rg has been kind enough in the past to post a number of photos of Kchessinska, the prima ballerina assoluta of the Maryinsky during the 1890s and first decade of the 20th century. MK, the daughter of a dancing family (and thus labeled as part of the "demimonde" at the start of her career), rose to become one of the most glamourous and successful women in the capital, mistress of Nicholas II before he became Tsar, and later of 2 Grand Ducal members of his family. Here's a link to a few of rg's pictures: http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.p...c=19267&hl=

I thought some might be interested in some verbal descriptions of Kchessinska. They're from Solomon Volkov's book, St. Petersburg: a Cultural History (1995). Volkov is an emigre living in New York City at the time the book was publsihed, and a friend of Balanchine's.

MK's social allure:

Contrary opinions about MK's lifestyle.

MK as a dancer: a positive view

MK as a dancer: a negative view.

Sounds like quite a dame.

Does anyone else have any stories or descriptions of Kchessinka, the first Aurora and the first to peform 32 fouettes in Swan Lake?

I know when she was pregnant, she coached Anna Pavlova in the role of Nikya. Pavlova was considered technically "weak" with her wafer-thin legs and arms and arched feet. Mathilde was sure Pavlova was going to be a great failure. Instead, audiences were enchanted by Pavlova's frail look and ethereal style. As you can see from this picture, Pavlova doesn't really look very different from today's Nikyas.

I also know that Mathilde danced Giselle only once, when she was 40, and it was not considered a great success. Aurora and Esmeralda, however, were considered "her" roles.

MK's memoirs -- "Dancing in St. Petersburg" -- is one of my favorite ballet books. The sweetest, dearest, kindest, luckiest woman iin the world, one would think. SHE never thought Pavlova's feet and lack of turnout were a problem, no no. Nor was the weak technique -- in comparison to the Divine Mathilde's, at least -- something to worry about She's the mistress of, among other things, the Backhanded Compliment. And a very great ballerina who lived a long and happy -- not to mention rich, successful and exciting -- life.

Thanks, canbelto, for that story. And Alexandra for that ... what shall I call it? ... rather mixed message about MK's capacity for sincerity .

What do we actually know about her dancing? A photo in Volkov's book shows her as Aurora, reclining (but clearly awake and staring at the camera) in dark tutu. She is, surrounded by the most overly-fussily-costumed King, Queen, and Lilac Fairy you could imagine, and what appear to be 2 courtiers, one of whom is probably Catalabutte). It's dated 1890 and is said to have been taken after the premiere. She appears, as in rg's illustrations, to have a short torso, normally proportionally legs, and rather plump arms and shoulders. Photos available in the entry on MK on Wikipedia also suggest a rather large head and exceptionally beautiful face.

What shocks in the Aurora photo, however, is the Theda Bara expression on her face and the melodramatic hand-wringing.

I thought of our contemporary expectations that there will be a joyful, youthful, innocent Aurora bursting onto the stage in Act I, arms spread open to embrace the world. Is Telyakovsky possibly talking about just that moment in this passage? What CAN this Aurora have looked like? Could MK project the innocence and freshness required for an Aurora?

All the classical ballerinas had "normally proportioned legs" -- no extremes allowed. I was shocked to learn last summer (undoubtedly 10 years after the phrase was coined -- that such dancers are called "half-'n-halfers." She's "classically proportioned," they would have said -- the proportions based on Greek statuary. And I have to say, what may look melodramatic to US did not look so at the time. The costumes, the acting, were in the style of the time, and it is not inferior to ours, I would argue, but merely different. Acting styles changed drastically after film. People wore more clothes then, and the women often look plump because A) they were wearing padded tights, in teh fashion of teh day, because men liked plump legs; and/or B), they were wearing a lot of undergarments, including a corset tied as tightly as possible so they couldn't breathe freely, and then many petticoats, camisoles, etc. over top.

How did she dance? She was top drawer. The first Russian to learn the secret of spotting from the Italians, an impeccable technician. Petipa would have stood for no less. My copy of Smakov's "The Great Russian Dancers" is at school, so I can't find the passage, but he describes her special gift as being rigorously classical (I'm writing from an old memory). She didn't "act." She danced. People were sometimes at first disappointed at her "coldness" but she won them over with the purity of her dancing. She became an excellent teacher later in life.

I thought Legnani was the first to do the 32 fouettés and that Carlotta Brianza was the first Aurora...did you mean the first Russian to do these?

