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“Femme fatales in ballet…” - part 1 – La Personne

Reflections of the setting sun embrace the slopes of Mukavir… Late August breathes dust and scorched grass, somewhere in the distance the borders of the Dead Sea and the same dead sky merge into one line. Music fills the interiors of the palace, drowned in the agony of the feast; bunches of grapes hanging from gold and silver dishes, luxury of fabrics, glitter of jewelry, bowls of wine - a picture in the best traditions of the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. And her long, thin arms intertwining above her head, giving birth to bizarre images, slender strong legs, drawing an unknown pattern on the floor, a flexible young body, barely covered by something so transparent that the tongue does not dare to call it a fabric ... And copper-red hair, out of hair, framed by the last rays of the sun. You are still wondering why Herod Antipas, as if spellbound, said: “Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give you ... Even up to half of my kingdom.” But she asked for the head of John the Baptist. nine0003

And for more than two millennia, the image of the Jewish princess, the daughter of Herodias, casually mentioned in the New Testament, has been a symbol of the femme fatale in art and in life. And the Dance of Salome has long become an allegory of boundless fatal female attractiveness that breaks human lives.

In a beautifully performed female dance, there really is something sacred, inexplicable - something that affects men in an absolutely hypnotic way. The choreographic drawing carries a certain primordial power - like a mysterious plexus of flames or a melodic play of waves. The art of dance was perfectly mastered by the concubines in the Sultan's harems, choreographic disciplines were an obligatory component of the education of young aristocrats. It is difficult to overestimate the all-consuming power of plasticity. Therefore, it is not surprising that among dancers (and especially ballerinas, since ballet is the highest degree of development of choreographic art) there have always been / and are / fatal beauties - women who left a noticeable mark in history, culture and in men's hearts. nine0003

Avdotya Istomin (1799-1848)

Nymph of the sunset of Russian romanticism

Muse of Pushkin, girlfriend of Griboedov, decoration of bohemian salons at the beginning of the XIX century, the legendary dancer of St. Petersburg Ballet ... She was covered by virtuoso technology, a virtuoso technology deep drama, sensual energy and, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, she was a miracle how pretty! Slender, graceful, with strong legs - on stage she was light and fast. And in life - cheerful, flirtatious and adventurous; black-haired and with the same black burning eyes, like stars in the midnight southern sky. For this, apparently, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin nicknamed her Cherkeshenka, giving birth to the legend about the eastern origin of Dunya. Istomina shone in the ballets of Charles Louis Didelot - Zephyr and Flora, Caliph of Baghdad, Acis and Galatea, Prisoner of the Caucasus ... Alexander Shakhovskoy wrote roles in his vaudeville especially for Istomina. And, finally, her image is immortalized in the main monument of Russian literature - in "Eugene Onegin". nine0003

An interesting fact is that Avdotya Istomina was never an official kept woman and chose her lovers, guided solely by the arguments of her heart. Her sad fatal love was the staff captain Vasily Sheremetyev - a young impoverished nobleman, he was excessively jealous, eccentric and cruel. Nevertheless, their relationship with the famous ballerina lasted about two years. And then an innocent flirtation with Count Zavadovsky led to tragic, mystical-fatal events - that very famous “duel of four” took place, when seconds after opponents shoot. Sheremetyev and Zavadovsky, Yakubovich and Griboyedov, who had not yet written Woe from Wit. The first round ended tragically - Vasily Sheremetyev was mortally wounded and died a few days later in the arms of his beloved. The duel continued - between Yakubovich and Griboyedov - only six months later in the vicinity of Tiflis and it ended with "little blood" - Griboyedov was wounded in the palm, stopped playing the piano and devoted himself more and more to literature. nine0003

In general, the consequences of this duel still excite inquisitive minds... Count Zavadovsky was expelled from the secular Petersburg society, and he became an avid gambler and swindler. Alexander Yakubovich after some time became close to the Northern Society of Decembrists. It was he who was the commander of the Izmailovsky Life Guards Regiment, who at the very last moment refused to storm the Zimny. Alexander Griboyedov went to Persia as secretary of a diplomatic mission (the position was not enviable at that time, but in his position there was no need to choose). Well, then, there will be a legendary one - “Your mind and deeds are immortal in Russian memory, but why did my love survive you?” nine0003

Ironically, the last husband of Avdotya Istomina later turned out to be the first performer of the role of Skalozub in Woe from Wit.

