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What did the sons of the ballerina Kashinskaya do? Matilda without embellishment: what kind of ballerina Kshesinskaya was in life

Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya born on September 1, 1872 in Ligovo, near St. Petersburg, in a family of ballet dancers of the Mariinsky Theater.
The girl's father was a dancer and opera singer Felix Kshesinsky, and mother is a ballerina Yulia Dolinskaya. Matilda was the last thirteenth child in a creative family and had the affectionate nickname Malechka, Malya. Matilda's older brother and sister were also actors. So the creative atmosphere in the family could not but affect the girl’s development.

At the age of 8, Matilda began attending the Imperial Theater School, and at the age of 15 she took lessons from Christian Johanson, who remained her teacher for for many years, even when she became a recognized artist. In 1890, Matilda was enrolled at the Mariinsky Theater, where in her first season she danced in 21 operas and 22 ballets.

Romance of Matilda Kshesinskaya and Nicholas II

But was it only thanks to her talent that the young ballerina achieved such success? Of course not!
The Imperial Ballet has always been a part of court life. During the prom, Matilda meets a modest young man and future emperor, Nicholas II.
This acquaintance was approved by Nikolai's parents, who wanted their son to become a man.

Flirting between young people led to mutual attraction. The fire that engulfed Matilda also burned the weak-willed, inert Nikolai. And how it burned! 60 years later, Kseshinskaya will read in the diary of the last Russian Tsar, published abroad, how he felt that summer: “Kseshinskaya... I really really like it,” “Standing at the theater teased memories...”, “I returned... to Krasnoye Selo was at the theater that same evening...” The crown prince's feeling was sincere. After the first date, when the heir arrived at the Kshesinskys’ house under the guise of Hussar Volkov, he wrote to Matilda: “I still walk as if in a daze...”

In 1984, the engagement of the Tsarevich to Alice of Hesse was announced and the love of the young people was doomed. But Nikolai promised to help Matilda in everything and allowed her to contact him in letters on a first name basis. Nikolai never went to Kshesinskaya again. But, a man of honor, having parted with his beloved, he asked Prince Sergei Mikhailovich to take care of her.

Matilda Kshesinskaya was not considered an impeccable beauty, but, undoubtedly, she was an extraordinary woman. She had enormous energy, amazing willpower and was well versed in life's problems. She knew how to do good, but also knew how to take revenge in a sophisticated way. Numerous photographs depicted this woman smug, with a defiant look.

Was Kshesinskaya a great ballerina?

Of course not. In any case, she cannot be compared with Anna Pavlova. And yet, it was Kshesinskaya who ruled the St. Petersburg ballet stage. The entire repertoire of the theater was under her jurisdiction. Prima simply informed the management of the Mariinsky Theater that such and such a performance would be danced at that time - and it was done!
Championship on stage was the main thing for her, and she never gave it up without a fight.

Matilda enjoyed her power in the theater. She directed the Mariinsky Theater. Her first victim was Prince Volkonsky. In an effort to somehow hide her short legs, the ballerina refused to wear fake clothes, for which the management imposed some trivial fine on her. But the tsar intervened, the order was immediately canceled, and Prince Volkonsky was forced to resign.

Kshesinskaya’s whims decided everything. Often this ended in injustice to the other ballerina. The favorite kept a vigilant eye on her competitors, performed the main roles in half of the performances herself, and kept the management, as they say, with a tight rein. If Kshesinskaya was not given a role in the next ballet, the emperor immediately found out about it, and she received it. When Matilda Kshesinskaya was deliberately not given a role in the ballet intended for the coronation day (sparing the feelings of the young empress), she, as always, turned to Niki. The composer was asked to complete the ballet especially for Kshesinskaya - as a result, a new part of the “yellow pearl” was introduced into the performance.

The Romanovs' mistress - Matilda Kshesinskaya

But Kshesinskaya, we must give her credit, knew how to touch the hearts of balletomanes. Her technique was impeccable, and she constantly polished her skills. One of Ksieshinskaya's signature parties was the party of Esmeralda. The ballerina came out in a white tunic, pink tights and satin shoes, in a lovely hat decorated with gold coins. In a word, it was not Hugo’s Esmeralda, but Petipa’s. But her greatest creative success was Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. The success was stunning. Kshesinskaya received praise from Tchaikovsky himself, who even decided to write a ballet for her. Alas, this was never destined to come true - the composer soon died.

In all games, Matilda's appearance remained unchanged. The newspapers sneered: “It was in vain that Mrs. Kshesinskaya, playing a beggar woman, did not take off her diamond earrings and luxurious pearl necklace. Begging for alms, and suddenly wearing diamonds - it’s absurd.” Her dancing style was also unchanged: technique always prevailed over feelings. While Anna Pavlova put her whole soul into her character, Kshesinskaya remained a brilliant premiere in all her roles.

The art of Matilda Kshesinskaya could flourish only in the conditions of the imperial theater, closely connected with the royal court. It is no coincidence that she was called a monarchist ballerina, a dancer of Russian classical academicism. And this implied royalty, aristocracy, and cold severity of manners. Containing classical completeness, her dance was still distinguished by bravura, flirtatiousness, and piquancy. And although Kshesinskaya’s dancing style became more and more archaic, the virtuosity of the ballerina’s technique delighted the Mariinsky audience.

She wanted to dance everything. But, despite titanic efforts, she studied in St. Petersburg and abroad with the best teachers, - the championship was slipping away. Kshesinskaya reigned in ballet for several years and left the stage of the Mariinsky Theater, still full of strength; in 1903, the time began for the ballerina to tour Europe.

Matilda Feliksovna was economical and quite prudent - she always kept expense books. Unthinkable wealth gave her the opportunity to buy a plot in the best part of St. Petersburg, on Kronverksky Prospekt, and also to build a palace, which was not inferior in luxury to the royal apartments. In addition, there was a wine cellar where fine wines were stored, a laundry, a cowshed, garages for cars, driveways...

