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

Maryinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...

and became a ballerina 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 who cast her in the role of Princess Florine in '' The Sleeping Beauty'' in 1918, where she danced with Vaslav Nijinsky. She also went on to dance other roles with the

. Yegorova's farewell performance in 1917 at the

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,

Anton Dolin Anton Dolin may refer to: * Anton Dolin (ballet dancer) Sir Anton Dolin (27 July 190425 November 1983) was an English ballet dancer and choreographer. Biography Dolin was born in Slinfold in Sussex as Sydney Francis Patrick Chippendall Healey ...

, Yvonne Mounsey, Catherine Littlefield, and Zelda Fitzgerald, who described studying under "Madame" in 1925, in her novel '' Save Me the Waltz''. Another of her students was Lucia Joyce, daughter of the Irish writer James Joyce.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