Fanny Elsler (1810 - 1884)

The Secrets of the Bonaparte

Family See theophilus Gotier and August Burnonville, and the auditorium during its appearance on the stage was part of the hypnotic state of ecstasy. Born Franziska Elsler, Austrian dancer, one of the brightest representatives of the ballet school of the 19th century, prima ballerina of the Paris Opera… She was Marie Taglioni's nightmare. The two famous ballerinas of their time were often compared, although they were diametrically opposed in physics and temperament. Soft airy Mary - the queen of arabesques, sad Sylph, unearthly marshmallow cloud ... And passionate, frantic, breaking the canons of Fanny. On stage, she was a pagan, her strong muscular legs seemed to dig into the floor, and the fiery energy filled the entire hall to the very gallery. Fanny Elsler applauded America, she was honored to be admitted to an audience with the pontiff Pius IX. Rumor has it that the sovereign Nikolai Pavlovich himself favored her, and that it was at his highest invitation that Fanny came to Russia. Her tour was a great success, especially in Moscow, the rollicking spirit of which was so consonant with the sparkling charismatics of the dancer. nine0003

During the farewell benefit performance she danced "Esmeralda" and, according to legend, in one of the scenes, instead of the name "Phoebus", she put together the name "Moscow" from the letters. After the performance, the fans, intoxicated by the dance, unhitched the horses from the wagon and personally drove the prima home. The unusual procession aroused the anger and fury of the Russian sovereign, and many participants in the "performance" were forced to resign from high positions. At that time, Fanny Elsler was about forty years old.

Surprisingly, Fanny combined such a brilliant career and stormy touring activity with matters of the heart and even with the birth of children. She had an affair with the son of the King of Naples Ferdinand IV and with a prominent political figure Friedrich von Genz ... But the main mystery is still the love affair between the beautiful dancer and the young Napoleon II - the only legitimate heir of Napoleon Bonaparte. Enemies of the ballerina even tried to expose Elsler that it was she who was the cause of the illness and death of "Eaglet". But as often happens, the intrigue only fueled the interest of the Parisian public in the ballerina, and, on the wave of general political sentiment, contributed to the ascent of the star Fanny Elsler to the sky. nine0003

By the way, Franziska's older sister, Teresa Elsler, was also a ballerina and was also not a blunder. She very successfully married Prince Adalbert of Prussia and received the title of Baroness von Barnim.

Matilda Kshesinskaya (1872 - 1971)

Salt of the Romanov House

Thin a century, we returned to Petersburg - it has changed when Chernokoya Dunya Istomin, and in salons, fluttered on its scenes in its scenes. soared the romantic spirit of Decembrism. Petersburg at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries breathes with anxiety and uncertainty, the “Silver Age” is born in its bowels ... “The time of indecisive men and fatal women”, as Lev Lurie described it in his book “Predators”. By the way, the book is very entertaining. But in its context, it still haunts me why the main femme fatale of Russian ballet, and possibly Russian history, is only mentioned in passing. I can’t do this - write about fatal ballerinas and not write about Male. Although today, in the light of the events accompanying the release of the film by Alexei Uchitel "Matilda", only the lazy did not read about Kshesinskaya and her special love for royal blood. Therefore, let's leave behind the scenes all the facets of the love polygon and talk about Matilda Kshesinskaya as an outstanding personality, about a woman whose life has become a triumph of the will to win. Yes, because of her, they did not abdicate the throne, and she did not become that very first one and only. But on the fragments of love, she built her empire, becoming the owner of the Mariinsky Theater for many years. During the First World War, Matilda Feliksovna actively participated in the distribution of defense orders. nine0003

