Xenia Makletzova
Xenia Makletzova | |
|---|---|
 Xenia Makletzova, from a 1916 publication | |
| Born | 6 November 1892 |
| Died | May 18, 1974 (aged 81) |
Xenia Makletzova (6 November 1892 — 18 May 1974), sometimes seen as Xenia Maclezova, was a Russian ballet dancer.
Early life
Xenia Petrovna Makletzova was born in
Career
Makletzova joined the Mariinsky Ballet in 1913. In 1915-1916 she was prima ballerina of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes on its first tour of the United States.[2] She was in the United States premiere of Les Sylphides with the Diaghilev company.[3] She was fired for insubordination by Diaghilev, after she refused to add another ballet to her repertoire or dance with Alexander Gavriloff, without an increase in her pay. She was replaced with Lydia Lopokova. Diaghilev sued, but Makletzova countersued, and she was awarded $4,500 by a jury in Massachusetts.[4][5][6] She appeared in court with her mother, and wearing jewelry said to be given to her by the Czar.[7] Her testimony in court was translated, as she did not speak English at the time.[8]
She returned to the Mariinsky in 1917, but soon revolutionary tumult meant she had to leave Russia. She toured in Asia for several years,
Carl Van Vechten admired the dancer's technical skill, saying "I have forgotten how many times Mlle. Maclezova could pirouette without touching the toe in the air to the floor, but it was some prodigious number." However, he found her lacking in "grace, poetry, and imagination", and judged that Makletzova "really offended the eye" in The Firebird. "Far from interpreting the ballet," he concluded, "she gave you an idea of how it should not be done."[15]
Personal life
Makletzova died in Long Beach, New York, in 1974, aged 81 years.[1]
References
- ^ a b "Xenia Makletzova Is Dead; Former Russian Ballerina". The New York Times. May 21, 1974. p. 44.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Les Sylphides" Repertory Archive, American Ballet Theatre.
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- ^ Xenia P. Makletzova v. Sergei Diaghileff, 227 Mass. 100, March 13 1917 — May 25 1917, Suffolk County MA.
- ^ "Dancer Wins Suit". Billboard Magazine. June 2, 1917. p. 9.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Russian Dancers at Adelphi" Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (November 18, 1925): 13. via NewspapersSG.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Dance". The New York Times. October 7, 1928. p. X9 – via ProQuest.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Young Musicians Play" The New York Times (May 27, 1928): 33. via ProQuest
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Carl Van Vechten, Interpreters (A. A. Knopf 1920): 152-153.
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