Tamara Tumanova is a famous ballerina who conquered the world stage with her grace and unsurpassed dance technique. Having been born in Soviet Russia, she lived for some time in France, and then moved to the United States. Tumanova performed on the best ballet stages of the planet, collaborating with such world-famous choreographers as George Balanchine, Serge Lifar, Leonid Myasin. Having received fame and recognition as a teenager, she became one of the outstanding ballerinas of the last century.
Mother and father of a ballerina
Tamara Vladimirovna Tumanova (at birth - Khasidovich) was born in 1919 in a train car, which her mother Evgenia Dmitrievna followed to Siberia, fleeing persecution of the Soviet regime. The mother of the future ballerina was of noble origin and belonged to the ancient Georgian princely family of the Tumanishvili (Tumanovs).
Tamara's father was Vladimir Khasidovich, colonel of the tsarist army and holder of the St. George Cross. He married Eugene in February 1918 in Tiflis. Khasidovich took part in the Russian-Japanese and World War I, during which he received 2 serious injuries. In 1920, he published a book of his own memoirs about the hostilities of the Russo-Japanese War.
Some biographers of Tamara Tumanova suggest that the real husband of Yevgenia Dmitrievna Konstantin Zakharov could be her real father. However, this version did not find its official confirmation.
Early childhood, acquaintance with ballet
The first 18 months of life, Tamara was raised only by her mother. When the girl was one and a half years old, her parents, separated by the revolution, finally managed to meet and temporarily move to Shanghai. Here, little Tamara for the first time attended a performance by the famous ballerina Anna Pavlova, who gave a tour of the Far East. The sight that was made made an indelible impression on the girl and already in those early years settled a love of dance in her soul.
Life in France: ballet school, first performances
At the beginning of 1925, the Hasidovichs moved first to Cairo, and then to Paris. Having settled in the French capital, they took Tamara to the ballet school of the famous Russian ballerina Olga Iosifovna Preobrazhenskaya. The young dancer amazed those around her with her exotic appearance, natural grace, responsibility and uncharacteristic industriousness for the child. Having noticed a huge creative potential in her student, Madame Preot (as the Preobrazhenskaya was called in Paris) suggested that she change her last name to Hasidovich. Without thinking twice, the little ballerina chose the creative pseudonym Tumanova, formed from her motherās maiden name. The talent of Tamara did not go unnoticed by others. The ballet school was its first step towards world success. Having studied with Preobrazhenskaya quite a bit, the six-year-old ballerina received a personal invitation from the greatest prima Anna Pavlova to speak at her gala concert. This event took place in June 1925 at the Trocadero Palace in Paris and marked the beginning of the creative career of the actress.
At the age of 9, Tumanova made her debut in the ballet production of L'Ćventail de Jeanne, which took place at the Paris Opera. The audience was shocked by the dancing abilities of the girl and after the performance awarded her with long and enthusiastic applause. Art connoisseurs already understood that Tamara Tumanova is a ballerina from God, and unprecedented success and worldwide recognition await her.
Beginning of a stellar career
In the early 30s, the famous choreographer George Balanchine saw Tamara during a performance and invited her to dance in the troupe "Russian Ballets of Monte Carlo", led by Colonel de Basil. Together with Tumanova, the team included two more young ballerinas of Russian origin - Tatyana Ryabushinskaya and Irina Baronova. A trio of talented girls fell in love with ballet fans and, for their young age, was popularly known as ābaby ballerinasā. Tumanova herself was called the Black Pearl of Russian Ballet for silky dark hair, brown almond-shaped eyes and delicate dark skin. This nickname was fixed to her for the rest of her life.
Having started performing on the professional stage, Tumanova became the main breadwinner in the family. After moving to Paris, her parents lived very poorly and often did not even have money for food and necessary things. Earnings daughter allowed them to get out of poverty and return to a decent life.
World fame
As part of the troupe, Tamara toured a lot, wherever she appears, her performances ended with loud applause from an enthusiastic audience. She danced in La Scala, the Paris Opera, Covent Garden, collaborated with many famous choreographers. Especially for her, roles were created in her productions by Leonid Myasin, George Balanchine, Mikhail Fokin and Serge Lifar, and many famous ballet dancers considered it an honor to perform with her on the same stage. In the 1930s, she performed leading roles in The Magic Shop, Ball, Fantastic Symphony, Giselle. In just a few years, her fame spread far beyond Europe. Fans of the ballerina's talent were Sergey Prokofiev, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and many other artists of that time.