She made a huge fortune, her St. Petersburg mansion is considered the best example of Russian modern architecture, and her 32 fouettes revolutionized Russian ballet. And even in exile, the former prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater, unlike many representatives of the Russian aristocracy, led a decent, if not as luxurious as in pre-revolutionary Russia, but quite a comfortable existence. The enterprising Kshesinskaya owned a villa in the south of France, and, apparently, she managed to take out some of the capital. In Paris, she opened her own ballet studio, among her students was the famous baby ballerina Tatyana Ryabushinsky. nine0003

In the end, she nevertheless intermarried with the royal family, becoming the wife of Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, and received the title of Grand Duchess. And who could doubt that women like Matilda Kshesinskaya always achieve their goal and live to be a hundred years old ... Well, or up to 99.

Legends still circulate about the beauty of Cleo de Merode... Just look at her portraits and photographs to be convinced of their authenticity. Chiseled back lines, sculpted legs, a long neck, a neat profile and huge eyes that look like two moons. Luxurious hair is parted in the middle - sometimes loose, sometimes gathered in a low bun - as in the paintings of Waterhouse. It was indeed painted by the best artists of their time: Degas, Klee, Boldini, Toulouse-Lautrec. .. The brightest representative of the French Belle Epoque, Cleo de Merode, conquered all the main stages of the world - from New York to St. Petersburg. Her dancing star lit up with all her might at the World's Fair in Paris at 1 900, where the dancer performed "Cambodian dances". But even before that, she became the Queen of Beauty according to L'Illustration magazine and was recognized as the most beautiful woman of her time.

A true queen certainly needs a king. And he appeared, the real one, and not allegorical - the Belgian monarch Leopold II. The royal boyfriend literally went crazy over his young passion (Leo was 38 years older than Cleo), presented luxurious bouquets, came to de Merode in Paris ... And even gave his beloved ... the metro. Yes, yes, it is Cleo de Merode that the French capital owes the appearance of the first metro line. One day, when the king asked what gift she would like, Cleo instead of diamonds and pearls wished to improve the city's logistics infrastructure. Unfortunately, her invaluable contribution was not appreciated, and the reputation of the favorite of the aging king was firmly established for the young dancer (although de Merode herself repeatedly denied any connection with Leopold and modestly lived with her mother in a small apartment). nine0003

For some reason, scandals have become indispensable companions of the beauty since the moment when Alexander Falguiere presented his sculpture “Dancer” at the Paris Salon of 1896 - the naked grace of white marble had the face of Cleo de Merode ... Contemporaries believed that the body also belonged to her. The artistic beauty of Cleo did not leave Gustav Klimt indifferent either - based on this story, a film was made a century later with John Malkovich in the title role.

The most beautiful woman of the era died alone - she had neither family nor children. nine0003

Isadora Duncan (1877 - 1927)

dancing barefoot on the fragments of happiness . ..

In Russia, it is primarily known and remembered as the muse, wife and scandalous love of Russian itself from all poets. Although, in fact, Isadora Duncan was neither the main woman in the life of Sergei Yesenin, nor the first Beautiful Lady of his poems. Yesenin fell in love often and impetuously, even more often than he fell in love, he wrote - Zinaida Reich, Augusta Miklashevskaya, Sofya Tolstaya, the mysterious Shagane, Wolf Erlich, Anatoly Mariengof ...

Nevertheless, the names of Duncan - Yesenin certainly adorn the lists of great love stories. Just when two geniuses converge, it cannot be otherwise.

