Xenia Makletzova (6 November 1892 — 18 May 1974), sometimes seen as Xenia Maclezova, was a Russian ballet dancer.

Early life

Xenia Petrovna Makletzova 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 ...

. She trained as a dancer at the

Bolshoi Ballet School The Moscow State Academy of Choreography (russian: Московская государственная академия хореографии), commonly known as The Bolshoi Ballet Academy, is one of the oldest and most prestigious schools of ball ...

, graduating in 1908.

Career

Makletzova joined the

Mariinsky 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 ...

in 1913. In 1915-1916 she was prima ballerina 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 ...

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 ...

on its first tour of the United States. She was in the United States premiere of ''

Les Sylphides ''Les Sylphides'' () is a short, non-narrative ''ballet blanc'' to piano music by Frédéric Chopin, selected and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. The ballet, described as a "romantic reverie","Ballet Theater", until 1955. A compact disk ...

'' with the Diaghilev company. She was fired for insubordination by Diaghilev, after she refused to add another ballet to her repertoire or dance with Alexander Gavriloff, without an increase in her pay. She was replaced with

Lydia Lopokova Lydia Lopokova, Baroness Keynes (born Lidia Vasilyevna Lopukhova, russian: Лидия Васильевна Лопухова; 21 October 1891 – 8 June 1981) was a Russian ballerina famous during the early 20th century. Lopokova trained at the I ...

. Diaghilev sued, but Makletzova countersued, and she was awarded $4,500 by a jury in Massachusetts. She appeared in court with her mother, and wearing jewelry said to be given to her by the Czar. Her testimony in court was translated, as she did not speak English at the time. She returned to the Mariinsky in 1917, but soon revolutionary tumult meant she had to leave Russia. She toured in Asia for several years, then joined

Mikhail Mordkin __NOTOC__ Mikhail Mordkin (russian: Михаил Михайлович Мордкин; December 9, 1880, Moscow, Russian Empire - July 15, 1944, New York) graduated from the Bolshoi Ballet School in 1899, and in the same year was appointed ballet ...

's short-lived Russian Ballet Company in the United States in 1926. In 1928, she toured with the Alexis Kosloff Ballet, and she appeared in a production of ''

Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major female character and the storyteller in the frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade'' deri ...

'' at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

. She was still with Kosloff in 1930, when she was a featured performer at the Doge's Ball in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. Carl Van Vechten admired the dancer's technical skill, saying "I have forgotten how many times Mlle. Maclezova could pirouette without touching the toe in the air to the floor, but it was some prodigious number." However, he found her lacking in "grace, poetry, and imagination", and judged that Makletzova "really offended the eye" in ''

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's ...

''. "Far from interpreting the ballet," he concluded, "she gave you an idea of how it should not be done."Carl Van Vechten, ''Interpreters'' (A. A. Knopf 1920): 152-153.

Personal life

Makletzova died in

Long Beach, New York Long Beach is an oceanfront Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County in New York (state), New York, United States. It takes up a central section of the Long Beach Barrier Island, which is the weste ...

, in 1974, aged 81 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Makletzova, Xenia 1892 births 1974 deaths 20th-century ballet dancers Ballerinas from the Russian Empire White Russian emigrants to the United States Mariinsky Ballet dancers Moscow State Academy of Choreography alumni