Lubov Nikolayevna Yegorova (Любовь Николаевна Егорова; 8 August 1880 – 18 August 1972) was a Russian Empire ballerina who danced with the

Imperial Ballet The Mariinsky Ballet (russian: Балет Мариинского театра) is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russ ...

and the

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Revolution disrupted society. A ...

Life and career

Lubov Yegorova was born in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. She studied ballet at the Imperial Theatre School in St. Petersburg with

Ekaterina Vazem Yekaterina Ottovna Vazem (born Matilda Vazem; russian: Екатери́на Отто́вна Ва́зем; 25 January 1848, Moscow – 14 December 1937, Leningrad) aka Ekaterina Vazemwas a Russian prima ballerina and instructor, whose most noted ...

Enrico Cecchetti Enrico Cecchetti (; 21 June 1850 – 13 November 1928) was an Italian ballet dancer, mime, and founder of the Cecchetti method. The son of two dancers from Civitanova Marche, he was born in the costuming room of the ''Teatro Tordinona'' in Ro ...

and Anna Johansson. After graduating in 1898, she started work as a

coryphée A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

in the

at Maryinsky Theatre and became a

ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

in 1914. A role as Myrtha in ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, ...

'' brought her to the attention of

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pat ...

who cast her in the role of Princess Florine in '' The Sleeping Beauty'' in 1918, where she danced with

Vaslav Nijinsky Vaslav (or Vatslav) Nijinsky (; rus, Вацлав Фомич Нижинский, Vatslav Fomich Nizhinsky, p=ˈvatsləf fɐˈmʲitɕ nʲɪˈʐɨnskʲɪj; pl, Wacław Niżyński, ; 12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a ballet dancer and choreog ...

. She also went on to dance other roles with the

. Yegorova's farewell performance in 1917 at the Maryinsky Theatre was in ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

''. However, she continued to dance, and in 1921 she interpreted the role of Aurora in Diaghilev's ''Sleeping Princess'' production in London. After retiring from the stage, she taught as head of the Ballet Russe school in Paris from 1923-1968, and founded the company in 1937. She received the Chevalier de l'Ordre des arts et lettres in 1964. Notable students included

Serge Lifar Serge Lifar ( ua, Сергій Михайлович Лифар, ''Serhіy Mуkhailovуch Lуfar'') ( 15 December 1986) was a Ukrainian ballet dancer and choreographer, famous as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century. No ...

, Anton Dolin,

Yvonne Mounsey Yvonne Mounsey (2 September 1919 – 29 September 2012) was a South African-American ballet dancer and teacher. Described as "a dancer of glamour, wit, and striking presence," she spent ten years with the New York City Ballet (1949-1959), where sh ...

Catherine Littlefield Catherine Littlefield (1905–1951) was an American ballerina, choreographer, ballet teacher, and director. She founded the Philadelphia Ballet (originally the Littlefield Ballet) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1935. It was the first American b ...

, and

Zelda Fitzgerald Zelda Fitzgerald (; July 24, 1900 – March 10, 1948) was an American novelist, painter, dancer, and socialite. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, she was noted for her beauty and high spirits, and was dubbed by her husband F. Scott Fitzgerald a ...

, who described studying under "Madame" in 1925, in her novel ''

Save Me the Waltz ''Save Me the Waltz'' is a 1932 novel by American writer Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald. It is a semi-autobiographical account of her early life in the American South during the Jim Crow era and her tempestuous marriage to novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald. ...

''. Another of her students was Lucia Joyce, daughter of the Irish writer

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

.Lucia Joyce - To Dance in the Wake by Carol Loeb Schloss.

Personal life

In November 1917, Yegorova married Prince Nikita Sergeievitch Trubetzkoy (1877-1963), whose father was Director of the Hermitage Museum. Having lost her fortune through mismanagement, she died in a nursing home in Paris in 1972.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yegorova, Lubov 1880 births 1972 deaths 19th-century women from the Russian Empire 20th-century ballet dancers Ballets Russes dancers Mariinsky Ballet dancers Russian princesses by marriage Prima ballerinas Ballerinas from the Russian Empire White Russian emigrants to France Trubetskoy family