Her life was certainly long, but toward the end it seems to have been quite difficult, according to "Imperial Dancer," as she and her husband were plagued by financial and physical problems. A very sad end for such an important figure.

You have to read her autobiography. She's some sort of cuddly monster. But no less an artist for it.

Yes. That's what I wrote. "The first Russian to learn the secret of spotting from the Italians, an impeccable technician. Petipa would have stood for no less." (Legnani was the first to do fouettes; created the role of Cinderella and, later, Odette/Odile, which included fouettes. Kschessinska was the first Russian to figure out how she did it -- ie., the secret of spotting -- and to do the fouettes.)

I apologize, Alexandra--in my first paragraph I was responding to Bart's post, which I ought to have quoted in the interest of clarity.

...an ahead of the times "Balanchine's ballerina"...?

No apologies necessary, Hans! I just wanted to be sure it was clear.

Cristian, that's what I thought, too, when I read it. Or, if not Balanchine (hard to imagine him staging "EAsmeralda"), at least a very "modern" ballerina.

Alexandra and Hans, you are both right. I quoted too quickly from the Mary Clarke - David Vaughan Encyclopedia of Dance and Ballet, and indeed did leave out the word "Russian" in both cases.

Alexandra, "acting" style seems quite relevant to the way this and many other photos of the period are staged. Several other Kchessenska photos seem quite modern (glamourous but natural) -- though never as much as the best photos of of Pavlova.

Another very helpful explanation. I did not know about padded tights, and it never occurred to me that dancers might be wearing almost as much underwear as the grand ladies in the audience.

Lighting, I suppose, would also have an effect, possibly flattening out -- and therefore broadening -- the image of the dancer. (Isn't it odd that so much is written about Diaghelev's radical developments in stage design, and so little about the way these ballets were lighted?)

Any more impressions of Kchessenska? Or suggestions about just why she was considered to be as great -- and unforgettable -- as she was?

I hope others will write, too -- is Andrei reading this? Or Marc or Natalia? I'd love to have a Russian impression of Kschessinska. But I also wanted to thank bart for posting this topic, and for taking the time to put in all of those quotes

Seeing those photos, I was reminded of a few characteristics of Pavlova's face - the big, heavy lidded eyes, the dark curly hair and awful teeth. Other similarities -- they made it through to Europe (Mathilde after the revolution with great difficulty) and established studios in Paris and London where they taught. Mathilde had a pet goat in St. Petersberg and Pavlova had a pet Swan in London.

In Coryne Hall's book, "Imperial Dancer" there's a photo of Mathilde in a long-ish tutu, with the caption: "K. wearing the tutu designed to hide her short legs."

I also noticed on the portrait close-up that rg posted (THANKS!), it said (in Russian) "Kschessinska II." Both her father and mother danced, but her mother danced (at the Maryinsky) under her maiden name. Does anyone know who K.I was?

To give an idea of Kschessinska's life, I found this picture of her mansion before the Revolution.

I also found this rather unballerina-like picture of Mathilde dancing something by Petipa: Mathilde is shorts?

As for Mathilde's weight, Tamara Karsavina said that Mathilde would party and dine lavishly, but when it came time to perform, she put herself on a fanatically strict diet, eating no lunch and drinking no water.

How very healthy....no water.....That picture of her is startling, doesn't look like any of the others I've seen. The photo of her "house" is obviously taken after the revolution (color, and cars). In the Hall book they say that it was basically trashed and pillaged during the revolution, so it is in no way up to its former glory. It's like living in the Metropolitan Opera House. I was going to say the Met Museum, but that Met is much bigger than poor Mathilda's little hut.

NOt sure about that "not acting" thinng. I haven't read up on MK lately, but my impressions of her are that she was most famous for her Russian dance, and for portraying the poor Esmeralda in hte Hunchback of Notre Dame, with some of the real feeling of Zucchi, and was particularly affecting because of her acting.

She was also a famously great terre-a-terre dancer, brilliantly fast and accurate, and as a teacher... well, didn't Fonteyn say she didn't feel she could learn anything from Kchessniska, because she always said 'Today we'll go for speed"? (Maybe it was Karsavina.)

MK and Preobrajenska were certainly competing teachers in Paris at hte same time, but Preo's students, I am under the impression, did better than MK's. (Fonteyn went to Preo.)

