Ryabushinskaya, Tatyana Mikhailovna

The daughter of Moscow banker, entrepreneur and collector Mikhail Ryabushinsky and ballet dancer of the Bolshoi Theater Tatyana Fominichna Primakova . She was the youngest of four children (her mother, in Komarov’s first marriage, had two children - Sergey’s son and daughter Elena, and in her second marriage with Ryabushinsky - her son Pavel and daughter Tatyana). The family lived on Spiridonovka , in the house number 17 . After the revolution, when the family’s property was requisitioned, the mother was put under house arrest, but with the help of the servants she managed to escape from Russia, first along the Georgian Military Highway to Novorossiysk, then through Constantinople to France, where she settled near Monte Carlo ^{[ 1]} . In 1928, they moved to Paris, where their mother found a place for servants. Father, Mikhail Ryabushinsky, lived in London and did not communicate with his family.

At the age of 11, Tatyana began to practice ballet with Alexander Volinin , who soon advised her mother to give the girl to the studio of Matilda Kshesinskaya in order to avoid a power dance style. Tatyana studied in parallel with both teachers, acquiring confident technique and aplomb from Volinin, soft arms from Kshesinskaya and working out small movements of ballet allegro .

When the girl was 12 years old, the bat theater choreographer Catherine Devillier invited her to dance in her one-act ballets Diana's Hunt for the Deer and Romantic Adventures of the Italian Ballerina and Marquise. Ryabushinskaya performed in Schiaparelli costumes and was a success. She was invited on a trip to London (where she first saw her father) and then to America - for this, Ryabushinskaya’s age was overstated by two years. In 1932, after she was seen on stage by George Balanchine , she was invited to the Russian Monte Carlo Ballet and, together with Irina Baronova and Tamara Tumanova, composed the trio of baby ballerinas ^[2] (Ryabushinskaya joined the troupe after returning from American tour and the end of his contract with the cabaret "Bat").

As a ballerina possessed a virtuoso technique. For the honed speed of her movements she was called “embodied scherzo”, Yuri Zorich compared it to a hummingbird.

In her first season in the “Russian Ballet Monte Carlo” she danced the role of Child / Girl in Myasin ’s ballet “ Children’s Games ” - this role was originally put on Valentina Blinova , but in the end the choreographer gave Ryabushinskaya. She also participated in the ballets Lishin and Balanchine, who soon due to intrigue was forced to leave the troupe. Then she participated in all the main "symphonic" productions of Myasin.

After the division of the troupe, she remained in the company of Colonel de Basil , which was first called the Russian Ballet of Colonel de Basil, and after 1939 - the Original Russian Ballet (remained in its composition until 1941). Due to the fact that Fokin became the choreographer of the troupe, Ryabushinskaya’s repertoire was replenished with parties in the performances of this choreographer. The ballerina was especially distinguished by her performance of the Prelude in the ballet La Sylphide , which became legendary. Another famous role of Ryabushinskaya was the Girl with pigtails in the ballet Lishina “ Graduation Ball ”.

In 1939, together with David Lishin, she settled in America ^[3] . In the seasons of 1944–45 and 1952–53, she danced at the New York Ballet Theater . In 1945 she made her debut on Broadway , in the operetta Polonaise, to the music of Chopin (choreography by Lishin), which was unsuccessful. After the war ended, she returned to France for some time, to Paris and worked in the Ballet of the Champs Elysees , where she participated in the ballets of her husband "Creation" and "Meeting, or Oedipus and the Sphinx" (partner - Jean Babile ). November 8, 1946 became a naturalized US citizen ^[4] .

Family

In 1943 she married the dancer and choreographer David Lishin. The daughter of the spouses Tatyana was born during a tour to Mexico.

Teaching activities

From Paris, the couple returned to the United States, this time in Los Angeles, where Lishin collaborated with several Hollywood studios. They opened their own dance studio in Beverly Hills, which in 1952 grew into a ballet school. For some time they managed their own troupe Los Angeles Ballet Theater , with which they went on tour in Paris and Spain. Among the students of Ryabushinskaya - Jacques d'Amboise , Marjorie Tolchif , as well as various actors and actresses in Hollywood. Held Ann Bancroft prepare for the role of the ballet star in the film " Turning Point ". After emigrating to the United States, Alexander Godunov studied in her studio.

In the late 1990s, she gave an interview, fragments of which later became part of the documentary. She taught until the very last day of her life. Died of a heart attack.

Balanchine Ballets:

• “Cotillon”, “Competition” (1932), “Tradesman in the Nobility”

Butcher Ballets:

• Child / Girl * ^{[* 2]} - "Children's Games" to the music of Bizet (1932, Traveler - David Lishin)
• Rosina - “Dance School” to the music of Boccherini
• Frivolity * - “ Omen ” to the music of the Fifth Symphony by P. I. Tchaikovsky (1933)
• Soloist of parts III and IV - “ Khoreartium ” (1933)
• Dreaminess - “ Fantastic Symphony ” to the music of Berlioz (1936)
• Young Girl - The Beautiful Danube to the music of I. Strauss

Fokine Ballets:

• The Golden Cockerel - “The Golden Cockerel ” to the music of Rimsky-Korsakov (1937)
• Cinderella * - “ Cinderella ” to the music of Erlange (1938)
• Florentine Beauty * - “ Paganini ” to the music of Rachmaninov (1939)
• Sylphide - Sylphide
• Girl - Vision of a Rose
• Butterfly , Colombina - Carnival

Ballets Lishina:

• Nocturne (1933)
• Visions (1934)
• Spirit - The Pavilion (1936)
• The Prodigal Son
• The Phenomenon of an Angel - Francesca da Rimini (1937)
• Flower Girl - “Lion in Love” (1937)
• Romantic Girl * - “ Graduation Ball ” to the music of I. Strauss (1940)
• “Polonaise” (operetta to the music of Chopin, 1945)
• "Creation"*
• "Meeting, or Oedipus and the Sphinx" *

She also danced classical ballet parts ( Giselle , Odette in Swan Lake, Princess Florina in Sleeping Beauty).

• Make Mine Music , episode Two Silhouettes, choreography by David Lishin, for a song by Dina Shore , 1946.
• - documentary, 2005.
• The ballerina was also the prototype of the hippo Hyacinth the Hippo in the Walt Disney animated film " Fantasy " - while working on the cartoon, the studio artists watched the performances and rehearsals of the "Russian Monte Carlo Ballet" (the prototypes of other animal characters were Tamara Tumanova, David Lishin , Pavel Petrov and other artists).

Sources

Comments

• Baby ballerinas