Lydia Sokolova (1896–1974) was an English ballerina. She trained at the Stedman Ballet Academy and learned from accomplished dancers including

Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova. (born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova; – 23 January 1931) was a Russian prima ballerina. She was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev, but is most recognized for creating ...

and Enrico Cecchetti, and was a prominent member of

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), also known as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario an ...

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Russian Revolution, Revolution ...

from 1913 to 1929. After the disbandment of that company, she taught, choreographed and occasionally danced. Her last stage performances were in 1962 at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

, London.

Life and career

Born in

Wanstead Wanstead () is an area in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge to the east and Manor Park to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is located 8 m ...

, Essex as Hilda Tansley Munnings,"Lydia Sokolova: Leading ballet dancer with Diaghilev", ''The Times'', 6 February 1974, p. 16 the daughter of Frederick Tansley Munnings and the widowed Emma Catherine Gaulton (née Such). She trained at Stedman's Academy and with Mikhail Mordkin,

, Alexander Shiriaev, Ivan Clustine and Enrico Cecchetti. She made her professional stage debut in the

corps de ballet In ballet, the ''corps de ballet'' (; French language, French for "body of the little dance") is the group of ballet dancer, dancers who are not principal dancers or Soloist (ballet), soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and ...

of ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy ...

, London, in 1910. She joined Mikhail Mordkin's All-Star Imperial Russian Ballet for a United States tour in 1911 and 1912, and Theodore Koslov's company for a London engagement and tour of Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1912 and 1913. At first she adopted the stage name Muningsova. She joined

in 1913. She has sometimes been described as the first English ballerina in Diaghilev's company, but Hilda Bewicke preceded her.Acocella, Joan
"Sokolova, Lydia"
''The International Encyclopedia of Dance'', Oxford University Press. Retrieved 16 November 2021 Renamed Sokolova by Diaghilev, she was the principal

character dance Character dance is a specific subdivision of classical dance. It is the stylized representation of a traditional folk or national dance, mostly from European countries, and uses movements and music which have been adapted for the theater. Char ...

r of the company until it disbanded in 1929 on his death. Sokolova danced with Vaslav Nijinsky in '' Le Spectre de la rose'' but her most famous role was the Chosen Maiden in

Léonide Massine Leonid Fyodorovich Myasin (), better known in the West by the French transliteration as Léonide Massine (15 March 1979), was a Russian choreographer and ballet dancer. Massine created the world's first symphonic ballet, ''Les Présages'', and ...

's reworking of ''

The Rite of Spring ''The Rite of Spring'' () is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Vaslav Nijinsky ...

'' (1920). She won approbation for "what is generally agreed to be the longest and most exhausting solo in the history of theatrical dance". Other notable performances include '' La Boutique fantasque'' (1919), '' The Three-Cornered Hat'' (1919), ''Les matelots'' (1925) and ''Le Bal'' (1929). In Bronislava Nijinska's '' Les biches'' (1924) she was one of the original pair of Grey Girls, and was quickly promoted to dance the central role of the Hostess. After the Ballets Russes disbanded, Sokolova returned to England to teach, coach, work on choreography and occasionally perform. Her last performance was in 1962 when she danced at the

, London with the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...

, as the Marquise Silvestra in Massine's revival of his '' The Good-humoured Ladies'', with

Antoinette Sibley Dame Antoinette Sibley (born 27 February 1939) is a British prima ballerina. She joined the Royal Ballet from the Royal Ballet School in 1956 and became a soloist in 1960. She was celebrated for her partnership with Anthony Dowell. After her re ...

in Sokolova's old role of Mariuccia. In 1945 Henry Gibbs dedicated to Sokolova his book ''Affectionately Yours Fanny:

Fanny Kemble Frances Anne Kemble (later Butler; 27 November 180915 January 1893) was a British actress from a Kemble family, theatre family in the early and mid-nineteenth century. She was a well-known and popular writer and abolitionist whose published wor ...

and the Theatre''; she had helped him trace "authoritative material". In collaboration with Richard Buckle, she wrote an autobiographical work on her years with the Ballets Russes, ''Dancing for Diaghilev'' (John Murray, London, 1960). Sokolova had one daughter, Natasha Kremnev (1917–1968), by her first husband Nikolai Kremnev (married 1917). She subsequently married Leon Woizikovsky, a long-time dancer at Ballets Russes. When she died on 2 February 1974, in Sevenoaks, Kent, England, she was survived by her third husband Ronnie Mahon.

Notes

Sources

*Buckle, Richard ed. (1960) ''Dancing for Diaghilev: The Memoirs of Lydia Sokolova'', London, John Murray. *Gibbs, Henry. (1954) ''Affectionately Yours Fanny: Fanny Kemble and the Theatre'', London, Jarrolds. *Robert, Grace (2005). ''The Borzoi Book of Ballets''. Kessinger Publishing, .

External links

Lydia Sokolova's biography (in French)Lydia Sokolova entry at Columbia EncyclopediaLydia Sokolova

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

– 3 portraits {{DEFAULTSORT:Sokolova, Lydia 1896 births 1974 deaths English ballerinas People from Wanstead