Maybe i'm prejudiced -- I found her autobiography boring, mostly a list of dinner parties and compliments paid to her, written in very trite language with little insight. But that's my impressoin from many years ago; I haven't re-read the book, though I have not thrown it away. She must have been scintillating as a person, and as a performer, in complete command of the stage -- just not as a writer. THE one memorably wonderful thing I seem to remember from her writing was her spontaneous response to seeing Isadora Duncan for the first time -- she was thrilled, she stood on her chair and clapped. Now THAT -- well, I love that.

the foto of MFK in shorts is from UNDINE, OR THE NAIAD AND THE FISHERMAN, the perrot ballet petipa restaged in russia. in this guise, a somewhat famous travesty role in the russian ballet, the naiad appears to matteo, the ballet's hero, as a fisherman. (i first saw a copy of this picture when natalia kindly showed me her house program from the recent lacotte reworking of UNDINE for the maryinsky.)

didn't see the note about kshesinska I - this was Matilda's older sister Julia. her younger brother Josef also danced but died, grotesquely of starvation, i believe, in an embattled leningrad.
josef's and matilda's and julia's father was also a famous dancer - Felix - w/ whom MFK often danced the 'blue mazurka' beloved of tsar nikolai II.

Thanks, canbelto. I believe that this house, more like a small palace than a town house, was given or lent to her by one of her Grand Dukes. Ironically, it became the headquarters of the Bolshevik party after Lenin's return to Petrograd in 1917. Lenin made one of his early public speeches from the balcony, demanding that Russia drop out of the war with Germany (which later it did).

Regarding that wonderful picture from Undine: that fisherman must have been very nearsighted, to be persuaded that she was a boy.

About MK's family of dancers. This can be looked at in a rather different way by a social historian. Volkov writes: The 1890s weren't all that far away from the day when artists in the state theaters were considered to be lower level civil servants.

True, bart, but lest someone read that and misunderstand "demimonde," they weren't prostitutes (although many, like MK, had aristocratic lovers), or fairground entertainers. They had good manners I don't know -- perhaps rg does -- whether they were received by the Orthodox Church. From the Middle Ages, when dancers and actors were excommunicated, until some time in the late 19th or early 20th century (and I've never found a date) dancers could not marry, or receive extreme unction, or have their children baptized (or receive any of the other sacraments.)

One of the values of MK's memoirs is her depiction of family life. I love the part where the very young Mathilde has to ask her parents for permission to set up housekeeping with Nicky (the Tsarevitch) and how concerned her family was about appearances. (Well, OK, but you have to have your sister live with you so it looks proper.)

i may have a photo of the other JFK - julia felixovna kshesinska - but here's one of brother JFK - i.e. josef (aka iosef) felixovich kshesinsky.
[on scan has been removed - like others removed from this thread it may return eventually 'watermarked'.

Wonderful pictures, rg. Congratulations on solving the watermark matter so subtley (but effectively). The photo with her father is one that definitely shows the sexual allure that she must have brought to a great deal of her stage work.

Volkov does not explain what he means by "demimonde," but I do not think he meant to compare MK with one of the "grandes horizontales" such as one found in Parisian society in the generation before MK.

Given the context, I suspect Volkov used the term "demimonde" to designate an increasing large category of Russians -- artists among them, but also Jews, transmen, etc. -- who were stuck at the lower end of the official hierarchy was established by the State for Russian society in the 19th century. This hierarchy was breaking down by the end of the century. And MK's success -- based on talent and also by the openness of her top-drawer liaisons -- was part of that process. She was definitely accepteed into upper class society -- the male portion, anyway.

I, too, would like to know what the Orthodox Church's attitude towards all this was. Since she was notoriously "living in sin," I suspect she would not have attempted to approach the communion rail, but probably invited a few of the more worldly clergymen to entertainments and dinners in her house.

Also: I wonder whether there have been other ballet dancers who even came close to climbing the social ladder as high as MK, in the 19th and early 20th century, at least.

Karsavina's "Theatre Street" autobiography has only admiring words about Kschessinska. Evidently the great Mathilda took her under her wing early on and encouraged her. However, I think that the liaisons with Grand Dukes worked both ways and her reputation suffered after the revolution with a lot of people saying that she only got to her assoluta position by sleeping with the Czar.