Kshesinskaya’s special passion was jewelry, each of which she kept in a special bag or box. In her diary, she enthusiastically describes the priceless trinkets that she received in abundance from royal family, including the first gift from Nika - a gold bracelet with precious stones. The gift was indeed “small” - then the offerings became more and more luxurious...

She had a weakness - roulette. In the casino, Matilda Feliksovna was called “Madame 17” because she only bet on 17. A prudent player, Matilda knew how to lose. When she got up from the table after a loss, she always smiled. She did not lose shape, participated in performances, and went on tour. In 1936 she performed at a London charity concert, and she was already 64 years old.

The blows of fate did not break this woman. When the money ran out, she and her husband settled in a small house in a Parisian suburb. No one ever heard any complaints from her. During difficult times for the family, Kshesinskaya opened a ballet studio in Paris. Her students were prominent dancers, our own and foreign stars - Margot Fonteyn herself came from London to take lessons from her.

In 1958, the Bolshoi Theater troupe went on tour to Paris. Could she not go to their performances? “I cried with happiness,” she recalled. “Russia is capable of combining technology and inspiration like no one else.” Galina Ulanova delighted her. Matilda Feliksovna asked one of her friends to approach the ballerina and convey her admiration for her skill and talent. She didn’t dare - communication, even short, with an emigrant like her was too dangerous for Ulanova.

Having far outlived her husband, Kshesinskaya retained an excellent memory until the end of her life. She took up her pen and left us living evidence of the past.

Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya lived a very long life: as they say, the “methuselah age” is almost a hundred years. She died in Paris in 1971 and is buried in the famous Russian cemetery at Genevieve-du-Bois.

who took part in the show of Ilya Averbukh and Channel One.

BOLERO performed by Natalia Osipova and Roman Kostomarov.

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Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya (Maria-Matilda Adamovna-Feliksovna-Valerievna Kshesinskaya, Polish. Matylda Maria Krzesińska). Born on August 19, 1872 in Ligovo (near St. Petersburg) - died on December 6, 1971 in Paris. Russian ballerina, prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater, Honored Artist of His Majesty the Imperial Theatres, teacher. Mistress of Nicholas II.

Matilda Kshesinskaya was born on August 19, 1872 in Ligovo (near St. Petersburg) into a family of ballet dancers of the Mariinsky Theater.

She is the daughter of the Russian Pole Felix Kshesinsky (1823-1905) and Yulia Dominskaya (the widow of the ballet dancer Lede; she had five children from her first marriage).

Her sister is ballerina Yulia Kshesinskaya (“Kshesinskaya 1st”, married Zeddeler, husband Zeddeler, Alexander Logginovich).

Brother - Joseph Kshesinsky (1868-1942), dancer, choreographer, died during the siege of Leningrad.

According to family legend, Matilda’s great-grandfather, in his youth, lost his fortune, the title of count and the noble surname Krasinsky: having fled to France from assassins hired by his villainous uncle, who dreamed of taking over the title and wealth, having lost the papers certifying his name, the former count became an actor - and subsequently became one of the stars of Polish opera.

The family called Matilda Malechka.

At the age of 8 she entered the ballet school as a visiting student.

In 1890 she graduated from the Imperial Theater School, where her teachers were Lev Ivanov, Christian Ioganson and Ekaterina Vazem. After graduating from school, she was accepted into the ballet troupe of the Mariinsky Theater, where at first she danced as Kshesinskaya 2nd - Kshesinskaya 1st was officially called her older sister Yulia.

She danced on the imperial stage from 1890 to 1917.

At the beginning of my career I experienced strong influence art by Virginia Zucchi. “I even had doubts about the correctness of the career I had chosen. I don’t know where this would have led if the appearance of Tsukki on our stage had not immediately changed my mood, revealing to me the meaning and significance of our art,” she wrote in her memoirs .

She danced in the ballets of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov: the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Paquita in the ballet of the same name, Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, Nikiya in La Bayadère.

After Carlotta Brianza left for Italy, she took over the role of Princess Aurora in the ballet The Sleeping Beauty. On November 18, 1892, on the day of the 50th performance of the ballet, the ballerina wrote in her diary: “Tchaikovsky arrived at the theater, and he was asked to come on stage (and I even took him to the stage) to present him with a wreath.”

In 1896 she received the status of prima ballerina of the imperial theaters- obviously, thanks to her connections at court, since the chief choreographer Petipa did not support her promotion to the very top of the ballet hierarchy.

To complement the soft plasticity and expressive hands characteristic of the Russian ballet school, with a distinct and virtuoso foot technique, which the Italian school mastered perfectly, starting in 1898, she took private lessons from the famous teacher Enrico Cecchetti.

The first among Russian dancers to perform 32 fouettés in a row on stage- a trick with which only Italians, in particular Emma Besson and Pierina Legnani, had previously surprised the Russian public. It is not surprising that, returning his popular ballets to the repertoire, Marius Petipa, when resuming them, often modified the choreographic text of the main roles, taking into account the physical abilities of the ballerina and her strong technique.

Although Kshesinskaya's name often occupied the first lines of posters, her name is not associated with productions of the great ballets from the list of classical ballet heritage.

Only a few performances were staged especially for her, and all of them did not leave a special mark on the history of Russian ballet. In “The Awakening of Flora,” shown in 1894 in Peterhof specifically on the occasion of the wedding of Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna and Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, and then remaining in the theater’s repertoire, she was assigned the main role of the goddess Flora. For the ballerina's benefit performance at the Hermitage Theater in 1900, Marius Petipa staged Harlequinade and The Four Seasons.

In the same year, the choreographer revived La Bayadère, which had disappeared from the stage after Vazem’s departure, especially for her. Kshesinskaya was also the main performer in two failed productions - the ballet “The Mikado’s Daughter” by Lev Ivanov and last job Petipa's "The Magic Mirror", where the choreographer staged a magnificent pas d'action for her and Sergei Legat, in which the prima ballerina and the premiere were surrounded by such soloists as Anna Pavlova, Yulia Sedova, Mikhail Fokin and Mikhail Obukhov.

