Alexandra Danilova - 1903-97 - ballerina - Obituary

Dance Magazine, Oct, 1997 by Lynn Garafola

Alexandra Danilova, the Russian-born ballerina who epitomized glamour and wit to audiences of the old Ballets Russes and classical tradition to students of the School of American Ballet, died at her home in Manhattan on Sunday, July 13. She was ninety-three and had been troubled by arthritis and other ailments for some time.

Born in Peterhof, Russia, in 1903. Danilova was orphaned at an early age and eventually adopted by a wealthy "aunt" with a taste for generals. In 1911 she entered the Imperial Ballet School, St. Petersburg, where she studied with Klavdia Kulichevskaya and the famed Soviet pedagogue Agrippina Vaganova, received the coveted "pink dress" for superior accomplishment, and danced in all the ballets that required children, including Paquita and The Sleeping Beauty. For her graduation in 1920 she danced a pas de deux from Sylvia.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the ensuing civil war brought great hardships. The school closed for a year, and when it reopened there was no heat and virtually no food. Still, life within the former Maryinsky company, which Danilova joined upon graduation, miraculously went on. The first role she danced after finishing school was Prayer in Coppelia: she was the lead shade in La Bayadere, a cygnet in Swan Lake, a friend in Giselle. In The Sleeping Beauty she did the Diamond variation; in Le Corsaire the pas de trots. This immersion in the classical legacy would stand her in good stead when she began to teach.

At the same time she was creating roles in new ballets. Singled out by Fyodor Lopukhov, the experimental choreographer who had become artistic director of the company, she danced the title role in his version of Firebird In 1923 she appeared in his legendary Dance Symphony, one of the first plotless ballets Also in the cast was George Balanchine. Only nineteen, he was already making a name for himself as a daring modernist. When his choreography was deemed too controversial for the Maryinsky. Danilova became a charter member of his Young Ballet.

In 1924. Danilova Balanchine and his wife. Tamara Geva, and a few other dancers left the Soviet Union for a short German tour. They did not return. Instead, they accepted an invitation from Serge Diaghilev to join his famed Ballets Russes. Until 1929, when the impresario's death brought the company to an end, Danilova danced in works by Michel Fokine, Leonide Massine, and Bronislava Nijinska, as well as by Balanchine, who had become Diaghilev's in-house choreographer. With the breakup of Balanchine's marriage to Geva Danilova became his mistress and his muse. Among the roles she inspired was Terpsichore in Apollo.

After Diaghilev's death. Danilova danced in operas and in Waltzes from Vienna a West End musical. Her relationship with Balanchine ended, as did a brief marriage to an Italian engineer. Giuseppe Massera In 1933, she joined the de Basil Ballets Russes. and in 1938 the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, touring companies that introduced her to America and made her a star. Her repertory included old parts such as the Doll in Petrouchka, the Mazurka and Waltz in Les Sylphides, the title role of The Firebird. Odette in Swan Lake But it was in new roles--the Can-Can Dancer in La Boutique Fantasque, the Street Dancer in Le Beau Danube. The Glove-Seller in Gaite Parisienne--all choreographed by Massine--that she won the affection of Depression-era audiences As Swanilda she sparkled, an ageless soubrette with the most photogenic legs in ballet.

In 1944, when Balanchine joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as resident choreographer, she once again became a muse. He created the Sleepwalker for her in La Sonnambula, gave her lead parts in Danses Concertantes and Mozartiana, and collaborated with her on the first full-length Raymonda staged outside Russia. In 1949, she staged the divertissements in Paquita.

By then, Balanchine was long gone from the Ballet Russe. Many dancers left--some for Europe, others for Ballet Theatre, Ballet Society, or the Marquis de Cuevas's new company. In 1951 it was Danilova's turn. She danced for a time with London Festival Ballet and with the Slavenska-Franklin Ballet: then in 1954 she formed a small touring ensemble that performed excerpts from the Petipa and Ballet Russe classics for two years. Managed by the Hurok organization, the troupe danced in the United States, Canada, South America, the Philippines, and Japan. Danilova gave her last performance in September 1957, in Tokyo. She was fifty-four.

With her retirement from the stage, Danilova embarked on another career--teaching. Once again, fate in the person of Balanchine intervened. Encountering her on the street one day, he invited her to teach variations at the School of American Ballet. The following year--1964--she became a permanent member of the faculty, a post she held until 1989. In 1974, again collaborating with Balanchine, she staged the first two acts of New York City Ballet's Coppelia. Over the years, she staged excerpts from Paquita, Le Pavillon d'Armide, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Raymonda, as well as the full Les Sylphides for SAB students.