Spectacular performances, stunning costumes, fluttering nymphs - this is exactly what the imagination draws ballet XIX century. But in order to get on stage, girls had to live from hand to mouth, endure poverty and beatings from teachers.
In the 19th century, the St. Petersburg Theater School was considered one of the most prestigious institutions for training future ballerinas. His pupils were entitled to full provision. However, looking at the photographs of ballerinas, it is impossible to imagine that behind the stage splendor were hidden the terrible conditions in which the girls were forced to live.
The pupils ate very little. For breakfast they were given tea with sugar and milk and a quarter of a French roll. For second breakfast at noon, the girls again received a roll and a piece of black bread. Excellent students were given a glass of sherry and potatoes and steak as a reward.
At 17.00 everyone went to lunch. The quality of the food left much to be desired. The pupils literally choked on noodle soup, potatoes with tough beef and rice cake. Dinner was also not very varied. On Sunday, some students were taken home, so the rest got double portions.
One day, a real scandal broke out at the school when a green worm was found in the plate of one of the students. The person in charge of food was fired, but the quality of the food did not improve. Often the girls pooled their money to buy gingerbread from the hawkers, secretly from their teachers.
In her memoirs, ballerina Anna Petrovna Natarova recalled that the biggest delicacy for her students was herring with caviar. In the strictest secrecy, it was carried into the school territory and divided by the number of participants in the meal. The pieces were pricked not with forks, but with hairpins.
Despite the meager diet, the weight of each student was monitored very carefully. If one of the ballerinas lost kilos, then she was immediately given milk, eggs, and butter in an increased volume, because the audience should not have seen the unfortunate, exhausted dancers.
If ballerinas flitted around on stage in beautiful costumes, then everyone was given old, worn-out clothes for classes. I had to hem skirts and tights, adjusting them to the desired length. Quality casual wear also left much to be desired: the dresses were made from cheap fabric, and their style did not change for decades.
The St. Petersburg Theater School was famous for its graduates, but behind the doors of choreographic classes, in addition to exhausting classes, ballerinas were often awarded with bruises and abrasions. If the choreographer thought the student was not trying hard enough, he could pull her by the hair or beat her with a stick. It would happen that a happy ballerina would just go backstage after the end of the performance, when the choreographer would immediately begin to shower her with blows and abuse, and a second later he would push her back onto the stage for a final bow.
The difficult conditions at the ballet school strengthened the graduates, who often went towards their goal against all odds and became the best ballerinas in various theaters.
Today ballet is no less hard work. But morals are still not so cool. Recently . And see for yourself what happened.
The theater is already full; the boxes shine;
The stalls and the chairs, everything is boiling;
In paradise they splash impatiently,
And, rising, the curtain makes noise.
Brilliant, half-airy,
I obey the magic bow,
Surrounded by a crowd of nymphs,
Worth Istomin; she,
One foot touching the floor,
The other slowly circles,
And suddenly he jumps, and suddenly he flies,
Flies like feathers from the lips of Aeolus;
Now the camp will sow, then it will develop,
And with a quick foot he hits the leg.
The history of ballet in Russia begins in the 30s of the 18th century. In 1731, the Land Noble Corps was opened in St. Petersburg. Since the graduates of the corps in the future were expected to occupy high government positions and needed knowledge of secular manners, the study fine arts, including ballroom dance, a significant space was allocated in the building. Jean Baptiste Lande, who is considered the founder of Russian ballet art, became the dance master of the corps in 1734. In 1738, Jean Baptiste Lande opened the first ballet school in Russia - Dance School Imperial Majesty school (now the Academy of Russian Ballet named after A. Ya. Vaganova).
Ballet in Russia gradually developed and in 1794 productions began by the first Russian-born choreographer, Ivan Walberch. Under Paul I, special rules for ballet were issued - it was ordered that there should not be a single man on stage during the performance and male roles at that time were performed by women, for example, Evgenia Ivanovna Kolosova (1780-1869). Kolosova was one of the first to perform on ballet stage Russian dances. Another innovation of hers was that she replaced the lush stylized costume with an antique chiton.
