Ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater Natalya Bessmertnova: biography, creative and teaching activities

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The outstanding ballerina of the Russian theater remained in the memory of the audience as the ideal of a romantic heroine. She lived a rich creative life, was able to realize herself as a teacher and a woman. How did her life path develop?

Childhood

On July 19, 1941, Natalya Igorevna Bessmertnova, a future ballerina, was born in Moscow. But in childhood, nothing foreshadowed an artistic career. Natalia's father was a military doctor, her mother took care of the children and the house. Natasha had a sister, Tatyana. The family was far from art, but my mother encouraged the children's love for dancing and plastic exercises, although times were not easy. The sister subsequently made a good career in ballet, danced at the Bolshoi Theater, but was lost in the shadow of her famous sister. She successfully married the son of Mikhail Gabovich, an outstanding partner of G. Ulanova. They have been married for over half a century. Mikhail himself was also an outstanding dancer, and their son, Mikhail Bessmertnov, also became a ballet dancer. Nephew Natalya Bessmertnova, whose children turned out to be an impossible luxury, perceived her whole life asown son. Thus, a new ballet dynasty was born. Mikhail Bessmertnov's daughter Nadezhda was born. She did not continue the dance family traditions, but her love for ballet was passed on to her from previous generations.

Years of study

There were two girls in the family, both loved to dance, and my mother sent them to a choreographic school. Natalya studied in the class of the famous mentor Maria Kozhukhova, during her studies she did not stand out too much among her classmates, although she studied brilliantly. But she didn't have the flashy looks or self-confidence to help her stand out. In the senior class, Sofya Golovkina takes her to her. Already before graduation, Mikhail Gabovich came to the hall, who drew attention to a weightless girl with huge eyes, it turned out to be Natalya Bessmertnova. Her biography at that moment was a foregone conclusion.

Career start

Immediately after graduating from college, Natalia Bessmertnova starts working in the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater. There, the chief choreographer Leonid Lavrovsky immediately showed great interest in her. He saw in Natasha an ideal match for his son, the dancer Mikhail Lavrovsky. They danced together in "Chopiniana", this performance was the debut for yesterday's graduates of the school. Here Bessmertnova was able to advantageously show her data, which met all the standards of a romantic heroine. She was very graceful, with beautiful, expressive hands. In 1963 Natalya Bessmertnova and MikhailLavrovsky dance in Giselle. This ballet became Bessmertnova's lucky ticket, she was noticed by critics, the audience fell in love, she was magnificent in the role of Giselle: thin, romantic, with a powerful, flying jump. She was recognized as a real successor to the best traditions of Russian ballet, she was constantly compared with Ulanova and Spesivtseva, and she did not lose from such a comparison. She begins to go on tour abroad, conquers England and quickly gains world fame.

At first, Galina Ulanova became her teacher-tutor, but their relationship did not work out, and Bessmertnova, having shown a strong character, went to Marina Semenova.

Star Years

Since 1963, Natalia Bessmertnova has been the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre. She submits to the entire classical repertoire, but she looks best in lyrical roles: Muse in Paganini, Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty. The great choreographer Serge Lifar said that there were three miracles in his life: Pavlova, Spesivtseva and Bessmertnova.

Starting from 1964, Bessmertnova has been participating in the recording of ballet films, in 25 years she will appear in almost 20 films.

Cooperation with Yuri Grigorovich helped Bessmertnova to reveal the best facets of her talent: amazing musicality, impeccable technique, the ability to fine improvisation, artistry. The range of Natalia Bessmertnova was extremely wide, she had the ability to transform into both a dramatic and a lyrical heroine.

The ballerina danced on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater until 1988, when Grigorovich fired her along with other stars: Plisetskaya, Maximova, Lavrovsky, he wanted to rejuvenate the troupe. For 47-year-old Natalya Igorevna, this was not a strong blow, as she was able to fully realize herself in her work, she had no regrets about the parts that did not work out, she was able to dance the entire repertoire of a classical ballerina.

