Sobeshchanskaya, Anna Iosifovna

Anna Sobeshchanskaya was born on January 3 (15), 1842 in the village of Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, Orel Province .

She studied at the Moscow Theater School, teacher K. Blazis . On the website of the school forever her name is inscribed among the outstanding graduates ^[2] . While still a student, she performed at the Bolshoi Theater , performing the leading parts of Gitana (“Gitana, Spanish Gypsy”), Giselle (“ Giselle ”). Yu. A. Bakhrushin in the book “History of Russian Ballet” ( M. , Sov. Russia , 1965, 249 pp.) Wrote about the beginning of the career of this future famous ballerina:

After graduating from college in 1862, she, having begun to perform there as a student, permanently linked her stage activities with the Moscow Bolshoi Theater, having served there for 1859–1879. Although her salary was laid, alas, very small - only 600 rubles a year. (For comparison, Ekaterina Vazem , a prima of the Mariinsky, danced for 6000 rubles a year, plus 35 rubles for each performance, plus an annual semi- benefit performance and three months of leave with maintenance. Minkus worked in the Mariinsky for 4000 per year ^[4] .)

Initially, right after the school, she took the role of the first dancer and mostly danced in A. Saint-Leon ballets and in M. Petipa's early performances.

In her first works, the young ballerina replaced the Bolshoi soloist P. P. Lebedeva in the productions of choreographer S. P. Sokolova Fern and Last Harvest Day ^{[3] [5]} .

Parts: Gitana ("Gitana"), Giselle ("Giselle"), Margaret ("Faust", choreographer Jules Perrot ), Galatea (" Pygmalion "), Tsar-maiden (" Horse-Gorbunok "), Genius fern ("Fern , or Night under Ivan Kupala ”), Kitri Don Quixote (specially given by Marius Petipa on December 14, 1869 to the benefit performance of dancer Anna Sobieschanskaya ^[6] ), Aspicia (“ Daughter of the Pharaoh ”), Niziya (“ King of Kandaval ”), Sandrillon (“ The Magic Shoe ”), Peri (“ Peri ”), Satanilla (“ Satanilla ”by the composers Reber and Benoit , choreographer J. Mazile ); Odette-Odile Swan Lake . She also performed in dance scenes in operas and divertissements.

The premiere of Swan Lake ballet is connected with the history of the conflict between the ballerina and the composer Tchaikovsky , which was resolved not only by reconciliation, but also by mutual sympathies. Sobeshchanskaya was appointed to perform the role of Odette-Odile in the very first ballet by Wenzel Reisinger (the production was considered unsuccessful and did not last long), but flatly refused to play the role. An inexperienced young dancer P. M. Karpakova was urgently assigned to the role then. Yu. A. Bakhrushin wrote in detail about the development of the conflict in his book The History of Russian Ballet (M., Sov. Russia, 1965, 249 p.): “Sobeschanskaya’s refusal was due to the fact that the composer did not write for her in the 3rd act not a single dance act - she participated only in brides dances. In this connection, Sobeshchanska went to St. Petersburg and asked Petipa to deliver a solo specifically for her to the music of Minkus in the 3rd act of Swan Lake. The Petersburg choreographer eagerly fulfilled her desire, but Tchaikovsky flatly refused to include the music of another composer in his ballet, offering to write his own. However, the ballerina did not want to change the dance set for her in St. Petersburg. In the end, the misunderstanding was settled: Tchaikovsky agreed to write his own music for this issue, the beat to the beat coinciding with the music of Minkus. Sobeshanskaya liked this music so much that she persuaded the composer to compose a variation for her, which was also performed by Tchaikovsky. Sobeshchanskaya danced only in the third performance and considered the dance numbers written for her as her property, and therefore at the premiere, where Karpakova performed, these dances were not performed ” ^[3] .

The site of the Bolshoi Theater reports that Anna Sobeshchanskaya, who was supposed to dance the premiere, as a result of all these troubles, was not even allowed to the third, but only to the fourth performance, and Karpakova performed in the first three performances ^[7] . The site “The Little Ballet Encyclopedia” insists on entering the Sobieschanskaya into the fourth performance: “Starting from the fourth performance, Sobeshchanskaya entered the performance. Her performance was appreciated by the press somewhat higher, even perplexities were expressed why the prime minister was entrusted not with her, the first ballerina of the troupe ” ^[8] .

But in all cases, just like that, Tchaikovsky’s small masterpiece was born - music for the “black” pas de deux, the duet of Odile and Prince Siegfried.

For a long time, the main dance parts of Odette-Odile in ballet were performed by both ballerinas - P. M. Karpakova and A. I. Sobeshchanskaya. For Anna Sobeshchansky, this role was the last: a year after that incident, she was unexpectedly fired. Polina (Pelageya) Karpakova after the dismissal of Sobeshchanskaya took her place.

The encyclopedia Russian Ballet by A. A. Sokolov-Kaminsky writes about the ballerina: “Developed realistically. Russian traditions choreogr. schools, sought to create dramatically expressive scenes. images ” ^[9] .

Yu. A. Bakhrushin in his book “The History of Russian Ballet” (M., Sov. Russia, 1965, 249 p.) Wrote: “She didn’t have Lebedeva’s emotionality, and besides, she was hampered by a small height, but she not only perceived all the best features of their predecessors, but also developed them. So, being a strong dancer and a good actress, Sobieschanskaya first retreated from the generally accepted rules and, speaking in ballet parties, began to use the characteristic makeup. Blasis, who observed Sobieschanskaya at the beginning of her activity, wrote that she was “delightful as a dancer and, like a mimist,” and that in her dances “you can see the soul, she is expressive” and sometimes even goes so far as “frenzy”. Later, another contemporary asserted that “it is not the difficulty of jumping and speed of turn that makes the best impression on the viewer, but by creating a whole role in which the dance is the interpreter of facial expressions.” After Lebedeva left, Sobeshchanskaya was able to take first place in the Moscow ballet troupe, although the St. Petersburg Directorate sought to push her henchmen to the main position in the Bolshoi Theater ” ^[3] .

Since 1879, having left the stage of the Bolshoi Theater, Anna Sobeshanskaya continued to live in Moscow and was engaged in private teaching practice. Many ballet dancers from the Bolshoi Theater learned from her. Until very old age she taught, including in the private school of L. Nelidova. ^[10] .

Anna Sobeshchanskaya died on November 22 ( December 5 ), 1918 in Moscow.

Blazis Carlo , an Italian dancer who worked as the chief choreographer of the Moscow Bolshoi Theater and taught in 1861-1863. at the Moscow Theater School, where Anna Sobeshchanskaya was his student, dedicated a chapter to her from her book “Dancing in General. Ballet celebrities and national dances ", 1864 // third part" III. Choreographic stars of the imperial Moscow theaters "(the chapter is called:" Maiden Anna Sobeshanskaya ") ^[11] .

The personal archive of the ballerina is kept in the Center . 257, 7 units Chr., 1842-1919. ^[one]

• Ballet Encyclopedia (page 52)
• Yuri Alekseevich Bakhrushin . The history of Russian ballet.
• Russian Humanitarian Encyclopedic Dictionary (unavailable link) (unavailable link from 06/14/2016 [1146 days])