Ballet dancer and choreographer Adam Glushkovsky wrote about Kolosova: “I have been following for more than forty years dance art, I saw a lot of famous ballet dancers coming to Russia, but in none of them did I see such talent as Evgenia Ivanovna Kolosova, a dancer of the St. Petersburg theater, possessed. Every movement of her face, every gesture was so natural and understandable that it decisively replaced speech for the viewer." Evgenia Kolosova was on stage from 1794 to 1826, after which she took up teaching. 
One of Evgenia Kolosova’s students was Avdotya (Evdokia) Ilyinichna Istomina (1799-1848), glorified by Pushkin in “Eugene Onegin”....the lines are given at the beginning of the answer....
Historians are still arguing about which Russian ballerina was the first to dance on pointe shoes (leaning only on the tips of her toes). Some believe that it was Maria Danilova, others are of the opinion that it was Avdotya Istomina.
Another student of Evgenia Kolosova was Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Telesheva (1804-1857). One of her contemporaries wrote about her: “With the most charming appearance, she had so many feelings and games that she captivated the most impassive spectator.” Patron and lover, in fact common-law husband Teleshova, was a count, Governor-General of St. Petersburg Mikhail Miloradovich.
On January 17, 1799, the ballerina of the Russian Imperial Theater Evdokia Istomina was born. The life of a dancer resembled the plot of a novel. Who was this beauty whom Pushkin praised, over whom her admirers fought to the death?
The girl from lower society
Evdokia Istomina was born into the family of a drunken police officer, Ilya Istomin, and his wife Anisya. At the age of six, Dunya was left an orphan. Artist's profession at the beginning XIX century was not considered prestigious, and children were brought to the school, as a rule, from the lower classes. One of my acquaintances, who remained unknown, took care of the orphan, and Istomina was taken on full board at drama school, where the dance maestro himself, the famous Charles-Louis Didelot, taught.
Istomina, like all the other students, began to go on stage early: at the age of nine she already participated in the corps de ballet of the play “Zephyr and Flora.”
At the age of seventeen, immediately after graduating from school, Istomina, Didelot’s favorite student, was accepted into the St. Petersburg troupe imperial theaters. After a successful debut in the ballet Acis and Galatea, the young beautiful ballerina immediately took a leading position in the troupe. It is noteworthy that the dancer also appeared on stage in dramatic performances. In the 19th century, it was believed that an artist should be able to do everything.
A virtuoso dancer, Istomina was the first Russian ballerina to stand on pointe shoes, and the third in world ballet (only Maria Taglioni and Genevieve Gosselin were ahead of her).
Fatal beauty of the demimonde
The beautiful ballerina immediately attracted the attention of the discerning metropolitan public. Pimen Arapov, a famous Russian theatergoer of that time, recalled: “Istomina was of average height, brunette, beautiful in appearance, very slender, had black fiery eyes covered long eyelashes which gave special character her physiognomy, she had great strength in the legs, aplomb on stage and at the same time grace, lightness, speed in movements ... "
As on stage, in the scandalous chronicles of that time, young Dunya Istomina was in the lead roles. Aristocratic admirers sought her favor. The fatal beauty became the cause of a duel when four noblemen from high society. This tragic story, which happened in the fall of 1817, remained in memory as a “duel of four.”
The morals of that time made it possible to take beautiful and poor ballerinas as kept women. Evdokia Istomina was the mistress of Vasily Sheremetev for two years, until one day a quarrel broke out between them, and the dancer ran away from her patron. The flighty beauty felt free from obligations for a while and accepted the invitation of her friend Alexander Griboyedov (author of “Woe from Wit”) to stay with the chamber cadet Zavadovsky, a rich man and helipad known throughout St. Petersburg. Istomina soon made peace with Sheremetev, but rumors about Zavadovsky’s special hospitality spread throughout the capital. The wounded Sheremetev challenged the offender to a duel, and he close friend Alexander Yakubovich (the future Decembrist), who agreed to become his second, considered Griboedov to be the culprit of the scandal and called him to shoot.
