Yekaterina Ottovna Vazem (born Matilda Vazem; ; 25 January 1848,

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

– 14 December 1937,

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

) aka Ekaterina Vazem was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

prima ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancers ...

and instructor, whose most noted pupil was the legendary

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 ...

Early life

She was born Matilda Vazem in 1848 in Moscow,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. She moved to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, where In 1866, she was named the best student of the Imperial Theatre School (now the

Mariinsky Ballet The Mariinsky Ballet () is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's ...

). She became famous for first dancing the role of Nikiya in 1877

Marius Petipa Marius Ivanovich Petipa (; born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa; 11 March 1818) was a French and Russian ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. He is considered one of the most influential ballet masters and choreographers in ballet history ...

's ballet, ''

La Bayadère ''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") ( ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is an 1877 ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by the French choreographer Marius Petipa to music by Ludwig Minkus and libretto by . The ba ...

''. She went on to become the teacher of legendary prima ballerina

La Bayadère

During the mid- to late 19th century, Russian ballet was dominated by foreign artists, though during the late 1860s through the early 1880s the theatre administration encouraged the promotion of native talent. Vazem – a ''terre-à-terre'' virtuosa – climbed the ranks of the Imperial Ballet to become one of the company's most celebrated dancers. Despite being a benefit performance for Vazem, with tickets being more expensive than for the opera, the first performance of ''La Bayadère'' played to a full house. At the end of the performance the audience applauded for more than half an hour. Reviews were uniformly complimentary although they did register complaints of Petipa's license in dealing with historical facts. They also dwelt on the unavoidable mishaps that befall most first performances. For example, in the ''Kingdom of the Shades'' scene, the appearance of a magic palace was mistimed and delayed until after Nikiya had turned to face it.

Her students

Among her notable students were

Olga Preobrajenska Olga Iosifovna Preobrajenska (; born Preobrazhenskaya; – 27 December 1962) was a Russian ballerina of the Russian Imperial Ballet and a ballet instructor. Biography She was born in Saint Petersburg as Olga Preobrazhenskaya (the final sy ...

Agrippina Vaganova Agrippina Yakovlevna Vaganova (; 26 June 1879 – 5 November 1951) was a Soviet and Russian ballet teacher who developed the Vaganova method – the technique which derived from the teaching methods of the old Imperial Ballet School (today the ...

Mathilde Kschessinska Mathilde-Marie Feliksovna Kschessinska ( – 6 December 1971), also known as Princess Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya upon her marriage, was a Polish-Russian ballerina from the noble Krzesiński family. Her father, Felix Kschessinsky, her brother and ...

Vera Trefilova Vera Trefilova () (b Vladikavkaz, 8 Oct. 1875, d Paris, 11 July 1943) was a Russian dancer and teacher. She studied at the Imperial Ballet School in St Petersburg with Ekaterina Vazem and graduated in 1894. She later studied with Evgenia Sokolo ...

Olga Spessivtseva Olga Alexandrovna Spessivtseva (; 16 September 1991) was a Russian ballerina whose stage career spanned from 1913 to 1939. She was one of the finest prima ballerinas of the twentieth century. She had the excellent classical technique, immaculate ...

Elizaveta Gerdt Elizaveta () may refer to: People * Elizaveta Alexandrova-Zorina, (born 1984), Russian-born writer * Elizaveta Arzamasova (born 1995), Russian actress * Elizaveta Akhmatova (1820–1904), Russian writer, publisher and translator * Elizaveta Axe ...

, and

Konstantin Sergeyev Konstantin Mikhailovich Sergeyev (; – 1 April 1992) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer, ballet master, pedagogue and choreographer for the Kirov Theatre. When the Kirov Ballet returned to Leningrad from Perm (where it had been moved durin ...

Mémoires

She authored a book of mémoires dictated to her son, entitled ''Записки балерины Санкт-Петербургского Большого театра. 1867–1884'' ("Memoirs of a Ballerina of the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theatre").. See als
this article

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vazem, Yekaterina 1848 births 1937 deaths Russian prima ballerinas Ballerinas from the Russian Empire Dancers from Moscow Dancers from Saint Petersburg Burials at Smolensky Lutheran Cemetery

Early life

La Bayadère

Her students

Mémoires

See also

References