Le Carnaval was a pantomime ballet which was one act long written and danced in the early 1900’s. Lebretto and choreography was by Fokine Music was written by Schumann and orchestration was done by Rimsky-Korsakov. Scenery and Costumes were done by Leon Bakst. Le Carnaval ballet was first performed after three spontaneous rehearsals as a … Read more
Mathilde Kschessinska was born in St. Petersburg Ligovo, near Peterhof in the of August 1872. She was the daughter of a well-known dancer of Polish origin, Feliks Krzesiński. Her father and her brother were both dancers in St. Petersburg. Mathilde Kschessinska graduated from the Imperial Ballet School in 1890 and five years later was filling all the … Read more
I always love to learn about famous dancers of our past as these are the people who shaped dance for the future. today I would like to focus on Carlotta Grisi. Who Was Carlotta Grisi? Carlotta Grisi was born in Visinada as Caronne Adele Josephine Marie Grisi on the 28th of June 1819 in Italy. She … Read more
Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias was born on the 18th of May 1919 as Peggy Hookham in Reigate, England. She was a solemn little girl with a thick page-boy haircut, a pet chipmunk, and she had a love of vigorous character dancing. Pavlova who was a star at the time made very little impression on … Read more
The Anna Pavlova Biography proves to be both interesting and compelling. She led a short life but achieved so much. She also managed to accomplish all her dreams, something most people don’t manage to do in a lifetime. Anna Pavlova The Ballerina Anna Pavlova was born in 1881 just outside St. Petersburg. She saw a … Read more
Olga Preobrajenska was born in St. Petersburg on January 21, 1871. I have yet to find out what her real surname is hence the two different ways of spelling it in the title of this page. I have a feeling the one way is the Russian way and the other the English way. Her mother … Read more
Marie Petipa was the daughter of famous choreographer Marius Petipa, but she has quite a tragic story behind her. Marie Mariusovna Petipa was born on the 29th of October 1857 in St. Petersburg. She studied classical ballet under her father Marius Petipa. Her mother was Maria Petipa. She made her debut at the Mariinsky Theater … Read more
I grew up watching and admiring Natalia Bessmertnova and her dancing, so I thought it would only be fitting to write a post about this bewitching Russian ballerina. Here are some of the productions that she has been recorded doing. Luckily there is a lot of footage of her dancing, unlike the earlier Russian Ballerina’s. … Read more
Most people believe that these six magnificent and famous Russian Ballet Dancers have marked the progress of Russian Ballet Dancing during the twentieth century. Each of these famous Russian Ballet Dancers has in some way laid the groundwork for the further development of the art of ballet dancing worldwide. Each of these Russian ballerina’s has in … Read more
Tamara Platonovna Karsavina was born in St. Petersburg on the 10th of March 1885. She was the daughter of well-known dancer Platon Karsavin and she was lucky enough to study ballet dancing under famous teachers Paul Gerdt and Enrico Cecchetti at the famous Imperial School. Due to his own bitter experiences, Platon initially refused to … Read more