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Tamara Platonovna Karsavina (russian: Тамара Платоновна Карсавина; 10 March 1885 – 26 May 1978) was a Russian prima ballerina, renowned for her beauty, who was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and later of 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. ...
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, pa ...
. After settling in Britain at
Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...
in London, she began teaching ballet professionally and became recognised as one of the founders of modern British ballet. She assisted in the establishment of The Royal Ballet and was a founder member of the
Royal Academy of Dance "Health and happiness" , predecessor = , successor = , formation = 1920 , extinction = , type = NGO , status = Registered charity , purpose = Examination board – dance education and training , headquarters = 36 Battersea SquareSW11 3 ...
, which is now the world's largest dance-teaching organisation.


Family and early life

Tamara Karsavina was born in
Saint 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 ...
, the daughter of Platon Konstantinovich Karsavin and his wife, Anna Iosifovna (née Khomyakova). A principal dancer and
mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...
with the Imperial Ballet, Platon also taught as an instructor at the Imperial Ballet School (Vaganova Ballet Academy). He counted among his students
Michel Fokine Michael Fokine, ''Mikhail Mikhaylovich Fokin'', group=lower-alpha ( – 22 August 1942) was a groundbreaking Imperial Russian choreographer and dancer. Career Early years Fokine was born in Saint Petersburg to a prosperous merchant an ...
, a future dancing partner and paramour of his daughter. Karsavina's older brother Lev Platonovich Karsavin (1882–1952) became a religious philosopher and medieval historian. Her niece, Marianna Karsavina (1910–1993), married Ukrainian author and artistic patron Pyotr Suvchinsky. Through her mother, Karsavina was distantly related to the religious poet and co-founder of the
Slavophile Slavophilia (russian: Славянофильство) was an intellectual movement originating from the 19th century that wanted the Russian Empire to be developed on the basis of values and institutions derived from Russia's early history. Slavoph ...
movement,
Aleksey Khomyakov Aleksey Stepanovich Khomyakov (russian: Алексе́й Степа́нович Хомяко́в; May 13 ( O.S. May 1) 1804, Moscow – October 5 (O.S. September 23), 1860, Moscow) was a Russian theologian, philosopher, poet and amateur artist. H ...
. Karsavina's father had once been the favorite pupil of
Marius Petipa Marius Ivanovich Petipa (russian: Мариус Иванович Петипа), born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa (11 March 1818), was a French ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. Petipa is one of the most influential ballet masters an ...
, teacher and choreographer, but their relationship deteriorated in later years. Karsavina suspected that Petipa was behind the "political intrigue" that resulted in her father being forced into early retirement. Though Platon continued to teach at the Imperial Ballet School, and also retained some private pupils, he was disillusioned by the experience. Karsavina later wrote: ::I think the blow to their pride meant more than financial considerations to them. After all, we always lived from hand to mouth, never looking ahead, spending more when there was something to spend, fitting in somehow when there wasn't. Father had reason to expect his being kept for the second service, like other artists of his standing. He was sore at heart parting with the stage.


Education

Due to his own bitter experiences, Platon initially refused to allow Karsavina to study ballet, but her mother interceded. ::"'Mother's dream was to make a dancer of me,' Karsavina later wrote. "'It is a beautiful career for a woman,' she would say, 'and I think the child must have a leaning for the stage; she is fond of dressing up, and always at the mirror.'" Without seeking Platon's permission, Karsavina's mother arranged for her to begin taking lessons with a family friend, the retired dancer Vera Joukova. When Platon learned months later that his daughter had begun dancing lessons, he took the news in his stride, becoming her primary instructor. Far from receiving preferential treatment, however, Karsavina referred to her father as her "most exacting teacher... and to the tune of his fiddle I exerted myself to the utmost." In 1894, after a rigorous examination, Karsavina was accepted at the Imperial Ballet School. At her mother's urging, Karsavina chose to graduate ahead of schedule in early 1902. It was unheard of at that time for women to begin dancing professionally before the age of eighteen, but her father had lost his teaching position at the school in 1896, leaving her family in dire straits financially. They desperately needed the small income Karsavina would receive as a dancer with the
corps de ballet In ballet, the ''corps de ballet'' (; French for "body of the ballet") is the group of dancers who are not principal dancers or soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and often work as a backdrop for the principal dancers. ...
. After graduating from the Imperial Ballet School, Karsavina enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks, quickly becoming a leading ballerina with the Imperial Ballet. She danced the whole of the Petipa repertory.