I think Karsavina's generation saw her as the first Russian ballerina to gain real superstar prestige and not have to play second stringer and local support to a foreign ballerina guest star like Brianza, Legnani, Zucchi, D'Or or Rosati. Many ballerinas like Varvara Nikitina and Maria Gorshenkova were on a level with the foreign stars but were overshadowed and hindered by Petipa's support of foreign stars. Both ladies retired early and in bitterness from the Imperial Ballet. Evidently Arthur Saint-Leon supported Russian ballerinas like Ekaterina Vazem and Marfa Muravieva in the 1860's and 1870's and Marie Petipa I was a big star during her brief career. Vazem had prima ballerina status during a period of a Czar who had no interest in dance and in paying big money to foreign talent. However, later on the aristocracy wanted big names from Paris and Milan and didn't care that much for local talent. Marius Petipa seemed to agree with them from what was written and spoken about him later.

Dancers of Karsavina's generation felt that Kschessinska broke through that barrier and established the home-grown Russian ballerina as a star on a level of glamour and technical accomplishment with the flashiest Italian or French virtuosa. They saw her as an inspiration and example of what could be achieved both on and offstage by a local girl from a theater family.

Later on she was seen as a decadent and pampered Mme. Du Barry exemplifying the worst excesses of the ancien Tsarist regime. Even her artistry and level of dance technique could be called into question.

BTW: there is a newish biography published in the last couple of years - has anyone read it and is it any good?

I know...BTW, i miss Leonid's posts...

...mmm, questionable. Among some of Mme. Khchessinska' students, Mme. Riabouchinska

The biography, "Imperial Dancer" is excellent. Gives a very full picture of Mathilde's life, from her days as the Czar's mistress to her eeking out a humble living as mistress of a ballet school. One thing that was great about Mathilde: apparently, she never complained. She accepted her misfortunes with grace and tenacity.
By the way, one anecdote about Mathilde that I loved: even though "Mala" was known as a kind, nurturing teacher, beloved by her students, you get a hint of the "Russian way" of teaching from Mala. When a student complained that a step sequence was hurting her and made her feet bleed, Mala ordered her to repeat it 12 more times.

I would question that statement strongly


MK had a career that lasted 45 years. Of that about 33 was arguably the greatest balletina in the west

True. Also, i wanted to note that Fonteyn was Khchessinska's student too. BTW, she died in 1971, at the age of 99 , but i've tried unsuccessfully to find pics of her mature/elderly years...Is there any out there..?, Mr. R.G...?

That suggests she was the Cynthia Gregory of her time.

IMPERIAL DANCER has several photos of her in her "elderly" years. I think her autobiography had several also.

Two wonderful insights. Thank you.

It is rather difficult to imagine a time when Russia had to import a great deal of its ballet talent, as it did before the 1890s.

It's also difficult to imagine a time when an upcoming California ballerina might have felt it to be in her interest to rename herself "Gregorievna."

Faux Pas's post raises another set of questions, too. Does anyone know where and from whom MK got her training?

Were there teachers in the mold of Vagonova or Pushkin, waiting for for unformed talents whom they could develop to the highest level?

She was trained at the Imperial Ballet School by Lev Ivanov for 3 years until she was 11, and then she joined Ekaterina Vazem's class. At age 15 she joined Christian Johansson's class, according to Imperial Dancer. Quite a training pedigree!

Plus, she came from a family of dancers. Her father was a dancer, as was her brother I believe.

While dancing with the Mariinsky she also worked with Ceccheti in order to "italicize" her technique.

Russia had plenty of good dancers. They imported stars because stars were, then as now, good for box office. The company had an excellent school. MK danced at the high point of Petipa's time in Russia.

bart, there were excellent teachers then, too, including Christian Johansson, and later Fokine and Legat, among others. Cecchetti was a dancer (Bluebird/Carabosse) in his mid-40s at the time of "Sleeping Beauty," but also taught.

I made sure I got a picture of myself outside her home in Petersburg.
You can pass the mansion on your way to the Peter and Paul Fortress from the Gastinitza Cankt Peterburg.

I read somewhere that the house is ongoing a slow transformation to its former glory, and some of the rooms are already showing Mme. K. personal items and ballet costumes...

That's great news!
It was quite evident 10 years ago when I visited Moscow and Saint Petersburg that restoration was a big priority.
Though K's house was some kind of museum and I was not allowed inside, I noticed that the Taurida Palace (location of the first Duma) was being completely restored on the outside at least.
I visited the Alexander Palace in Pushkin (Tsarskoe Selo) and it was in the original stages of internal restoration. Nikolai's study was finished and several rooms had displays of clothing, paintings and objects belonging to his family.
Pavlovsk of course has been faithfully restored several times in its history due to Maria Feodoravna's (Paul's wife/Ekaterina Veelekee's daughter in law) copious and thorough records. The process of "Faux Marble" was created for one of Pavlovsk's restorations. Suzanne Massie's LAND OF THE FIREBIRD and PAVLOVSK are wonderful reads for those interested. "Land of the Firebird' even contains a bit about the first Voksal in Russia and Glinka's Valse Fantasie being known as the "Pavlovsk Waltz".