Personal qualities
People who had to communicate closely with Tumanova recall that she was not like many famous ballerinas. Tamara Vladimirovna was distinguished by seriousness, incredible hard work and increased exactingness towards herself and others. She was alien to the arrogance, whims and eccentric antics that other world celebrities could afford. The solid character and complete dedication to art allowed Tumanova to become one of the best dancers of her time.
Emigration to the USA
In 1937, at the peak of popularity, Tamara Vladimirovna left her Paris with her parents and moved to America. Having settled in California, she continues to perform with the troupe Russian Monte Carlo Ballets. In 1939, Tumanova by her participation in the musical performance āStars in Your Eyesā conquers the Broadway audience, sophisticated by spectacles, and becomes an indisputable prima. The famous ballerinas of that time tried to imitate her performance technique, but most of them were far from the Black Pearl.
In April 1942, the ballet actress asked the US authorities to grant her American citizenship in the name of Tamara Tumanova (according to the documents, she continued to bear the surname Hasidovich). An application for a change of surname and citizenship was also submitted by her parents. In August 1943, the application of the Hasidovich family was fully granted. From now on, Tamara, her mother and father became US citizens and received the right to bear the name of the Tumanovs.
Creative life in the 40-60s
Tumanova's ballet career continued until the end of the 60s. Living in the USA, she continued to actively tour the world. The ballerina performed leading roles in Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, The Seven Deadly Sins, Firebird, Fedra and other ballet productions. In 1956, the Russian prima was a guest star at the wedding of Prince of Monaco Rainier and Hollywood actress Grace Kelly. Tamara Tumanova loved bright stage dresses, unusual hairstyles and makeup. The Swan costume, created especially for her by fashion designer Barbara Karinsky, became an exemplary outfit for playing this role.
Filming a movie, marriage
Soon after moving to California, the famous ballerina began to offer movie roles. Her debut on the big screen is the role of the fortuneteller in the short film-ballet "Spanish Fiesta", filmed in 1942. Leonid Myasin acted as the choreographer of the film , with whom Tumanova was associated for many years of cooperation.
In 1944, the ballerina actress starred in the main role in the Hollywood military drama Days of Glory. Tumanovaās partner in this film was the legendary American actor Gregory Peck, with whom a violent romance broke out in the process of filming. However, lovers are not destined to be together for a long time. Soon after breaking up with Pek Tumanova, she became the wife of the producer and screenwriter of Days of Glory Casey Robinson. The life together with him lasted 10 years (from 1944 to 1954) and brought the ballerina roles in his films āToday we will singā, āDeep in my heartā and āInvitation to the danceā. Tumanova idolized her husband, but could not keep him near her until the end of her life. After the divorce, Robinson returned to his ex-wife, and Tamara Vladimirovna decided not to bind herself to anyone else by marriage. She had no children.
Recent movie work
In 1966, the filmography of Tumanova was replenished with the political thriller Alfred Hitchcock's āThe Broken Curtainā. In it, Tamara Vladimirovna played the role of an aging spy ballerina who did not want to put up with the fact that her popularity remained in the past. In addition to Tumanova, the movie starred Hollywood stars Julie Andrews and Paul Newman. Although āThe Broken Curtainā was called by critics not the most successful directorial work of Hitchcock, he received good success at the box office, bringing the creators more than $ 6 million in revenue. Tumanova, who was 46 years old at the time of filming, showed all her fans that she remained in great physical shape and still full of energy.
At the end of her career, Tumanova starred in the adventure comedy of Billy Wider, āThe Private Life of Sherlock Holmesā. In the film, which was released on television in 1970, she embodied on the screen the image of the ballerina Madame Petrova. The film received different reviews, but almost all viewers noted Tamara Tumanovaās excellent play in it and agreed with the opinion of film critics that the Russian diva, even in adulthood, remains an incredibly beautiful and graceful woman. Having finished her work in the detective "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes", Tumanova stopped appearing in public. By that time, she had already completed her career as a ballerina, giving way to younger actresses on stage.
The death of Tumanova
After leaving ballet and cinema, Tamara Vladimirovna ceased to communicate with reporters, did not arrange magnificent celebrations and did not receive guests. In the last years of her life, the great ballerina lived in her own house in Santa Monica (USA). Tamara Tumanova died at 78 in May 1996. On the eve of her death, she donated part of her stage costumes to the Academy of Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg . They buried the Black Pearl of Russian ballet at the prestigious Hollywood cemetery Hollywood Forever in the grave of her mother Evgenia Dmitrievna.