She took part in summer performances of the Krasnoselsky Theater, where, for example, in 1900 she danced the polonaise with Olga Preobrazhenskaya, Alexander Shiryaev and other artists and the classical pas de deux of Lev Ivanov with Nikolai Legat. Kshesinskaya's creative individuality was characterized by deep dramatic elaboration of roles (Aspiccia, Esmeralda).

Being an academic ballerina, she nevertheless participated in the productions of the innovative choreographer Mikhail Fokin “Evnika” (1907), “Butterflies” (1912), “Eros” (1915).

In 1904, Kshesinskaya left the theater due to at will, and after the due farewell benefit performance, a contract was signed with her for one-time performances - at first with a payment of 500 rubles. for each performance, since 1909 - 750.

Kshesinskaya did her best to oppose the invitation of foreign ballerinas to the troupe and intrigued against Legnani, who, nevertheless, danced in the theater for 8 years, until 1901. Under her, the practice of inviting famous touring performers began to fade away. The ballerina was famous for her ability to build a career and defend her positions.

In some way, it was she who served as the reason for Prince Volkonsky’s departure from the theater: having refused to restore the ancient ballet “Katarina, the Robber’s Daughter” for Kshesinskaya, he was forced to resign from his post as director of the Imperial Theaters. According to the memoirs of the ballerina herself, the visible reason for the conflict was the fittings of the costume for Russian dance from the ballet “Camargo”.

During German war when the troops Russian Empire suffered greatly from a shortage of shells, the Supreme Commander Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich argued that he was powerless to do anything with the artillery department, since Matilda Kshesinskaya influenced artillery affairs and participated in the distribution of orders between various companies.

In the summer of 1917 she left Petrograd forever, initially to Kislovodsk, and in 1919 to Novorossiysk, from where she and her son sailed abroad.

On July 13, 1917, Matilda and her son left St. Petersburg, arriving in Kislovodsk by train on July 16. Andrei, his mother Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and his brother Boris occupied a separate house.

At the beginning of 1918, “the wave of Bolshevism reached Kislovodsk” - “until that time we all lived relatively peacefully and quietly, although before there had been searches and robberies under all sorts of pretexts,” she writes. In Kislovodsk, Vladimir entered the local gymnasium and graduated with success.

After the revolution, he lived with his mother and brother Boris in Kislovodsk (Kshesinskaya and her son Vova also came there). On August 7, 1918, the brothers were arrested and transported to Pyatigorsk, but a day later they were released under house arrest. On the 13th, Boris, Andrei and his adjutant Colonel Kube fled to the mountains, to Kabarda, where they hid until September 23.

Kshesinskaya ended up with her son, her sister’s family and ballerina Zinaida Rashevskaya ( future wife Boris Vladimirovich) and other refugees, of whom there were about a hundred, in Batalpashinskaya (from October 2 to October 19), from where the caravan, under guard, moved to Anapa, where she decided to settle under escort Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna.

In Tuapse everyone boarded the Typhoon steamer, which took everyone to Anapa. There Vova fell ill with the Spanish flu, but he was taken out.

In May 1919, everyone returned to Kislovodsk, which was considered liberated, where they remained until the end of 1919, leaving there after the alarming news for Novorossiysk. The refugees traveled on a train of 2 carriages, with Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna traveling in a 1st class carriage with her friends and entourage, and Kshesinskaya and her son in a 3rd class carriage.

In Novorossiysk we lived for 6 weeks right in the carriages, and typhus was raging all around. On February 19 (March 3), we sailed on the steamer Semiramida of the Italian Triestino-Lloyd. In Constantinople they received French visas.

On March 12 (25), 1920, the family arrived in Cap d’Ail, where the then 48-year-old Kshesinskaya owned a villa.

In 1929 she opened her own ballet studio in Paris. Among Kshesinskaya’s students was the “baby ballerina” Tatyana Ryabushinskaya. During lessons, Kshesinskaya was tactful; she never raised her voice to her students.

Matilda Feliksovna's elder brother Joseph Kshesinsky remained in Russia (danced at the Kirov Theater) and died during the siege of Leningrad in 1942.

In exile, with the participation of her husband, she wrote memoirs, originally published in 1960 in Paris on French. The first Russian publication in Russian was published only in 1992.

Matilda Feliksovna lived a long life and died on December 5, 1971, a few months before her centenary.

She was buried in the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery near Paris in the same grave with her husband and son. The epitaph on the monument: “Your Serene Highness Princess Maria Feliksovna Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya, Honored Artist of the Imperial Theaters Kshesinskaya”.

Matilda Kshesinskaya. Mysteries of life

Matilda Kshesinskaya's height: 153 centimeters.

Personal life of Matilda Kshesinskaya:

In 1892-1894 she was the mistress of Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich - the future.

Everything happened with the approval of members of the royal family, starting from Emperor Alexander III, who organized this acquaintance, and ending with Empress Maria Feodorovna, who still wanted her son to become a man.

After the exam there was dinner, mutual flirting between two young people and years later an entry in Kshesinskaya’s memoirs: “When I said goodbye to the Heir, a feeling of attraction to each other had already crept into his soul, as well as into mine.”

For Matilda, the young Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich was simply Niki.

Relations with the Tsarevich ended after Nicholas II's engagement to Alice of Hesse in April 1894. By Kshesinskaya’s own admission, she had a hard time surviving this breakup.

Later she was the mistress of Grand Dukes Sergei Mikhailovich and Andrei Vladimirovich.

The Grand Duke idolized his beloved so much that he forgave her everything - even a stormy affair with another Romanov - the young Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich. Soon after the coup, when Sergei Mikhailovich returned from Headquarters and was relieved of his post, he proposed marriage to Kshesinskaya. But, as she writes in her memoirs, she refused because of Andrei.