Best roles

Natalya Bessmertnova almost did not know failures, she shone in different roles. But her most successful roles were the roles of Kitri in Don Quixote, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Layla in Leyla and Majnun, Girls in The Vision of the Rose, Anastasia in Ivan Grozny. She was inimitable in Spartak, in Giselle, Raymond, Angara. Her performances have become the golden fund of Russian ballet art, fortunately, many of them were filmed, and new generations of spectators and dancers can see her performance, although, of course, the film does not convey the full impression of the dancer's charm. Her partners were the best dancers of that time: Maris Liepa, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mikhail Lavrovsky, Yuri Bogatyrev, Alexander Godunov, Vladimir Vasiliev.

Awards and titles

During her life Natalia Bessmertnova received many awards, she was favored by critics and the authorities. Since 1976 she has been a People's Artist of the USSR. Repeatedly received high awards: the name of Lenin, the Lenin Komsomol, the State Prize of the USSR, as well as professional awards: Anna Pavlova in Paris,David in Italy, the first prize at the competition in Varna.

She is a holder of the Order of Friendship of Peoples and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. The film “Life in Dance” was dedicated to her work, Semyon Lapin wrote a book about the ballerina.

Pedagogical activity

After leaving the troupe, Natalia Bessmertnova does not leave the Bolshoi Theatre. Since 1988, she has been working there as a teacher-tutor. She was not an easy and pleasant person, students recall that she was very demanding and even tough, but always extremely professional. Among her wards were many dancers of the Bolshoi Theater, some of them successfully work on foreign stages. Among the students, Ruslan Skvortsov, Anastasia Volochkova, Evgeny Ivanchenko can be noted. She left the Bolshoi Theater on the day when Vladimir Vasiliev took over as head of it. Since then, she did not like to remember the main theater of the country. Since 1995, she has been a permanent tutor and assistant at the Yuri Grigorovich Theater. With him, she works on Romeo and Juliet, Ivan the Terrible, Swan Lake, The Legend of Love, Raymonda, The Golden Age. Stopped working in 2007 for he alth reasons.

Community activities

Natalia Bessmertnova, a world-famous ballerina, repeatedly works on the jury of ballet competitions around the world: Varna, Tokyo, Moscow. In 1979, she became a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. She was not a big fan of social events, but she attended the premieres of her colleagues in different theaters of the world with pleasure.

Personallife

Usually, great ballerinas have their personal lives replaced by work, but Natalia Bessmertnova, whose personal life was the envy of all the ballerinas of the Bolshoi Theater, was a happy exception. Back in 1963, she married the chief choreographer of the Bolshoi Theater, Yuri Grigorovich. Everyone around promised a short marriage, but they lived together for more than 40 years until her death. She was his muse, and friend and caring wife, and helper. Bessmertnova worked side by side with her husband for more than four decades, their years at the Bolshoi were a golden age not only for their family, but also for the theater. Natalya Igorevna became the organizer of the artists' strike at the Bolshoi Theater when Grigorovich was fired. She followed him to the provinces to help him put on plays. Bessmertnova was the real star of Grigorovich's performances, she understood him like no one else, and he knew better than other directors about her capabilities.

In ordinary life, Bessmertnova had few friends. She was not sociable and friendly, she was not afraid to go into conflict if she believed that she was defending the truth. So, she sued when she was fired after Grigorovich from the Bolshoi, won the process and left of her own free will with her head held high.

In her free time, Natalia Igorevna read a lot, listened to music, loved to walk and travel.

On February 19, 2008, the sad news spread around the world: Natalya Bessmertnova died, the cause of death was a long illness. My husband was not around at that moment, he was putting on a play in Seoul to earn money for a French clinic forher. The ballerina was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery, the farewell took place at the Bolshoi Theater.