May 26, 1978
A ballerina has died in London. Tamara Karsavina. Prima of the Mariinsky Theatre, star of Diaghilev's "Russian Seasons." "Goddess of the Air."
Karsavina resembles a dancing flame, in the light and shadows of which a languid bliss dwells. (from a review in the French press)
Born in Petersburg in 1885, into the family of a dancer of the imperial troupe Platon KarsavinShe learned to read early, while playing next to her brother (a future philosopher) who was learning to read and write. Lev Karsavin).
I was looking at the pictures in the newspaper… The whole family was just gathered around the table. I read the headline—Mom was very surprised, but thought I had simply memorized it. She told me to read a few sentences, which I did.
- But newspapers are not quite suitable reading for children.
I begged her to let me read the novel with a sequel.
— What kind of novel? — asked the mother.
My answer must have sounded extremely funny, since I still had a slight lisp:
— "Victim of Passion." A crime novel.
Mom was speechless with amazement, and dad laughed until he cried, then said:
- Let her read "Victim of Passion", it won't do her any harm.
She read a lot and with pleasure, spent her pocket money on children's books, and adored Pushkin.
It was her mother's idea to enroll her in ballet; her father didn't see any particular talent in her. But Tata did qualify for the ballet school.
I felt quite helpless in class. Old Johanson never got up to show us the steps. He indicated them with vague movements of his trembling hands. For a long time, I couldn't figure out what he wanted, and I often made mistakes. There was no way to hide behind the others—Johanson only had one eye, but Argus himself would have envied him, and all my maneuvers didn't escape his notice.
- It's a pity that you're feeble-minded, — he turned to me after every failure. - What kind of dancer could I make out of you?
Tata didn't give up. During breaks, she'd find an empty classroom and "launch bold experiments" in front of the mirror, performing complex moves she'd never mastered. One day, Johansen realized she "could dance."
The path to recognition was thorny. She graduated from the ballet school in 1902 and joined the Mariinsky Theatre corps de ballet. Two years later, she was reduced to second dancer. Her debut as the lead in "The Awakening of Flora" was unsuccessful. In 1907, she was promoted to first dancer. She became a prima ballerina in 1910. She danced leading roles in "Giselle," "The Sleeping Beauty," and "Swan Lake."
The stage itself is a school, perhaps cruel, sometimes merciless, but the only one that can forge the skill of an actor
Since 1909 she collaborated with Sergei Diaghilev. In 1910, she caused a sensation in Europe by dancing in The Firebird Mikhail Fokin и
Igor StravinskyThe creators of the play saw the temperamental ones in the main roles Matilda Kshesinskaya or Anna Pavlova. But the gentle Karsavina with her smooth movements delighted the audience.
I've never seen an audience in such a state. You'd think there was a fire burning under the seats.
She often performed in pairs with the Russian Ballet on tour. Vaslav Nijinsky — the duo formed back at the Mariinsky. Nijinsky was a master of levitation—"it's not at all difficult, you just have to rise into the air and linger for a bit."
He took off a few yards from the wings and, after describing a parabola in the air, disappeared from view. No one in the audience saw him land; for everyone, he soared into the air and flew away.
In 1914, the publication "A Bouquet for Karsavina" was published, with dedications to the ballerina from artists and poets.
And with every minute there are more and more prisoners,
Having forgotten their existence,
And bows again in the sounds of the blessed
Your flexible body (Anna Akhmatova, 1914)
In 1915, she gave birth to a son from a British diplomat. Henry Bruce. Having received a divorce from her first husband Vasily Mukhin, remarried in 1918. That same year, she danced for the last time in Russia and emigrated to London.
She continued dancing, taught, and acted in silent films. She was vice president of the Royal Academy of Dance. She taught choreography to a ten-time world figure skating champion. Sonja Henie. She left behind a book of memoirs, “Theater Street.”
She lived to be 93 years old.
