The outstanding ballerina of the Russian theater remained in the memory of the audience as the ideal of a romantic heroine. She lived a rich creative life, was able to realize herself as a teacher and a woman. How did her life go?
Childhood
On July 19, 1941, Bessmertnova Natalia Igorevna, the future ballerina, was born in Moscow. But as a child, nothing portended an artistic career. Natalia’s father was a military doctor, mother was engaged in children and home. Natasha had a sister, Tatyana. The family was far from art, but my mother encouraged her childhood love of dancing and plastic exercises, although times were not easy. The sister subsequently made a good career in ballet, danced at the Bolshoi Theater, but was lost in the shadow of her famous sister. She successfully married her son Mikhail Gabovich, an outstanding partner G. Ulanova. They have been married for over half a century. Mikhail himself was also an outstanding dancer, and their son, Mikhail Bessmertnov, also became a ballet dancer. Natalia Bessmertnova, the nephew, whose children turned out to be an impossible luxury, perceived her whole life as her own son. So a new ballet dynasty appeared. Mikhail Bessmertnov had a daughter, Nadezhda. She did not continue the family dance traditions, but the love of ballet was passed on to her from previous generations.
Years of study
Two girls grew up in the family, both loved to dance, and my mother gave them to a choreographic school. Natalia studied in the classroom of the famous mentor Maria Kozhukhova, during her studies she did not stand out among classmates, although she studied brilliantly. But she did not have a bright appearance or self-confidence that would help her to come to the fore. In the graduation class, Sofia Golovkina takes her to her. Before graduation, Mikhail Gabovich came to the hall, who drew attention to a weightless girl with huge eyes, it turned out to be Natalya Bessmertnova. Her biography at that moment was a foregone conclusion.
Carier start
Immediately after graduating from college, Natalia Bessmertnova begins to work in the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater. There, the main choreographer Leonid Lavrovsky immediately showed great interest in her . He saw in Natasha the perfect match for his son, dancer Mikhail Lavrovsky. They danced together in "Chopinian", this performance was the debut for yesterday's graduates of the school. Here Bessmertnova was able to advantageously show her data that met all the standards of a romantic heroine. She was very elegant, with beautiful, expressive hands. In 1963, Natalia Bessmertnova and Mikhail Lavrovsky dance in Giselle. This ballet became Bessmertnova’s lucky ticket , critics noticed her, the audience fell in love, she was magnificent in the role of Giselle: thin, romantic, with a powerful, flying leap. She was recognized as a true successor of the best traditions of Russian ballet, she was constantly compared with Ulanova and Spesivtseva, and she did not lose from such a comparison. She begins to go on tour abroad, conquers England and quickly gains world fame.
At first, Galina Ulanova became her teacher-tutor , but their relationship did not work out, and Bessmertnova, showing a strong character, went to Marina Semenova.
Star years
Since 1963, Natalia Bessmertnova - prima of the Bolshoi Theater. She submits to the whole classical repertoire, but she looks best in lyrical roles: Muse in Paganini, Odette Odile in Swan Lake, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty. The great choreographer Serge Lifar said that in his life there were three miracles: Pavlova, Spesivtseva and Bessmertnova.
Since 1964, Bessmertnova has been involved in the recording of ballet films, for 25 years she has acted in almost 20 films.
Collaboration with Yuri Grigorovich helped Bessmertnova reveal the best facets of her talent: amazing musicality, impeccable technique, the ability to fine improvisation, artistry. The range of Natalia Bessmertnova was extremely wide, she had the ability to transform into a dramatic and lyrical heroine.
The ballerina danced on the stage of the Bolshoi until 1988, until Grigorovich fired her along with other stars: Plisetskaya, Maksimova, Lavrovsky, he wanted to rejuvenate the troupe. For 47-year-old Natalya Igorevna, this did not become a strong blow, since she was able to fully realize herself in her work, she had no regret for uncomplicated parties, she was able to dance the entire repertoire of the classical ballerina.
Best Roles
Natalia Bessmertnova almost did not know the failures, she shone in different roles. But her most successful parties were the roles: Kitri in Don Quixote, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Layley in Layley and Majnun, Girls in Vision of a Rose, Anastasia in Ivan Grozny. " She was inimitable in Spartak, Giselle, Raymond, Hangar. Her performances became the golden fund of Russian ballet art, fortunately, many of them were filmed, and new generations of spectators and dancers can see her performance, although, of course, the film does not convey the full impression of the charm of the dancer. Her partners were the best dancers of that time: Maris Liepa, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mikhail Lavrovsky, Yuri Bogatyrev, Alexander Godunov, Vladimir Vasiliev.
Awards and titles
For her life, Natalia Bessmertnova received many awards, she was kindly received by critics and authorities. Since 1976 she is People's Artist of the USSR. Repeatedly received high prizes: named after Lenin, the Lenin Komsomol, the USSR State Prize, as well as professional prizes: Anna Pavlova in Paris, David in Italy, the first prize at the competition in Varna.
She is a knight of the Order of Friendship of Peoples and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. The film “Life in Dance” was dedicated to her work, Semyon Lapin wrote a book about the ballerina.
Educational activities
After leaving the troupe, Natalia Bessmertnova does not leave the Bolshoi Theater. Since 1988, she has been working there as a tutor-tutor. She was not an easy and pleasant person, the students recall that she was very demanding and even tough, but always extremely professional. Among her wards were many dancers of the Bolshoi Theater, some successfully working on foreign stages. Among the students can be noted Ruslan Skvortsova, Anastasia Volochkova, Eugene Ivanchenko. She left the Bolshoi Theater on the day when Vladimir Vasilyev stood at the head of it. Since then, she did not like to remember the main theater of the country. Since 1995 she has been a permanent tutor and assistant in the theater of Yuri Grigorovich. She works with him on Romeo and Juliet, Ivan the Terrible, Swan Lake, The Legend of Love, Raymond, and the Golden Age. She stopped working in 2007 due to health reasons.
Social activity
Natalia Bessmertnova, a world-famous ballerina, has repeatedly served on the jury of ballet competitions around the world: Varna, Tokyo, Moscow. In 1979, she became a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. She was not a big fan of social events, but with pleasure attended the premieres of her colleagues in various theaters of the world.
Personal life
Usually, for great ballerinas, personal life is replaced by work, but Natalia Bessmertnova, whose personal life was the envy of all the ballerinas of the Bolshoi Theater, was a happy exception. Back in 1963, she married the main choreographer of the Bolshoi Theater, Yuri Grigorovich. All around promised a short term marriage, but they lived together for more than 40 years until her death. She was a muse to him, and a friend and a caring wife, and an assistant. Bessmertnova worked with her husband side by side for more than four decades; their years in the Bolshoi were the golden age not only for their family, but also for the theater. Natalia Igorevna became the organizer of the strike of artists at the Bolshoi Theater, when Grigorovich was fired. She followed him to the provinces to help him stage performances. Bessmertnova was a real star of Grigorovich’s performances, she understood him like no one else, and he knew better than other directors about her possibilities.
In ordinary life, Bessmertnova had few friends. She was not sociable and friendly, was not afraid to go to conflict if she thought she was upholding the truth. So, she sued when she was fired after Grigorovich from the Bolshoi, she won the trial and left of her own free will with her head held high.
In her free time, Natalya Igorevna read a lot, listened to music, loved to walk and travel.
On February 19, 2008, sad news spread around the world: Natalia Bessmertnova died, the cause of death is a long illness. Her husband was not around at that moment; he staged a performance in Seoul to earn money for a French clinic for her. The ballerina was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery, parting took place at the Bolshoi Theater.