Throwback Thursday and Vera Karalli
Born in Moscow, Russia on July 27, 1889, Vera Alekseevna Karalli
received her dance training at the Moscow Theater School. From 1906-1909 she performed
as a member of the Bolshoi Theatre and appeared in works by Fokine and Gorsky.
In 1909 she went to Paris with The Ballet
Russes, under the direction of Sergei Diaghilev. She returned to Russia and
continued to perform at the Bolshoi Theatre, dancing leading roles in “Swan
Lake” and “Life for The Tsar”.
In 1914, she made her film debut in “Do You Remember?”
produced at the Moscow film studio of Aleksandr Khanzhonkov. In 1915 she
co-stared in the first film adaptation Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”. But it
was her role as Gizella in the 1917 film “the Dying Swan”, (also called “Mad
Love”) that made her internationally famous.
According to her biography on Imdb.com: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0179028/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
she was involved in a famous historical murder:
“She was also co-conspirator in the Feliks
Yusupov's plot
and murder of Grigory
Rasputin in
December of 1916. Karalli was present at the Yusupov's Moika Palace and allegedly
she was there to act as a substitute bait for Rasputin, instead of Yusupov's
wife Irina, who was initially shown to the lusty Rasputin as the main bait to
lure him into the trap before he was killed. Karalli was chosen for the plot to
murder Rasputin, because he knew of her as an actress, she was very pretty and
was already a well known film star, who appeared in about twenty silent films
in Russia. However, later some of her films were lost or destroyed during the
chaos of Communist Revolution and the Russian Civil War of 1917 - 1921.”
After this, Karalli left Russia began traveling. She worked
again for the Ballet Russe in Paris,
then taught dance in Lithuania. She was ballet mistress for the Bucharest Opera in Romania, and later in
her life she moved to Austria, where she died on November 16, 1972.
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Dance History Factoid #113:
“Vera Karalli was a Russian ballerina who was also an
actress in silent films.”
Link of the Day:
Quote
of the Day:
“For the average person leading an ordinary
life, fame holds an hypnotic attraction. Many would sooner perish than exist in
anonymity.
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