On June 18, 1902, a son, Vladimir, was born in Strelna, whose family name was “Vova.” According to the Highest Decree of October 15, 1911, he received the surname “Krasinsky” (according to family tradition, the Kshesinskys were descended from the Counts Krasinsky), the patronymic “Sergeevich” and hereditary nobility.

Matilda Kshesinskaya. Ballet and power

In 1917, Kshesinskaya, having lost her dacha and the famous mansion, wandered around other people's apartments. She decided to go to Andrei Vladimirovich, who was in Kislovodsk. “I, of course, expected to return from Kislovodsk to St. Petersburg in the fall, when, as I hoped, my house would be liberated,” she naively believed.

“A feeling of joy to see Andrei again and a feeling of remorse that I was leaving Sergei alone in the capital, where he was in constant danger, were fighting in my soul. In addition, it was hard for me to take Vova away from him, in whom he doted on,” she recalled ballerina.

In 1918, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, along with other Romanovs, was executed by the Bolsheviks in Alapaevsk. The Romanovs were pushed to the bottom of an abandoned mine, doomed to a slow, painful death. When, after the arrival of the White Guards, the bodies were raised to the surface, it turned out that Sergei Mikhailovich was clutching a medallion with a portrait of Matilda in his hand.

On January 17 (30), 1921 in Cannes, in the Archangel Michael Church, she entered into a morganatic marriage with Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, who adopted her son (he became Vladimir Andreevich).

In 1925 she converted from Catholicism to Orthodoxy with the name Maria.

On November 30, 1926, Kirill Vladimirovich assigned her and her offspring the title and surname of Prince Krasinski, and on July 28, 1935 - His Serene Highness Prince Romanovsky-Krasinski.

Repertoire of Matilda Kshesinskaya:

1892 - Princess Aurora, The Sleeping Beauty by Marius Petipa
1894 - Flora*, “The Awakening of Flora” by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
1896 - Mlada, “Mlada” to music by Minkus
1896 - goddess Venus, “Astronomical pas” from the ballet “Bluebeard”
1896 - Lisa, “Vain Precaution” by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
1897 - goddess Thetis, “Thetis and Peleus” by Marius Petipa
1897 - Queen Nisia, “King Candaules” by Marius Petipa
1897 - Gotaru-Gime*, “The Mikado’s Daughter” by Lev Ivanov
1898 - Aspiccia, "The Pharaoh's Daughter" by Marius Petipa
1899 - Esmeralda “Esmeralda” by Jules Perrot in a new edition by Marius Petipa
1900 - Kolos, Queen of Summer*, “The Seasons” by Marius Petipa
1900 - Columbine*, Harlequinade by Marius Petipa
1900 - Nikiya, La Bayadère by Marius Petipa
1901 - Rigoletta*, “Rigoletta, the Parisian Milliner” by Enrico Cecchetti
1903 - Princess*, “The Magic Mirror” by Marius Petipa
1907 - Evnika*, “Evnika” by Mikhail Fokin
1915 - Girl*, “Eros” by Mikhail Fokin

* - the first performer of the part.

Bibliography of Matilda Kshesinskaya:

1960 - Matilda Kshessinskaya. Dancing in Petersburg
1960 - S.A.S. la Princesse Romanovsky-Krassinsky. Souvenirs de la Kschessinska: Prima ballerina du Théâtre impérial de Saint-Pétersbourg (Reliure inconnue)
1992 - Memories

Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya (August 19, 1872 – December 6, 1971), Russian ballerina.
The figure of Matilda Kshesinskaya is so tightly shrouded in a cocoon of legends, gossip and rumors that it is almost impossible to discern a real, living person... A woman full of irresistible charm. Passionate, addicted nature. The first Russian fouetté performer and ballerina who could manage her own repertoire. A brilliant, virtuoso dancer who ousted foreign touring performers from the Russian stage...
Matilda Kshesinskaya was petite, only 1 meter 53 centimeters tall. But, despite the growth, the name of Kshesinskaya for many decades did not leave the pages of gossip columns, where she was presented among the heroines of scandals and “femme fatales.”
Kshesinskaya was born into a hereditary artistic environment, which for several generations was associated with ballet. Matilda's father was a famous dancer and a leading artist in the imperial theaters.

Father became his first teacher youngest daughter. Already from the very early age she showed an ability and love for ballet - which is not surprising in a family where almost everyone dances. At the age of eight, she was sent to the Imperial Theater School - her mother had previously graduated from it, and now her brother Joseph and sister Julia were studying there.
At first, Malya did not study particularly diligently - she had long studied the basics of ballet art at home. Only at the age of fifteen, when she got into the class of Christian Petrovich Ioganson, Malya not only felt a taste for learning, but began to study with real passion. Kshesinskaya discovered extraordinary talent and enormous creative potential. In the spring of 1890, she graduated from college as an external student and was enrolled in the troupe of the Mariinsky Theater. Already in her first season, Kshesinskaya danced in twenty-two ballets and twenty-one operas. The roles were small, but responsible, and allowed Mala to show off her talent. But talent alone was not enough to obtain so many games - one important circumstance played a role: the heir to the throne was in love with Matilda.
Malya met Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich - the future Emperor Nicholas II - at a dinner after the graduation performance, which took place on March 23, 1890. Almost immediately they began an affair, which proceeded with the full approval of Nikolai’s parents. truly them serious relationship began only two years later, after the heir came home to Matilda Kshesinskaya, under the name of Hussar Volkov. Notes, letters and... gifts, truly royal. The first was a gold bracelet with large sapphires and two diamonds, on which Matilda engraved two dates - 1890 and 1892 - the first meeting and the first visit to her home. But... Their love was doomed and after April 7, 1894, when the engagement of the Tsarevich to Alice of Hesse was officially announced, Nicholas never came to Matilda again. However, as you know, he allowed her to contact him in letters on a first name basis and promised to help her in everything if she needed help.
On October 20, 1894, Emperor Alexander III died in Livadia - he was only 49 years old. The next day, Alice converted to Orthodoxy and became Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna. A week after the emperor’s funeral, Nicholas and Alexandra got married in the Winter Palace - for this purpose, the mourning imposed at court for a year was specially interrupted.