The duelists met on November 24, 1817 on Volkovo Field. Both couples had to fight: first the instigators of the fight, then their seconds. But Zavadovsky’s shot was successful: he mortally wounded Sheremetev in the stomach. And it was decided to postpone the second duel. This postponed duel took place a year later, in the fall of 1818, in Tiflis, where, by the will of fate, both duelists ended up. Yakubovich shot Griboedov in the palm of his left hand (a few years later, in February 1829, the body of Griboyedov, killed during the defeat of the Russian embassy in Tehran, would be identified from this wound). Griboedov fired into the air.
Istomina’s legs, sung by Pushkin
The tragic incident did not affect Istomina’s career in any way. The talented ballerina shone in the leading roles in almost all the productions of her teacher Charles Didelot. On January 15, 1823, the premiere of the ballet “Prisoner of the Caucasus, or the Shadow of the Bride” based on the poem by A.S. took place. Pushkin. Istomina performed the role of Cherkeshenka. The poet was living in exile in Chisinau at that time. Having learned about the performance, he wrote to his brother in St. Petersburg: “Write to me... about Cherkeshenka Istomina, whom I once followed, like Caucasian prisoner" Pushkin and Istomina were the same age and moved in the same high-society circle. The poet was an admirer of the ballerina’s talent; he dedicated the immortal lines to her dance in the ballet Acis and Galatea:
“Brilliant, half-airy,
I obey the magic bow,
Surrounded by a crowd of nymphs,
Worth Istomin; she,
One foot touching the floor,
The other slowly circles,
And suddenly he jumps, and suddenly he flies,
Flies like feathers from the lips of Aeolus;
Now the camp will sow, then it will develop,
And he hits the leg with a quick foot.”
Pushkin planned to write a novel about the life of the ballerina Istomina. The name has already been invented future book- “Two dancers.” The basis of the plot was supposed to be an incident with a duel between fans of the beauty. The poet died without having time to realize his plan.
Sad sunset of a ballet star
Evdokia Istomina served in the Imperial Ballet for twenty years. In the last years of her career, she performed less and less: not a trace remained of her former youthful lightness, and the overweight ballerina no longer looked good on stage. During these years, Avdotya Panaeva remembered her like this: “I saw Istomina already as a heavy, overweight, elderly woman. Wanting to appear youthful, she was always whitened and rouged. Her hair was jet black: they said that she dyed it...” As she grew older, dancing became tiresome for her, and she suffered from pain in her legs. The elderly artist's salary was halved. She wrote to the theater directorate: “In my 20th year since graduating from school, I have been reproached for the fact that my repertoire has decreased...
How is it my fault that they don’t give these ballets anymore? And what happened on last year my service? Istomina asked to be sent to the waters at public expense to improve her health. Nicholas I, who was reigning at that time, personally wrote a resolution in response to her request: “Istomin should now be completely dismissed from service.” The reasons for the hostility of the royal court towards famous ballerina there was the famous “duel of four”, and friendly relations Istomina with the Decembrists.
IN last time Evdokia Istomina appeared on stage on January 30, 1836, at the age of 37. There was no full role for her farewell appearance - the formerly famous dancer performed only a Russian dance.
Soon after leaving the theater, Istomina married Vasily Godunov, a young and handsome, but mediocre, according to the recollections of contemporaries, actor. Grief former ballerina was inconsolable when the young husband soon died of typhus. Evdokia Ilyinichna’s next husband was the dramatic actor Pavel Ekunin, by the way, an excellent dancer who was a Russian dance partner at the ballerina’s benefit performance.