Mme. K. left Russia in 1920, and according to the literature, the last time she danced in her homeland was in 1917. What did she do during those 3 years...? Did she teach under the new soviet regimen...? Did Lenin allow her to keep her mansion ...?

This is from Kschessinska's memoirs Dancing in Petersburg page 75-6.

In this passage she describes how she was granted an audience with the Minister of the Imperial Court in which she requested that she be granted a benefit performance after ten years of service. Generally benefit performances occurred after twenty years of service or retirement and the approval for benefit performances "not covered by the regulations" had to be given by the Tsar. I loved the subtext of this passage because it shows her confidence in her position and also her ability to charm.

... "seeing him [the Minister] well disposed towards me, I told him that I owed my capacity to perform thirty-two fouettes without flaw to him.

'I am delighted,' he said, a little confused, 'but I do not quite see...'

Obviously he did not see at all, and did not understand how such a responsibility was his.

'It's very simple,' I resumed. "To dance fouettes in one spot one has to have a clearly visible mark ahead every time one turns. You always sit in the middle of the front row of the stalls, and when it's dark your decorations glitter in the footlights!'

My explanation delighted him and he again assured me that I had no need to worry about the outcome of my petition.

Of course I was allowed my benefit performance, once again thanks to the Emperor!"

Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly was a benefit performance? Did the ballerina get to keep the box office?

Who composed the music for this early (-ier than Prokofiev) Cinderella? Curious.

Perhaps that's because good lighting design is transparent? People tend to notice lighting when it's bad.

i suspect this is the CINDERELLA in question:
Cinderella :Chor: Enrico Cecchetti, Lev Ivanov and possibly Marius Petipa; mus: Boris Shel; lib: Lidiia Pashkova; scen: Henrykh Levot, Matvei Shishkov, Mikhail Il'ich Bocharov. First perf: St. Petersburg, Maryinsky Theater, Dec 1/13, 1893.

What year was the Maryinsky stage electrified? Were early, electrical stage lights reliably controlled?

Oftentimes, when Diaghilev was pressed as to what his exact duties with his company entailed, he just brushed it off by saying, "Oh, I just work the lights." And he apparently was good at it. One biographer wrote of how the sky cyclorama had a very noticeable buckle in it, and a few adjustments to certain dimmers by D., and the buckle had disappeared. Lighting control in that part of the century was by a large contraption called a "piano board", because it was the size and shape of a very large upright piano, with lots of levers to very large rheostats.

And I believe that the music to the Cendrillon ballet was by Baron Schell.

Yes, Boris Fitinof-Schell. The ballet featured Legnani's first performance of the 32 fouettes; Mme. K. played one of the two step sisters. Later she took the role of Cinderella, being the first "Russian" (really Polish) to master these turns. If one can believe Wikipedia, a bit of the Baron's music is preserved in the Corsaire PdD.
You can click on some great pix at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella_(Fitinhof-Schell)

I would like to know too, Amy, how a benefit worked.

Kschessinska writes that the Tsar usually gave an "Imperial present" on the day of the benefit performance. The men would get a gold watch and the women would get a jewel in gold or silver, perhaps mounted with precious stones and "bearing a crown or Imperial eagle." She let it be known that she didn't think these gifts were particularly beautiful and so, on this occasion, she was given a "magnificent brooch, a kind of serpent in diamonds coiled into rings and bearing in the middle a large cabochon-shaped sapphire." She also mentions receiving "a vast number of gifts and ninety-three bouquets or baskets of flowers."

w/o looking this up for precise info, to the best of my knowledge, the directorate of the imperial theaters allowed certain performances during the calendar year to benefit everything from individual dancers to groups of dancers, for example a benefit marked especial for the corps de ballet. i believe on these occasions the benefit dancer (or group) could raise ticket prices as they liked. the receipts would all? or in part? be then given the benefit artiste (or organization).
of course this also included balletmasters, such as petipa and ivanov, etc.
i'm not sure about composers.
mel would likely know more accurate information here.
o'course the benefit artiste would expect her biggest fans and admirers to buy up the tickets and make the event an unqualified success. any number of new ballets were created for these occasions.
individual artistes' contracts included the spelling out just what benefits were allowed, etc.