Matilda was very worried about parting with Nikolai. Not wanting anyone to see her suffering, she locked herself at home and hardly went out. But... as they say, a holy place is never empty: “In my grief and despair, I was not left alone. Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, with whom I became friends from the day the heir first brought him to me, stayed with me and supported I never felt a feeling for him that could be compared with my feeling for Niki, but with all his attitude he won my heart, and I sincerely fell in love with him,” Matilda Kshesinskaya later wrote in her memoirs. She fell in love... but quickly and again... Romanov.

Due to mourning, there were practically no performances at the Mariinsky Theater, and Kshesinskaya accepted the invitation of entrepreneur Raoul Günzburg to go on tour to Monte Carlo. She performed with her brother Joseph, Olga Preobrazhenskaya, Alfred Bekefi and Georgy Kyaksht. The tour was a great success. In April, Matilda and her father performed in Warsaw. Felix Kshesinsky was well remembered here, and the audience literally went wild at the performances of the family duet. She returned to St. Petersburg only in the 1895 season and performed in R. Drigo’s new ballet “The Pearl,” which Petipa staged specifically for the accession to the throne of Nicholas II.

And it is not surprising that her career was going uphill. She became the prima of the Mariinsky Theater and virtually the entire repertoire was built around her. Yes, her contemporaries did not refuse to recognize her talent, but latently everyone understood that this talent made its way to the top not through a terrible struggle for existence, but in a slightly different way. The world of theater is not so simple, if for ordinary spectators it is a holiday, then for the servants of melpomene it is a struggle for life, intrigue, mutual claims and the ability to do everything to be noticed by the superiors of this world. Ballet dancers have always been loved by the upper class: grand dukes and nobles of lower rank did not shy away from patronizing this or that ballerina. Patronage is often further love affair It didn’t work, but still some even dared to take these beauties as wives. But there were a minority of these, while the majority were destined for the sad fate of “flashing up as a bright star” on the stage and then quietly fading away outside it. Matilda Kshesinskaya escaped this fate...
The beginning of Kshesinskaya’s activity was associated with performances in classical ballets staged by the famous choreographer M. Petipa. They not only revealed her virtuosic technique, but also revealed her extraordinary dramatic talent. After Kshesinskaya’s debut in P. Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Sleeping Beauty,” Petipa began choreographing parts specifically for her “coloratura” dance. Only long mourning after the death of Alexander III prevented their collaboration.
The ballerina was distinguished not only by her talent, but also by her enormous hard work. She was the first after the Italian virtuosos to perform a rare ballet number for that time - thirty-two fouettés. As one reviewer noted, “having performed thirty-two fouettés, without leaving her place, literally nailed to the fulcrum, she, having answered the bows, again went out to the middle of the stage and unscrewed twenty-eight fouettés.”

From this time on, a ten-year period of Kshesinskaya’s dominance on the Russian ballet stage began. It ended in 1903, when M. Petipa retired. At this time, at the request of Emperor Nicholas, Kshesinskaya was under the care of Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich. In his house she met the Tsar’s cousin, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich. Many believed that their relationship would not last long, but soon their son Vladimir was born, and Kshesinskaya became common-law wife Grand Duke. True, they got married many years later, in 1921, when they were in exile.

Kshesinskaya had a hard time getting used to innovations in choreographic art. For a long time she could not find a suitable choreographer for herself, and only collaboration with M. Fokin helped her overcome the crisis situation. Their relationship changed several times. Kshesinskaya either idolized Fokin or tried to remove him from the St. Petersburg stage. However, Fokin’s popularity could not leave her indifferent, and, despite everything, they continued to work together.

In general, Kshesinskaya was always sharp and often came to the right decision only after making many mistakes. This is how, for example, her relationship with S. Diaghilev developed. He approached her in 1911 with a request to become the main soloist in the program of ballet performances he had planned. At first, Kshesinskaya rejected his proposal, since shortly before that she had triumphantly performed in Paris and London in several performances staged by the influential French newspaper Le Figaro. However, after thinking, or perhaps simply learning that the largest dancers of that time - M. Fokin and V. Nijinsky - agreed to perform in Diaghilev’s troupe, she gave her consent. After this, especially for Kshesinskaya, Diaghilev bought the scenery and costumes for the ballet from the directorate of the imperial theaters. Swan Lake", made according to sketches by A. Golovin and K. Korovin.
The performances of Diaghilev's troupe in Vienna and Monte Carlo turned into a real triumph for Kshesinskaya, and the collaboration itself continued for many years.
Only after the outbreak of World War I did the ballerina stop performing abroad, and on February 2, 1917, she appeared on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater for the last time.

Kshesinskaya understood that after February Revolution she needs to disappear from the view of journalists for several months. Therefore, together with her son, she went to Kislovodsk to see her husband. After the Bolsheviks came to power, they left for Constantinople, and then settled for several years in the Alam villa on Mediterranean coast France. Soon Kshesinskaya realized that she could not count on returning to the stage, and she needed to look for another way to earn money. She moves to Paris and opens a ballet studio at the Villa Monitor.
At first she had only a few students, but after visiting the studio by Diaghilev, as well as A. Pavlova, their number rapidly increased, and soon more than a hundred students studied with Kshesinskaya. Among them were F. Chaliapin’s daughters Marina and Dasia. Later, such famous ballerinas as R. Nureyev’s partner M. Fontein and I. Shoviré studied with Kshesinskaya.

The outbreak of World War II upended her well-established life. Fearing bombing, she moves to the suburbs, and when the German army approaches, she and her family go to Biarritz, on the border with Spain. But soon they came there too German troops. Kshesinskaya's situation was complicated by the fact that her son was soon arrested for anti-fascist activities. And only a few months later he was able to escape from the camp, and then from France.
After the liberation of France in 1944, Kshesinskaya returned to Paris and, with the help of her students Ninette de Valois and Margot Fonteyn, organized a traveling ballet troupe that performed concerts for the soldiers. At the same time, classes resumed in her studio. In 1950, Kshesinskaya went to England, where she began to lead the Federation of Russian Classical Ballet, which included fifteen choreographic schools.
During the first tour of the Bolshoi Theater in France, Kshesinskaya specially went to Paris to attend performances on the stage of the Grand Opera, in which G. Ulanova performed.

