Anjolini, Fortunata

The origin of the ballerina is not exactly known. Most likely, she was the daughter of choreographer Pietro Anjolini - nephew (son?) Gasparo Anjolini and was in some kind of relationship with the next generation ballerina of the Anjolini dynasty - Giuseppina Anjolini, wife of the choreographer Cortesi .

An Italian school dancer, Fortunata was famous for her virtuoso dance. Most likely, she followed the fashion of the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century and, trying not to deviate from the famous dancers of her time, she "jumped, spun and pirouited" with might and main. One of the first she rose in dance from half-fingers to fingers.

Her career was a testament to the gap between elegant “noble” dance and established stage practice ^[1] , when the vivid acting expressiveness of the Italian choreodrama and the graceful sophistication of the French school receded to the brilliance of a refined dance movement and virtuoso trick, which became an end in itself of ballet mastery.

She performed in theaters in various European countries, including Italy (Krasouskaya’s assumption that Fortunata did not dance at home ^[1] is erroneous). In the season of 1805 she performed in Bolnie, in 1806-1807 in La Scala, Milan ^[2] .

For some time, together with her partner Arman Westris, she performed at the San Carlos Theater in Lisbon, the main choreographer of which was her father (?) Pietro Anjolini. Apparently, they were the real favorite of the public, since the theater was ready to close due to the departure of its main artists to the UK ^[2] - the dancers were invited to London and at the height of the Napoleonic wars followed there in a roundabout way, through Lisbon.

Beginning in late 1808, Anjolini and Westris made the next couple of seasons a stellar pair of the London Royal Theater , then located in Haymarket. It is known that artists not only danced in London, but also transferred their knowledge to others ^[1] . It is also possible that Fortunata herself was not only a partner, but also a student of Westris, studying under his guidance.

In London, this ballet pair initially shone in various Spanish dances, which they did not fail to learn on the way to the UK. They immediately became famous for their performance of the bolero : “The fact that they learned Spanish first-hand dance was soon successfully proved when they performed the bolero in Don Quixote D'Egville, ” wrote the ballet historian A. Guest ^[1] .

After 1811, Fortunata danced in the productions of the new choreographer of the theater Charles Didlo , who arrived in London from St. Petersburg. It is possible that it was her Didlo who spied the tricks of the new finger technique and then, while working on the Paris production of the ballet Zephyr and Flora (1815), handed them to the ballerina Genevieve Goslen .

Along with the singer, Catalani was a favorite of the public and the golden youth, whose representatives more than once staged scandalous antics in defense of the “offended”, as it seemed to them, Italian stars.

Probably, at some point, the device of personal life became more important than the stage for the ballerina: on February 1, 1813, in the publication Satyrist, or the Monthly Meteor, the critic noted that “in the ballet Zelisa , Miss Lupino skillfully saved the role that wilted due to desertion Anjolini, who, having secured high patronage, seems to not care too much about theatrical engagement ” ^[1] .

On February 3 of the same year, a critic of the Times newspaper noted that the new ballerina was inferior to Anjolini in the "graceful lightness and liveliness of the dance."

• February 14, 1809 - Don Quixote , choreographer James D'Egville , music by Frederic Venois (partner - Arman Westris)
• 1812 - Zelisa , “ Zelisa, or the Forest of Adventures ”, choreographer Charles Didlo , music by Frederic Venuois ( Alsindor - Arman Westris, La Sylphide - Rose Didlo )