Elena Ivanovna Andreïanova , sometimes spelt Yelena Andreyanova (Russian Елена Ивановна Андреянова), 13 July 1819
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
- 28 October 1857
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, was a
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
ballerina
A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...
. She is considered to be the outstanding Russian ballerina of the romantic genre, but her life was one full of tragedy.
Biography
Little is known about her childhood. At ten-years of age she entered the St. Petersburg Drama school. Among her teachers were Philippe Taglioni and his daughter
Marie Taglioni
Marie Taglioni, Comtesse de Voisins (23 April 1804 – 22 April 1884) was a Swedish-born ballet dancer of the Romantic ballet era partially of Italian descent, a central figure in the history of European dance. She spent most of her life in t ...
. She graduated in 1837, and joined the Mariinsky ballet troop where she was the first Russian dancer to interpret the title roles in Giselle (1842), La Peri (1844 ) and
Paquita
''Paquita'' is a ballet in two acts and three scenes originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to music by Édouard Deldevez and Ludwig Minkus. Paul Foucher received royalties as librettist.
History
''Paquita'' is the creation of French comp ...
(1847).
She became the mistress of the Director of the Imperial Theater, Alexander Guedeonov. Antagonism developed between Guedenov and Andreianova when guest French ballerinas
Marie Taglioni
Marie Taglioni, Comtesse de Voisins (23 April 1804 – 22 April 1884) was a Swedish-born ballet dancer of the Romantic ballet era partially of Italian descent, a central figure in the history of European dance. She spent most of her life in t ...
and
Fanny Elssler
Fanny Elssler (born Franziska Elßler; 23 June 181027 November 1884) was an Austrian ballerina of the Romantic Period.
Life and career
She was born in Gumpendorf, a neighborhood of Vienna. Her father Johann Florian Elssler was a second ge ...
, were given some of her parts and got acclaim from audiences instead of her. To placate his mistress, Guedenov sent her to star in the Moscow Bolshoi Ballet. But here a new set of rivalries took hold. Fans of the Bolshoi ballerinas were upset that their favourite dancers were displaced by the St Petersburg dancers especially their
prima ballerina
A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...
Catherine Sankovski
Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.
In the early Christ ...
. They booed Andreïanova and during one performance, instead of throwing flowers they threw a dead cat on the stage. The shocked Andreianova fainted. The audience relented and gave a standing ovation. She stayed on for 15 years at the Bolshoi.
She toured Europe in 1846 with a troop from the Bolshoi, appearing in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
,
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
,
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
and
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. She struck audiences with her combination of grace and fire. A dispute arose with management of the Paris Opera, who not only did not pay her for her performances, but instead demanded a fee for giving the troop the opportunity to show their art. However this rebounded on the Paris Opera when Andreianova persuaded the leading Paris male ballet dancer Marius Petipa to abandon Paris and join her troop. In Italy she danced at " La Scala" and was rapturously received, medals were cast in her honour, something only given previously to the greatest performers like
Marie Taglioni
Marie Taglioni, Comtesse de Voisins (23 April 1804 – 22 April 1884) was a Swedish-born ballet dancer of the Romantic ballet era partially of Italian descent, a central figure in the history of European dance. She spent most of her life in t ...
and
Fanny Elssler
Fanny Elssler (born Franziska Elßler; 23 June 181027 November 1884) was an Austrian ballerina of the Romantic Period.
Life and career
She was born in Gumpendorf, a neighborhood of Vienna. Her father Johann Florian Elssler was a second ge ...
.
The French choreographer Jules Perrot wrote two roles especially for her in his ballets: as the Black Fairy in ''Adana'' (1850), and the Countess Bertha in Wayward Wife (1851).
In 1852 Andreyanova visited
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, but this tour turned out to be unsuccessful. Returning home, her relationship with Guedeonov ended when he took a new lover, and she was fired from the
Imperial Theatres Imperial Theatres of Russian Empire ( rus, Императорские театры Российской империи) was a theatrical organization financed by the Imperial exchequer and managed by a single directorate headed with a director; was ...
in 1854.
She decided to organise a tour of her own of the Russian provinces, taking with her artists from the Bolshoi Theatre and pupils from the Moscow Ballet School in a troop, led and managed by herself. The tour visited
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Poltava, Kiev,
Voronezh
Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...
,
Tambov
Tambov (, ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers, about south-southeast of Moscow. Population: 280,161 ( 2010 Census); 29 ...
and Odessa. Andreyanova had the idea of a large two-act ballet for the tour called "''The Fountain of Bakhchisarai''" based on the poem of that name by
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
. Its premiere took place in Voronezh in 1854. The tour was unexpectedly interrupted that same year in Odessa when the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
threatened the city with bombardment. The troupe was disbanded and the tour was not a financial success which put a great strain on Andreyanova.
The grueling demands of the tour undermined the health of many of the dancers but especially Andreyanova who bore the financial worries. She returned to St. Petersburg in ill health, and after some time, though still seriously ill, went to Paris for treatment.
She never recovered her health and died in Paris in 1857 from nervous exhaustion at the young age of 38 years . She is buried at the
Pere Lachaise cemetery Pere may refer to:
*Pere, Hungary, a village in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county
* Rangimārie Te Turuki Arikirangi Rose Pere (1937–2020), Māori New Zealand educationalist and spiritual leader
* Wi Pere (1837–1915), a Māori Member of Parliament ...
in the 20th arrondissement. Her grave stone was chosen by herself shortly before her death and represents Giselle leaning against a cross.
The Venusian crater Andreianova is named in her honor.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...
, 3rd Edition (1970-1979), republished in English by The Free Dictionary. Accessed February 2016
Helena Andreyanova Famous Women, May 2008. Accessed Feb 2016
* Andreyanova, Helena // Russian Biographical Dictionary : in 25 volumes. - SPb. - M ., 1896-1918.
* Krasouskaya V. , "Russian ballet from the beginning to the middle of the XIX century", L. -M., 1958, p. 245-54.
* Skalkovsky K, ''Dance, ballet, their history and place in a number of Fine Arts'',1886, chapter VIII, p. 206-22
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andreianova, Elena
19th-century ballet dancers from the Russian EmpirePrima ballerinasBallerinas from the Russian Empire1819 births1857 deaths