Kshesinskaya published several books. The most famous were her memoirs, which were simultaneously published in France and the USA.
Matilda Feliksovna lived a long life and died on December 5, 1971, a few months before her centenary. She was buried in the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery near Paris in the same grave with her husband and son. On the monument there is an epitaph: “The Most Serene Princess Maria Feliksovna Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya, Honored Artist of the Imperial Theaters Kshesinskaya.”

About the famous Russian ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya in Soviet era wrote little. People spoke of her as “the Romanovs’ mistress,” and there were always a lot of rumors and gossip around her name.

Maria - Matilda Kshesinskaya was born on August 19, 1872 at Ligovo station near St. Petersburg. Her father, Felix Kshesinsky, came from Warsaw to Russia in the mid-nineteenth century. He was discharged from Poland by Nicholas 1 as the best performer of his favorite mazurka.

Felix married a wealthy widow with five children, Yulia Deminskaya, a corps de ballet soloist, and remained in Russia forever. Matilda's father was one of the best performers of character dances; he performed on stage until he was 83 years old. In the family, except for Malechka, everyone affectionately called Matilda; from this marriage there were two more children - older sister Julia and brother Joseph, who also became ballet soloists.

It is not surprising that at the age of eight, Matilda entered the St. Petersburg Choreographic School, which she brilliantly graduated from as an external student at the age of 17. The entire royal family was present at the graduation ceremony, and at the gala dinner Kshesinskaya sat next to the heir to the throne, Nicholas.

From that day on, their correspondence and short meetings began. The affair with the heir proceeded with the full approval of Nicholas's parents. Maria Feodorovna was very concerned that her son was lethargic and apathetic and did not pay any attention to women. And no matter what beautiful girls they did not “introduce” him; Nikolai was cold and indifferent to them. And only after meeting Kshesinskaya did he seem to come to life.

It was a mutual deep feeling. Nikolai attended all the performances with her participation, and she danced only for him, putting all of herself into the dance. Soon he bought a house for her on Angliysky Prospekt, where the composer Rimsky-Korsakov had previously lived, and where Nikolai and his friends later came.

In 1891, Nikolai went on a trip around the world, Matilda was worried about his departure, but Nikolai was soon forced to return to Russia because... There was an attempt on his life in Japan. And on the very first evening he escaped from the palace and came to her.

But, as the song says, “no king can marry for love,” this youthful infatuation ended in 1894, at the time of Nicholas’s engagement. The future emperor chose the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt, and Kshesinskaya supported him in this choice.

But after Nikolai’s wedding, Matilda became a recluse for a long time. Already, as emperor, Nicholas entrusted the care of Matilda to his cousin Sergei Mikhailovich, and it was he who later became her lover.

The brothers of the late Nicholas I also favored the ballerina, they gave her jewelry, expensive gifts and patronized them in every possible way. But Kshesinskaya became an outstanding ballerina not only because she was a favorite of the royal family, but, in to a greater extent, thanks to his talent and hard work. Kshesinskaya worked a lot, in the first year after graduating from college she was involved in 22 ballets and 21 operas, it was hard, hard work.

For eight years, Matilda Feliksovna fought with foreign touring dancers (mostly Italians) who filled the Russian stage, proving in every way, and with her talent and hard work, first of all, that Russian ballerinas deserve more public attention.

In this case, Kshesinskaya resorted to the help of her great patrons and came into conflict with the theater authorities (at this time the director of the Imperial Theaters, Prince Volkonsky, was forced to resign).

In 1899, her long-time dream came true; Marius Petipa offered her the role of Esmeralda, and since then she has solely owned this role, which many actresses did not like. Before Matilda, this role was performed exclusively by Italians.

The ballerina came onto the stage all dressed up precious stones and shone both literally and figuratively. She danced very femininely and at the same time energetically, she was piquant and charming.

It was at this time that a stormy romance began between Matilda and Prince Andrei Vladimirovich, Nikolai’s cousin, she was six years older than him.

Later, in January 1921, their wedding took place in Paris, after which she was given the title of Most Serene Princess Romanovskaya. Only after the death of Maria Pavlovna did Prince Andrei decide to legitimize his son’s position and enter into a legal marriage with Matilda.

Andrei and Matilda went on a trip to France and Italy in 1901, where she became pregnant and gave birth to a son in June 1902, who was named Vladimir.

Kshesinskaya went on tour in Paris, Warsaw, London, Vienna. In 1903, she received an invitation to America, but refused it; she preferred the stage of the Mariinsky Theater to all other stages, where she danced in both old and new ballets such as Chopiniana, Eros, The Phantom of the Rose, Petipa called her “the first star of Russian ballet.”

Matilda by that time was a well-to-do woman, she had at her disposal a palace on Kronverksky Prospekt, a Dacha in Strelna and a huge amount of jewelry, but her only concern was how long she would remain a ballet prima on stage. But, unfortunately, age has already begun to show itself, and the primacy began to pass to younger actresses.

In 1904, the great ballerina decided to leave the stage, but she still danced in some performances. In 1908, Kshesinskaya went on tour to Paris and was a huge success. There she starts a new one romance novel with her partner Pyotr Vladimirov, who was 21 years younger than her. This novel ended with a duel between Prince Andrei and Vladimirov in the forest near Paris. The prince shot Peter in the nose so badly that he had to undergo plastic surgery.

However, Kshesinskaya was loving wife and a wonderful, caring mother. Matilda did not like to part with her son Volodya and often took him on tours to Paris, Monte Carlo, and London. She did not leave her son even when he ended up in fascist dungeons in 1943. She did everything possible and impossible and saved him.