Evdokia Ilyinichna Istomina died on July 8, 1848, when a cholera epidemic broke out in St. Petersburg. The ballerina's husband, Pavel Ekunin, survived her only by a few months, also dying of cholera. Funeral former celebrity passed quietly. On gravestone with a small monument made of white marble there is a modest inscription: “Evdokia Ilyinichna Ekunina, retired artist.”
They are airy, slender, light. Their dance is unique. Who are these outstanding ballerinas of our century?
Agrippina Vaganova (1879-1951)
One of the most important years in the history of Russian ballet is 1738. Thanks to the proposal of the French dance master Jean-Baptiste Lande and the approval of Peter I, the first school was opened in St. Petersburg ballet dance in Russia, which exists to this day and is called the Academy of Russian Ballet. AND I. Vaganova. It was Agrippina Vaganova in Soviet time systematized the traditions of classical imperial ballet. In 1957, her name was given to the Leningrad Choreographic School.
Maya Plisetskaya (1925)
An outstanding dancer of the second half of the 20th century, who went down in the history of ballet with her phenomenal creative longevity, Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya was born on November 20, 1925 in Moscow.
In June 1934, Maya entered the Moscow Choreographic School, where she consistently studied with teachers E. I. Dolinskaya, E. P. Gerdt, M. M. Leontyeva, but she considers Agrippina Yakovlevna Vaganova, whom she met already at the Bolshoi Theater, to be her best teacher , where she was accepted on April 1, 1943.
Maya Plisetskaya is a symbol of Russian ballet. She performed one of her main roles as Odette-Odile from Swan Lake on April 27, 1947. It was this Tchaikovsky ballet that became the core of her biography.
Matilda Kshesinskaya (1872-1971)
Born into the family of dancer F.I. Kshesinsky, a Pole by nationality. In 1890 she graduated from the ballet department of the St. Petersburg Theater School. In 1890-1917 she danced at the Mariinsky Theater. She became famous in the roles of Aurora (The Sleeping Beauty, 1893), Esmeralda (1899), Teresa (Rest of the Cavalry), etc. Her dance was distinguished by its bright artistry and cheerfulness. In the early 1900s she was a participant in M. M. Fokine’s ballets: “Eunika”, “Chopiniana”, “Eros”, and in 1911-1912 she performed in the Diaghilev Russian Ballet troupe.
Anna Pavlova (1881-1931)
Born in St. Petersburg. After graduating from the St. Petersburg Theater School, in 1899 she was accepted into the troupe Mariinsky Theater. Danced the part in classical ballets“The Nutcracker”, “The Little Humpbacked Horse”, “Raymonda”, “La Bayadère”, “Giselle”. Natural abilities and constant improvement of performing skills helped Pavlova to become the leading dancer of the troupe in 1906.
Pavlova had a huge influence on identifying new opportunities in Pavlova’s performing style. collaboration with innovative choreographers A. Gorsky and, especially, M. Fokin. Pavlova performed the main roles in Fokine’s ballets Chopiniana, Armida’s Pavilion, Egyptian Nights, etc. In 1907, charity evening At the Mariinsky Theater, Pavlova first performed the choreographic miniature “The Swan” (later “The Dying Swan”) staged for her by Fokine, which later became poetic symbol Russian ballet of the 20th century.
Svetlana Zakharova (1979)
Svetlana Zakharova was born in Lutsk, Ukraine, on June 10, 1979. At the age of six, her mother took her to a choreographic club, where Svetlana studied folk dances. At the age of ten she entered the Kiev Choreographic School.
After studying for four months, Zakharova left the school, as her family moved to East Germany in accordance with the new assignment of her military father. Returning to Ukraine six months later, Zakharova again passed the exams at the Kiev Choreographic School and was immediately accepted into the second grade. At the Kiev School she studied mainly with Valeria Sulegina.
