in the state theaters were considered to be lower level civil servants.

[Alexandra]

True, bart, but lest someone read that and misunderstand "demimonde," they weren't prostitutes (although many, like MK, had aristocratic lovers), or fairground entertainers. They had good manners I don't know -- perhaps rg does -- whether they were received by the Orthodox Church. From the Middle Ages, when dancers and actors were excommunicated, until some time in the late 19th or early 20th century (and I've never found a date) dancers could not marry, or receive extreme unction, or have their children baptized (or receive any of the other sacraments.)

One of the values of MK's memoirs is her depiction of family life. I love the part where the very young Mathilde has to ask her parents for permission to set up housekeeping with Nicky (the Tsarevitch) and how concerned her family was about appearances. (Well, OK, but you have to have your sister live with you so it looks proper.)

[rg]

i may have a photo of the other JFK - julia felixovna kshesinska - but here's one of brother JFK - i.e. josef (aka iosef) felixovich kshesinsky.

[on scan has been removed - like others removed from this thread it may return eventually 'watermarked'.

[bart]

Wonderful pictures, rg. Congratulations on solving the watermark matter so subtley (but effectively). The photo with her father is one that definitely shows the sexual allure that she must have brought to a great deal of her stage work.

True, bart, but lest someone read that and misunderstand "demimonde," they weren't prostitutes (although many, like MK, had aristocratic lovers), or fairground entertainers. They had good manners I don't know -- perhaps rg does -- whether they were received by the Orthodox Church. From the Middle Ages, when dancers and actors were excommunicated, until some time in the late 19th or early 20th century (and I've never found a date) dancers could not marry, or receive extreme unction, or have their children baptized (or receive any of the other sacraments.)

Volkov does not explain what he means by "demimonde," but I do not think he meant to compare MK with one of the "grandes horizontales" such as one found in Parisian society in the generation before MK.

Given the context, I suspect Volkov used the term "demimonde" to designate an increasing large category of Russians -- artists among them, but also Jews, transmen, etc. -- who were stuck at the lower end of the official hierarchy was established by the State for Russian society in the 19th century. This hierarchy was breaking down by the end of the century. And MK's success -- based on talent and also by the openness of her top-drawer liaisons -- was part of that process. She was definitely accepteed into upper class society -- the male portion, anyway.

I, too, would like to know what the Orthodox Church's attitude towards all this was. Since she was notoriously "living in sin," I suspect she would not have attempted to approach the communion rail, but probably invited a few of the more worldly clergymen to entertainments and dinners in her house.

Also: I wonder whether there have been other ballet dancers who even came close to climbing the social ladder as high as MK, in the 19th and early 20th century, at least.

[FauxPas]

Karsavina's "Theatre Street" autobiography has only admiring words about Kschessinska. Evidently the great Mathilda took her under her wing early on and encouraged her. However, I think that the liaisons with Grand Dukes worked both ways and her reputation suffered after the revolution with a lot of people saying that she only got to her assoluta position by sleeping with the Czar.

I think Karsavina's generation saw her as the first Russian ballerina to gain real superstar prestige and not have to play second stringer and local support to a foreign ballerina guest star like Brianza, Legnani, Zucchi, D'Or or Rosati. Many ballerinas like Varvara Nikitina and Maria Gorshenkova were on a level with the foreign stars but were overshadowed and hindered by Petipa's support of foreign stars. Both ladies retired early and in bitterness from the Imperial Ballet. Evidently Arthur Saint-Leon supported Russian ballerinas like Ekaterina Vazem and Marfa Muravieva in the 1860's and 1870's and Marie Petipa I was a big star during her brief career. Vazem had prima ballerina status during a period of a Czar who had no interest in dance and in paying big money to foreign talent. However, later on the aristocracy wanted big names from Paris and Milan and didn't care that much for local talent. Marius Petipa seemed to agree with them from what was written and spoken about him later.

Dancers of Karsavina's generation felt that Kschessinska broke through that barrier and established the home-grown Russian ballerina as a star on a level of glamour and technical accomplishment with the flashiest Italian or French virtuosa. They saw her as an inspiration and example of what could be achieved both on and offstage by a local girl from a theater family.

Later on she was seen as a decadent and pampered Mme. Du Barry exemplifying the worst excesses of the ancien Tsarist regime. Even her artistry and level of dance technique could be called into question.

BTW: there is a newish biography published in the last couple of years - has anyone read it and is it any good?

[cubanmiamiboy]

I'd love to have a Russian impression of Kschessinska.

I know...BTW, i miss Leonid's posts...