Few people knew her charitable activities. First world war Matilda Kshesinskaya organized an infirmary with her own money, inviting the best doctors there. Then she organized her own benefit performance, and donated the proceeds from it to the Russian theater society, to the families of actors drafted into the army.

With the beginning of the revolution, the career of the court ballerina was over. The last time Kshesinskaya performed in Russia was in May 1917. Immediately after this, she and her family urgently leave for Kislovodsk, and from there Denikin sends them all to Anapa.

There Kshesinskaya settled in the twelve-bed Metropol Hotel, and her mother and princes Andrei and Boris lived in the house of a rich Cossack. Here the son of Prince Andrei and Matilda fell ill with the Spanish flu, but everything ended well, the boy was cured by the local doctor N. Kupchik.

From Kshesinskaya’s memoirs it follows that the family had a very good time in Anapa, but the Reds were advancing from all sides. And in 1920, Matilda and her family left their homeland, going to France, where they found themselves completely without a livelihood.

But Matilda Feliksovna was strong woman and had excellent business qualities. She began giving lessons, opening a studio in Paris, students from all over the world came to her, and in this new field she achieved outstanding success.

In 1936, at the age of 64, Matilda Feliksovna, at the invitation of the Directorate of London's Covent Garden, appeared on stage, easily and impeccably dancing her number - the legendary "Russian", in a sundress embroidered with silver threads and a pearl kokoshnik. She was called 18 times, which was unthinkable and unimaginable for the reserved English public! The entire stage and the passages to it were littered with flowers. In the same 1936, Kshesinskaya finally left the stage.

In the early forties, Kshesinskaya unexpectedly became interested in gambling, roulette and almost went bankrupt. Matilda Feliksovna played big and always bet on 17 - her lucky number. But it did not bring her luck: the money received for houses and land, as well as the funds that were obtained for Maria Pavlovna’s diamonds, went to the croupier from the Monte Carlo casino.

Matilda Kshesinskaya died in Paris in 1971, at the age of 99, 8 months short of her centenary. The great Russian ballerina was buried in the Russian cemetery of Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois. Such is fate...

She survived the occupation of France and the arrest of her son, the death of her adored husband in 1956, a broken hip that threatened her with complete immobility, farewells to numerous friends who went into oblivion before her. But nothing could break her! Every morning she met the students in her studio with an elegant stick in her hand and everything began anew: batman, plié, attitude, jeté-à-tournan, pas de bras, and the constant fouette cascade... Dance lesson. Life lesson. Lesson of victory!

A scandal broke out around the not yet released film “Matilda” by Alexei Uchitel: Natalya Poklonskaya, at the request of activists of the “Tsar’s Cross” movement, asked Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika to check the director’s new film. Social activists consider the film, which tells about the relationship between Emperor Nicholas II, canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church, and the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya, “an anti-Russian and anti-religious provocation in the field of culture.” We talk about the relationship between Kshesinskaya and the emperor.

In 1890, for the first time, the royal family led by Alexander III was supposed to be present at the graduation performance of the ballet school in St. Petersburg. “This exam decided my fate,” Kshesinskaya would later write.

Fateful dinner

After the performance, the graduates watched with excitement as members of the royal family slowly walked along the long corridor leading from the theater stage to the rehearsal hall, where they were gathered: Alexander III with Empress Maria Feodorovna, the sovereign’s four brothers with their spouses, and the still very young Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich. To the surprise of everyone, the emperor loudly asked: “Where is Kshesinskaya?” When the embarrassed student was brought to him, he extended his hand to her and said: “Be the decoration and glory of our ballet.”

Seventeen-year-old Kshesinskaya was stunned by what happened in the rehearsal hall. But the further events of this evening seemed even more incredible. After the official part, a large festive dinner was given at the school. Alexander III took a seat at one of the lavishly served tables and asked Kshesinskaya to sit next to him. Then he pointed to the seat next to the young ballerina to his heir and, smiling, said: “Just be careful not to flirt too much.”

“I don’t remember what we talked about, but I immediately fell in love with the heir. I can see him now Blue eyes with such a kind expression. I stopped looking at him only as an heir, I forgot about it, everything was like a dream. When I said goodbye to the heir, who sat next to me throughout the dinner, we no longer looked at each other the same way as when we met; a feeling of attraction had already crept into his soul, as well as into mine.”

- Matilda Kshesinskaya

Later, they accidentally saw each other several times from afar on the streets of St. Petersburg. But the next fateful meeting with Nikolai happened in Krasnoe Selo, where, according to tradition, a camp gathering for practical shooting and maneuvers. A wooden theater was built there, where performances were given to entertain the officers.

Kshesinskaya, who from the moment of the graduation performance dreamed of at least seeing Nikolai up close again, was infinitely happy when he came to talk to her during intermission. However, after getting ready, the heir had to go on a trip around the world for nine months.

"After summer season When I could meet and talk with him, my feeling filled my entire soul, and I could only think about him. It seemed to me that although he was not in love, he still felt attracted to me, and I involuntarily gave myself up to dreams. We had never been able to talk alone, and I didn’t know how he felt about me. I only found out later, when we became close.”

Matilda Kshesinskaya

When the heir returned to Russia, he began to write Kshesinskaya many letters and increasingly came to her family’s house. One day they sat in her room almost until the morning. And then Nicky (as he himself signed letters to the ballerina) admitted to Matilda that he was going abroad to meet Princess Alice of Hesse, whom they wanted to marry him. Kshesinskaya suffered, but understood that her separation from the heir was inevitable.

Nicky's mistress

The matchmaking turned out to be unsuccessful: Princess Alice refused to change her faith, and this was the main condition of the marriage, so the engagement did not take place. Nicky began to visit Matilda often again.

