Natalia Bessmertnova as Kitri in Bolshoi’s Don Quixote
Natalia would’ve turned 82 today
19 July 1941 — 19 February 2008
Your guesses on which principal dancer the Antichrist is gonna get rid of now that tissi is one? I pray to god it’s not Lobukhin cause otherwise I’m gonna be tempted to post things those petty tyrants could sue me for
Let’s think logically: Zakharova and Shipulina are safe for obvious reasons, same with Smirnova. They won’t dare get rid of Krysanova bc then the community of balletomanes in Moscow might start a riot lol. Nikulina and Stashkevich should be safe bc them becoming principals was sort of the antichrists doing if my memory serves me right. Obraztsova… could be but I doubt it. Stepanova — I wish, but won’t happen probably.
Lantratov is untouchable bc he’s the only one who currently deserves to be a male principal, let’s keep it real. Rodkin has become too big a name, so not him. Belyakov — Zakharova won’t allow it. Ovcharenko is an asset to the management for certain reasons, so not him either. Savin just recently got promoted (relatively), so I doubt that it would be him. Chudin — ehhh maybe but I doubt it; he’s one of, like, the three dancers who can execute the 5th position lol. That leaves us with Lopatin and Lobukhin. The Antichrist hates talent bc he has none, so my guess is, he might target Lobukhin the same way he did with Nina, Maria Alexandrova and Ruslan.
John Cranko’s Onegin at the Bolshoi Theatre
Nina Kaptsova as Tatiana and Ruslan Skvortsov as Onegin
Act I. Tatiana’s Dream
“Another!… No, no one on this earth Is there to whom I'd give my heart! That is ordained by highest fate… That is heaven's will - that I am yours...”
Act III: Reality: Tatiana Rejects Onegin
“...and so I married. I beseech you, go”
“...I beseech you, go; I know your heart: it has a feeling for honour, a straightforward pride. I love you (what's the use to hide behind deceit or double-dealing?) but I've become another's wife - and I'll be true to him, for life.“ — “Eugene Onegin” by Alexander Pushkin
Nina Kaptsova and Ruslan Skvortsov in Bolshoi’s Onegin
Nina Kaptsova and Ruslan Skvortsov in Bolshoi’s Onegin
Ekaterina Krysanova as Kitri in Bolshoi’s Don Quixote
Ekaterina Krysanova as Kitri in Bolshoi’s Don Quixote
Anonymous asked:
You say in one of your recent posts that Natalia Bessmertnova had to face increased envy, hatred and backstabbing. Can you talk a bit more about this and why it befell her?
That is a great question, even though the story (answer) is very sad.
As one might imagine, Natalia's sudden professional "breakthrough" and success during her final years at the academy did not pass unnoticed. Needless to say, people are generally a jealous kind, especially in the arts, so one might argue that that was the starting point for all the evil - really, that's the only word I can think of in this context - Natalia had to face and battle. Don't forget that Natalia made her debut in Giselle only two years into her pro career. On top of that, it was none other than the Leonid Lavrovsky who noticed her!
But realistically speaking, most of the backstabbing and envy, the most fierce and relentless attacks that Natalia had to face started when / after she married Grigorovich. At first, female dancers were jealous of all the roles she was getting, reducing all the talent and work put into them into the banal "oh, that's because she is sleeping with Grigorovich". Which was not the case. In a ~ fairly ~ recent interview (and by that I mean not a Soviet-era interview), Yuri Nikolayevich stated:
“I never staged for Natalia Bessmertnova - my wife; I staged for Natalia Bessmertnova - a genius and an extraordinarily gifted ballerina.” (I originally posted the quote here)
I personally feel (note: I don't know that for a fact, that's just my belief) like the most hateful, bilious "campaign" against Natalia started at Maya Plisetskaya's behest. Evidence supporting that can, I believe, be found in Azari Plisetsky's book titled "Life in ballet. Family chronicles of the Plisetskys and Messerers", for instance:
"To the detriment of Maya (or, another possible translation is, in the prejudice of), [Grigorovich] brought his adored Natalia Bessmertnova, whom he later married in 1968, to the forefront [gave her "central roles"]."
I find the very wording rather dismissive of Natalia's gift; as if her artistic ability had nothing to do with Grigorovich favoring her, the key to her success rather being Grigorovich's feelings for her. Or here's another quote:
"In France Grigorovich put Bessmertnova forward [for the lead part] in a very important performance instead of Maya. She [Maya] could not forgive him for that. The confrontation started with a trite story and resulted in a true war. The grudges kept accumulating like a snowball. This didn't just concern Maya, but also Volodya Vasiliev, Katya Maximova and Maris Liepa with whom Grigorovich started to have personal conflicts. He quarrelled with the people that brought him fame."
Also, don't forget that time Plisetskaya stormed into Bessmertnova's dressing room and told her Grigorovich would dump her in a year, shortly after the couple wed.
Any beef the Bolshoi dancers had with Grigorovich, any grudge they bore against him - they would take it all out on Natalia.
In his book, Plisetsky claims that all Grigorovich's ballets that came after The Stone Flower and The Legend of Love were getting "weaker and weaker", and their reception couldn't even compare to the furore the two aforementioned ballets caused. Which is - let's be honest - not the truth.
Now imagine what happened to Natalia towards the end of the 80s - beginning of the 90s, when talentless proteges of the rich and powerful started to flood the theatre. According to Tsiskaridze, Bessmertnova was even blatantly insulted by such mediocre folk.
Long story short, the main reasons behind all the hate that befell Natalia were:
- Dancers being jealous of her undeniable talent.
- People trying to hurt Grigorovich.
Natalia Bessmertnova as was is Giselle. Always was and always will be.
Image 2 is Natalia’s headstone at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow
Natalia Bessmertnova
I can’t even begin to imagine how that woman managed to remain strong in the face of all the backstabbing, hate, jealousy and envy that befell her
A true Icon
Natalia Bessmertnova in front of the Bolshoi Theatre
Natalia Bessmertnova, Frederick Ashton and Yuri Grigorovich after a showing of Ivan the Teriible in London, 1986
Natalia Bessmertnova signing autographs after a performance during a Bolshoi tour in the United States, 1962
Natalia Bessmertnova being made an honourable citizen of Hamilton, Canada, 1979
Natalia Bessmertnova and Irek Mukhamedov in Ivan the Terrible
Credits to the Bolshoi Theatre Museum
Natalia Bessmertnova and Yuri Vasyuchenko in Bolshoi’s Romeo and Juliet
Photo by Larissa Pedenchuk
In Memoriam: Natalia Bessmertnova
Natalia Bessmertnova would have turned 80 today (July, 19th)
“You have no clue how beautiful [darling] you are, you have no clue...” — Sofia Golovkina to Natalia after a Grigorovich’s Romeo and Juliet performance
“This little girl will become a great ballerina, mark my words” — Maria Kozhukhova, a legendary ballerina and ballet coach, a student of Agrippina Vaganova
“Thank you for a miracle, for your Giselle” — Serge Lifar