2 3 Throwback Thursday and Maria Danilova | Ballet Webb

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Throwback Thursday and Maria Danilova


Throwback Thursday and Maria Danilova

The name Alexandra Danilova is familiar to most ballet fans. But today I’m talking about a different ballerina: Marie Danilova who was born in 1793 and had one of the shortest careers in ballet, even though ballet is an art form filled with short careers.

Maria Danilova was born in Russian in 1793 and began training in St. Petersburg at the age of eight.  She soon attracted the attention of Didelot, and she made her stage debut only a year later. She graduated at age sixteen in 1809, but by age fifteen she was already performing with the famous Louis Duport with whom she had a love affair. The affair was short and sad, and some sources say that the stress of this relationship weakened Maria's health.

Maria was known as a beautiful, ethereal dancer with a fragile quality. She is said to have taken the audience’s “breath away”. Sadly, this fragility also existed in her health. She contracted tuberculosis and died at age seventeen.

One source on the internet states that a crater on the planet Venus is named for her “Danilova” : http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/0235/report.pdf.

By the way, Happy World Ballet Day!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Dance History Factoid #86p:  
“Maria Danilova was a young Russian ballerina known for her ethereal style.”

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Quote of the Day:
““It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.”
Henry David Thoreau

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