“We were increasingly attracted to each other, and I increasingly began to think about getting my own corner. Meeting with parents became simply unthinkable. Although the heir, with his usual delicacy, never spoke openly about it, I felt that our desires coincided. But how to tell your parents about this? My father was brought up with strict principles, and I knew what I was doing to him. terrible blow, taking into account the circumstances under which I left my family. I was aware that I was doing something that I had no right to do because of my parents. But... I adored Nicky, I thought only about him, about my happiness, at least briefly..."

Matilda Kshesinskaya

In 1892, Kshesinskaya moved to a house on English Avenue. The heir constantly came to her, and the lovers spent a lot of time there together. happy hours. However, already in the summer of 1893, Niki began to visit the ballerina less and less. And on April 7, 1894, Nicholas's engagement to Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt was announced.

Until the wedding, his correspondence with Kshesinskaya continued. She asked Nika for permission to continue to communicate with him on a first-name basis, and also to turn to him for help in difficult situations. In his last letter to the ballerina, the heir replied: “No matter what happens to me in life, meeting you will forever remain the brightest memory of my youth.”

“It seemed to me that my life was over and that there would be no more joys, and that there was much, much sorrow ahead. I knew that there would be people who would feel sorry for me, but there would also be those who would rejoice in my grief. What I then experienced when I knew that he was already with his bride is difficult to express. The spring of my happy youth has ended, a new, difficult life has begun with a heart broken so early ... "

Matilda Kshesinskaya

Nikolai always patronized Kshesinskaya. He bought and gave her a house on English Avenue, which she once specially rented for meetings with the heir. With Nika's help, she resolved numerous theatrical intrigues that were built by her envious people and ill-wishers. At the suggestion of the Emperor in 1900, Kshesinskaya easily managed to receive a personal benefit performance dedicated to her tenth anniversary of work at the Imperial Theater, although other artists were entitled to such honors only after twenty years of service or before retirement.

Illegitimate son from the Grand Duke

After the heir, Kshesinskaya had several more lovers from among the representatives of the House of Romanov. Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich consoled the ballerina after breaking up with Niki. Their for a long time had close relationships. Recalling the theatrical season of 1900-1901, Kshesinskaya mentions how she was beautifully courted by the married 53-year-old Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. In those same years, Kshesinskaya began a stormy romance with Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, while the ballerina’s relationship with Sergei Mikhailovich did not stop.

“A feeling immediately crept into my heart that I had not experienced for a long time; this was no longer an empty flirtation... From the day of my first meeting with Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich, we began to meet more and more often, and our feelings for each other soon turned into a strong mutual attraction.”

Matilda Kshesinskaya

In the fall of 1901, they went on a trip to Europe together. In Paris, Kshesinskaya found out that she was expecting a child. On June 18, 1902, she gave birth to a son at her dacha in Strelna. At first she wanted to name him Nikolai - in honor of her beloved Niki, but felt that she did not have the right to do this. As a result, the boy was named Vladimir - in honor of the father of her lover Andrei.

“When I became somewhat stronger after childbirth and my strength was restored a little, I had a difficult conversation with Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich. He knew very well that he was not the father of my child, but he loved me so much and was so attached to me that he forgave me and decided, despite everything, to stay with me and protect me as a good friend. I felt guilty before him, because the previous winter, when he was courting a young and beautiful Grand Duchess and there were rumors about a possible wedding, I, having learned about this, asked him to stop courting and thereby put an end to conversations that were unpleasant for me. I adored Andrei so much that I didn’t realize how guilty I was before Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich.”

Matilda Kshesinskaya

Kshesinskaya's son was given the patronymic name Sergeevich. Although after emigration, in January 1921, the ballerina and Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich got married in Nice. Then he adopted his own child. But the boy received his surname Krasinsky. And this had a special meaning for Kshesinskaya.

Great-granddaughter of the impostor

The history of Matilda Kshesinskaya’s family is no less interesting than the biography of the ballerina herself. Her ancestors lived in Poland and belonged to the family of Counts Krasiński. In the first half of the 18th century, events occurred that turned the life of a noble family upside down. And the reason for this, as often happens, was money. Kshesinskaya's great-great-great-grandfather was Count Krasinsky, who possessed enormous wealth. After the count's death, almost the entire inheritance went to his eldest son (Kshesinskaya's great-great-grandfather). His younger brother I received practically nothing. But soon the happy heir died, unable to recover from the death of his wife. The owner of untold wealth turned out to be his 12-year-old son Wojciech (Kshesinskaya’s great-grandfather), who remained in the care of a French teacher.

Further events are reminiscent of the plot of Pushkin’s “Boris Godunov”. Wojciech's uncle, who considered the distribution of Count Krasinski's inheritance unfair, decided to kill the boy in order to take possession of the fortune. In 1748, the bloody plan was already nearing completion: two assassins They were preparing a crime, but one of them lost his nerve. He told everything to the Frenchman who raised Wojciech. Having hastily collected things and documents, he secretly took the boy to France, where he settled him in his family’s house near Paris. In order to keep the child as secret as possible, he was registered under the name Kshesinsky. Why this particular surname was chosen is unknown. Matilda herself in her memoirs suggests that it belonged to her great-grandfather on the female side.

When the teacher died, Wojciech decided to stay in Paris. There in 1763 he married the Polish emigrant Anna Ziomkowska. Seven years later, their son Jan (Kshesinskaya’s grandfather) was born. Wojciech soon decided that he could return back to Poland. During the years of his absence, the cunning uncle declared the heir dead, and took all the wealth of the Krasinski family for himself. Wojciech’s attempts to return the inheritance were in vain: the teacher did not take all the documents when escaping from Poland. It was also difficult to restore the historical truth in the city archives: many papers were destroyed during the wars. In fact, Wojciech turned out to be an impostor, which played into the hands of his uncle.

The only thing that the Krzesinskaya family has preserved as proof of their origin is a ring with the coat of arms of the Counts Krasinski.

“Both my grandfather and my father tried to restore the lost rights, but only I succeeded after my father’s death.”

Matilda Kshesinskaya

In 1926, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich assigned her and her offspring the title and surname of Prince Krasinski.

Olga Zavyalova