Isadora Duncan - an ancient nymph, "barefoot Greek" - made a real revolution in choreographic art. Her name is inextricably linked with the emergence and popularization of free dance - an innovative system of choreography and plasticity, appealing to ancient Greek images, expressing the integrity and freedom of the inner world of a woman. Isadora danced from early childhood, in her own words, she learned grace from the waves, dancing barefoot by the sea. Loie Fuller had a great influence on the formation of Duncan's performing style, in whose troupe the young dancer was up to 1902 years. World fame came to Duncan almost instantly, her unusual dance and plastic turned out to be in tune with the spirit of the time, when everyone gravitated towards something new and exotic. She conquered America, Greece, France, Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Russia ... Fate was generous to her - talent, fame, money, adoration of the crowd, loving fans - everything except human happiness. Being free not only creatively, but also sensually, Isadora loved and was fond of more than once. But all stories ended quickly and sadly. Her first love - a young man from a dance school - married another, the Polish artist Ivan Merocki was already married; little-known actor Oscar Berezhi broke off their engagement shortly before the wedding. nine0003

The talented director Edward Gordon Craig lived with Isadora for several years, they had a daughter, Deirdre Beatrice. But in the end, Craig preferred Isadora to his other lover, the violinist Helena Fortune Meo. Relations with the millionaire Paris Eugene Singer also did not work out, although he was madly in love with the great dancer, showered her with flowers and gifts ... and was insanely jealous. They had a son, Patrick. But at the time, Duncan was unwilling and unable to exchange audience adoration for a quiet family life. The happiness of motherhood Isadora was also not destined to fully know - Deirdre and Patrick died tragically - a car with children rolled into the Seine. Her third child - from a short relationship with the Italian sculptor Romano Romanelli, lived only a few hours. After all the tragic events, Isadora Duncan has almost completely concentrated on art and work - she continues to perform and begins to teach. The canon-breaking choreographic style attracted special attention of the leaders of post-revolutionary Russia - at the personal invitation of Lunacharsky, Duncan comes to the country and opens a dance school in Moscow, and dances on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater with his pupils. It was in Russia that she was destined to meet late love and her first husband - the same poet Yesenin, who for America and Europe remained "the Russian husband of the great Isadora ..." Their marriage lasted two years, two years later Sergei was found dead in Angleterre. Becoming the actual heiress of the poet, Isadora Duncan renounced all rights in favor of Yesenin's mother and sisters. nine0141 Ecologists would say that mismanagement of land has led to natural disasters. Farmers - that earth and air mixed into black clouds and suffocated people and livestock.

As you know, trouble does not come alone. In the 1930s, the Great Depression began, and already in 1932 the country was attacked by the first dust storms.
They peaked in 1935, and continued for another four years.

As soon as black blizzards shaded the sky, all the windows in the houses were sealed with adhesive tape, sealed with putty, the living rooms were hung with wet sheets in vain trying to somehow clear the air. Plates, cups and other utensils were kept in boxes and chests, taken out only before meals. Everything was done in order to avoid dust in the products, but to no avail. Surgeons and dentists fought to keep instruments sterile. Dust storms created incredible difficulties for the services that provide traffic. Electric lighting, even in the daytime, helped only vaguely distinguish the paths. Static electricity destroyed electrical appliances and systems. nine0141
***

***

Breathing the dust was unbearable. Dust containing a lot of silicon, falling on the mucous membrane, caused poisoning similar to lead. Silicosis, a disease of miners, began to occur on the prairies. Although the dust did not contain pathogenic bacteria, it increased respiratory infections - laryngitis, bronchitis, especially in children and the elderly.
The outbreak of measles in Kansas, a disease in ordinary cases not terrible, covered 40,000 under conditions of dust storms and cost at least 200 lives. The Red Cross opened 6 special hospitals in Colorado, Kansas and Texas, but this was not enough. nine0141
Many people got lost in black snowstorms, got injured, died. Cattle died from suffocation and dust, stuffed into the respiratory tract. The farmers caught in the field by the storm could not find their way home. They told how they got out, holding on to the wire fence, or on their knees along the furrow, they got to the edge of the field, where they took cover in the field wagons. People repeated, like a prayer, every day: “If it rains” (would it rain). There was hope that the rain would pass, the dust would settle, the old life would return. nine0141 The drought continued.