Svetlana performs in many cities around the world. In April 2008, she was recognized as the star of the famous Milan theater La Scala.
Galina Ulanova (1909-1998)
Galina Sergeevna Ulanova was born in St. Petersburg on January 8, 1910 (according to the old style, December 26, 1909), in a family of ballet masters.
In 1928, Ulanova graduated from the Leningrad Choreographic School. Pretty soon she joined the troupe of the Leningrad State Theater academic theater opera and ballet (now Mariinsky).
Ulanova had to leave her beloved Mariinsky Theater during the siege of Leningrad. During the Great Patriotic War Ulanova danced in theaters in Perm, Almaty, Sverdlovsk, performing in hospitals in front of the wounded. In 1944 Galina Sergeevna goes to Grand Theatre, where she performed periodically since 1934.
Galina's real achievement was the image of Juliet in Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet. Her the best dances are also the role of Masha from “The Nutcracker” by Tchaikovsky, Maria from “ Bakhchisarai fountain" and Gisele Adana.
Tamara Karsavina (1885-1978)
Born in St. Petersburg in the family of Mariinsky Theater dancer Platon Karsavin, great-niece Alexey Khomyakov, a prominent philosopher and writer of the 1st half of the 19th century century, sister of the philosopher Lev Karsavin.
Studied with A. Gorsky at Peturburgsky theater school, which she graduated in 1902. While still a student, she performed the solo part of Cupid at the premiere of the ballet “Don Quixote” staged by Gorsky.
She began her ballet activity during a period of academic crisis and the search for a way out of it. Columns academic ballet they found many flaws in Karsavina’s performance. The ballerina improved her performing skills with the best Russian and Italian teachers
Karsavina’s remarkable gift was manifested in her work on M. Fokin’s productions. Karsavina was the founder of fundamentally new trends in the art of ballet at the beginning of the 20th century, later called “intellectual art”.
The talented Karsavina quickly achieved the status of a prima ballerina. She performed leading roles in the ballets “Carnival”, “Giselle”, Swan Lake", "Sleeping Beauty", "The Nutcracker" and many others.
Ulyana Lopatkina (1973)
Ulyana Vyacheslavna Lopatkina was born in Kerch (Ukraine) on October 23, 1973. As a child, she studied in dance clubs and in the gymnastics section. On the initiative of her mother, she entered the Academy of Russian Ballet. AND I. Vaganova in Leningrad.
In 1990, as a student, Lopatkina participated in the Second All-Russian competition them. AND I. Vaganova for students of choreographic schools and received first prize..
In 1995, Ulyana became a prima ballerina. In her track record best roles in classical and modern productions.
Ekaterina Maksimova (1931-2009)
Born in Moscow on February 1, 1939. Since childhood, little Katya dreamed of dancing and at the age of ten she entered the Moscow Choreographic School. In the seventh grade, she danced her first role - Masha in The Nutcracker. After college, she joined the Bolshoi Theater and immediately, practically bypassing the corps de ballet, began dancing solo parts.
Of particular importance in Maximova’s work was her participation in television ballets, which revealed a new quality of her talent - comedic talent.
Since 1990, Maksimova has been a teacher and tutor at the Kremlin Ballet Theater. Since 1998 - choreographer-tutor of the Bolshoi Theater.
Natalya Dudinskaya (1912-2003)
Born on August 8, 1912 in Kharkov.
In 1923-1931 she studied at the Leningrad Choreographic School (student of A.Ya. Vaganova).
In 1931-1962 - leading dancer of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. CM. Kirov. She performed the main roles in the ballets “Swan Lake” and “The Sleeping Beauty” by Tchaikovsky, “Cinderella” by Prokofiev, “Raymonda” by Glazunov, “Giselle” by Adam and others.
We admire the skill of these brilliant ballerinas. They did huge contribution in the development of Russian ballet!