Career

Karsavina's most famous roles were Lise in '' La Fille Mal Gardée'', Medora in '' Le Corsaire'', and the Tsar Maiden in '' The Little Humpbacked Horse''. She was the first ballerina to dance in the so-called '' Le Corsaire Pas de Deux'' in 1915. The choreographer
George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...
said he had fond memories of watching her when he was a student at the Imperial Ballet School. Shortly before 1910, she was regularly invited to dance in Paris with 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. ...
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, pa ...
. During her years with the company, she created many of her most famous roles in the ballets of Mikhail Fokine, including '' Petrushka'' and '' Le Spectre de la Rose''. She danced the latter with Harold Turner. She was perhaps most famous for creating the title role in Fokine's ''
The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (french: L'Oiseau de feu, link=no; russian: Жар-птица, Zhar-ptitsa, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev' ...
'' with Vaslav Nijinsky, her occasional partner. (This role was originally offered to
Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20t ...
, who could not come to terms with
Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...
's strikingly new score.) Karsavina left Russia in 1918, just before Red Terror was launched by the Bolsheviks at the beginning of the
Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...
, and moved to Paris, where she continued her association with the Ballets Russes as a leading ballerina. (Her brother Lev Karsavin was expelled from Russia in 1922 by the Bolsheviks on one of the philosophers' ships. In 1928 he moved to newly independent Lithuania, where he was awarded a university chair in cultural history (1928–1939), but when the Soviets occupied Lithuania, he was arrested and deported to a
gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the State Political Directorate, GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= ...
, where he died in 1952.) Karsavina's memoir, ''Theatre Street'' (the name of the street where the Imperial Ballet School was located, due to its proximity to the Alexandrovskii Theatre), describes her training at the Imperial Ballet School, and her career at the Mariinsky Theatre and the Ballets Russes. In the ultra-competitive world of ballet, she was almost universally beloved. Karsavina did have a rival in
Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20t ...
; yet in ''Theatre Street'', Karsavina always writes of her with kindness and generosity, e.g. "Pavlova at that time hen she was a fellow pupilhardly realised that in her lithe shape and in her technical limitations lay the greatest strength of her charming personality." In the film, ''
A Portrait of Giselle ''A Portrait of Giselle'' is a 1982 documentary film, produced by Joseph Wishy and directed by Muriel Balash. It features Patricia McBride and Anton Dolin along with famous ballerinas who danced the role of Giselle in the past. It was nom ...
,'' Karsavina recalls a "
wardrobe malfunction A wardrobe malfunction is a clothing failure that accidentally or intentionally exposes a person's intimate parts. It is different from deliberate incidents of indecent exposure or public flashing. Justin Timberlake first used the term when apol ...
": during a performance one of her shoulder straps fell and she accidentally exposed herself. Pavlova reduced an embarrassed Karsavina to tears.


Personal life

In 1904, guided by her mother, Anna Iosifovna, Karsavina rejected a marriage proposal from Mikhail Fokine. This led to a simmering unease between the two, which coloured their future relationship. She later said that Fokine rarely spoke to her outside the ballet studio. In 1907, once again guided by her mother, she married the civil servant Vasili Vasilievich Mukhin (1880 – post 1941), in the chapel of the Ballet School. Mukhin occasionally travelled with her on Diaghilev tours. In June 1918, a year after her divorce from Mukhin, Karsavina married the British diplomat Henry James Bruce (1880–1951). He was the father of her son Nikita (1916–2002).


Later years

Karsavina moved to
Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...
, London, where she continued to socialize with luminaries from the ballet world. She occasionally assisted with the revival of the ballets in which she had danced, notably ''Spectre de la Rose'', in which she coached
Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE (''née'' Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn, was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells ...
and
Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...
. She was a ballet teacher to Lady Ursula Manners. In 1959, Karsavina advised Sir
Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 190418 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Determined to be a dancer despite the opposit ...
on his important revival of '' La Fille Mal Gardée'' for the Royal Ballet. She taught him Petipa's original
mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...
d dialogue for the celebrated scene "When I'm Married", as well as his choreography for the "Pas de Ruban", two passages which are still retained in Ashton's production. File:'Les Papillons' 1912.jpg, Tamara 1912 File:Harvard Theatre Collection - Saison Russe 1913, Karsavina, MS Thr 965 (7).jpg, Karsavina with
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. ...
, 1913 File:Tamara Karsavina favorite jewel.jpg, Tamara Karsavina's favorite jewel File:Gruppa-vipusknici-teatralnogo-uchilischa-1902.jpg, Graduate class of the Imperial Ballet School, 1902. Tamara Karsavina is the rightmost student File:Karsavina 1.jpg, Tamara Karsavina In "L'Oiseau de feu" / ''Firebird'' (1910) File:Thamar Karsarvina LCCN2014699494.jpg File:Tamara Karsavina in Les Sylphides.jpg, Tamara Karsavina in '' Les Sylphides'' by Savely Sorin


Publications

Tamara Karsavina: "A Recollection of Strawinsky", in ''Tempo'' (New Series), No. 8 (Strawinsky Number), Summer 1948, pp. 7–9. Tamara Karsavina. ''Theatre Street: The Reminiscences of Tamara Karsavina.'' London: Heinemann, March 1930; reprinted March 1930. With a Foreword by J. M. Barrie. Karsavina's husband affirmed that she wrote her memoir herself, directly in English. Subsequent editions in Russian (and other languages) are translations of it. Second, revised, edition: London: Constable, 1948, and New York: E.P.Dutton, 1950. In a Foreword to this edition, dated 20 October 1947, Karsavina states: "I finished writing this book on August 20, 1929, the day I heard of Diaghileff's death. I did not change then what I had written about him: I left him still alive as I had known him. In this revised edition I have done the same. But I have added a chapter in an attempt to bring some unity into the features of Diaghileff's personality, some of which features are scattered about the book."


See also

* List of Russian ballet dancers *
Women in dance The important place of women in dance can be traced back to the very origins of civilization. Cave paintings, Egyptian frescos, Indian statuettes, ancient Greek and Roman art and records of court traditions in China and Japan all testify to the i ...


References


Works cited

*


External links


Karsavina: A website with complete information about Karsavina's birth and death.Tobacco cards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karsavina, Tamara 1885 births 1978 deaths Ballets Russes dancers Ballerinas from the Russian Empire Ballet teachers 20th-century British ballet dancers Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom Prima ballerinas 20th-century Russian ballet dancers Vaganova graduates