The drama of the Dust Bowl was largely caused by the activities of farmers who had settled in the Great Plains by that time. In short, the scheme looked like this: the former prairies were plowed up and sown with wheat. The first years, until the thin fertile layer was depleted, the harvests were excellent. But unlike the grasses that always grew there, wheat could not keep the topsoil from erosion. In addition, in unsown fields, farmers grazed livestock until the vegetation was completely destroyed. Ten years was enough to expose the soil, which was picked up by the wind. nine0141 Dust rose into the air, shielding the earth from the sun. This reduced the heating of the soil, which means that it reduced the evaporation of moisture from it. Which meant even more reduction in rainfall.
"This is the mechanism that made the Dust Pot the Dust Pot," writes environmental scientist Benjamin Cook. “It was a process that fed on itself.”

It all started after the adoption of the Homestead Act in 1862, when the US government began to give out huge (65 hectares each!) plots of arable land in the central states, on the Great Basin plateau, to all families who wanted it almost free of charge. In total, more than one hundred million hectares were distributed under this law. Settlers were even paid to move from the East Coast to a new place of residence. nine0141 Newly appeared "farmers" were happy: here it is, the road to prosperity! It is worth plowing up the fertile land, and wealth cannot be avoided. This is not surprising - such was the view of the relationship "nature - man" at the beginning of the 20th century. The director of the Soil Bureau, Milton Whitney, put forward the slogan "The earth is the permanent and indestructible asset of the American people, a resource that can neither be depleted nor exhausted." (I don't understand - why does it sound so familiar?)

The drought in 1930 turned out to be special, even wild grasses withered - where they were not trampled down by cattle or destroyed by plowing for crops. And a few months later, a strong wind hit the desiccated, depleted lands from the west from the west. nine0141
For the US government, the first case of dust storms went almost unnoticed: at that moment, Congress was busy looking for a way out of the Great Depression that had begun.
The storms began to recur annually with frightening regularity, with ever-increasing fury. So, in 1932, there were 14 dust storms throughout the Great Basin plateau, the next year - already 38, and on April 14, 1935, the unfortunate farmers who have survived to this day are still remembered with a shudder. Over 300 million tons of soil were swept off the ground in just that one day. nine0141
Huge hills of dry land moved as if alive, blocking the sun and turning day into night. The dusty "wall" was 150 kilometers wide and up to 7 kilometers high. She moved at a speed of 50 km per hour, burying houses, cars and livestock under her.

In just a few years, the flourishing states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Montana, Texas and New Mexico turned into impoverished and abandoned territories, surrendering to raging dust clouds.

In some years of the Dust Kettle, losses from the topsoil reached 770 million tons. This is what buried the crops under it, burying hopes no longer for prosperity, but for survival; what destroyed the houses settled in the lungs. nine0141
Approximately 3. 5 million people were displaced from the Great Plains.

Roosevelt, becoming the next president of the United States in 1933, immediately joined the struggle for the states besieged by dust. He gave settlers soft loans to keep their homes, created the Bureau of Soil Erosion, appointing Hugh Bennett, the only soil scientist who offered a reasonable solution to the fight against the elements, as its director.
The US Congress established a special "Soil Conservation Service" under the Department of Agriculture, whose duties included the prompt rescue of arable land and the training of farmers in competent agriculture. nine0141 ***
Today the lands of the Great Basin bowl have re-humused, there is limited arable land, and some land in Montana and the Dakotas has been returned to the prairie state where buffalo farming has begun again.
But looking at these photos today is very scary. I am grateful to fate that I did not have to watch how tons of earth, swirling in the air, come at me to destroy my house.

How to play dust bowl dance

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“Femme fatales in ballet…” - part 1 – La Personne

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