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Tamara Toumanova
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Tamara Toumanova was an American ballerina
Ballerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...

 and actress. "Toumanova" was a stage name proposed by Olga Preobrazhenskaya, after her mother’s family name of Tumanishvili
Tumanishvili
Toumanishvili, armenianized Tumanyan or russianized Toumanov or Toumanoff – is an ancient Georgian princely family...

.

Personal life

Toumanova was born Tamara Khasidovich in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, while her mother was fleeing Georgia in search of her husband. Her mother was a Georgian
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 Princess Eugenia Tumanishvili
Tumanishvili
Toumanishvili, armenianized Tumanyan or russianized Toumanov or Toumanoff – is an ancient Georgian princely family...

, and her father was Colonel Vladimir Khasidovich, Cavalier of St. George (Born 19 April 1885-died 14 December 1962, buried in US Hollywood). Khasidovich was the surname of the stepparents who adopted Vladimir's father, Dmitry Petrovich, after the sudden death of his parents.

Toumanova is reported as being of Georgian or Armenian descent. Some sources write that Toumanova's mother is of Georgian descent. Toumanova's parents had become separated during the Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...

. Toumanova was 18 months old before her parents were reunited. The family escaped from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 to Shanghai, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, where they lived for a year, then moved to Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

. After spending time in refugee camps, the family settled in Paris, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, where there was a large Russian émigré
Émigré
Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....

 community.

Toumanova's grandmother Princess Chkheidze, is aunt to renowned pianist Margarita Chkheidze.

Tamara Toumanova died in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...

, on 29 May 1996, at the age of 77.

Career

After moving to Paris, Toumanova was given piano lessons and studied ballet with Olga Preobrajenska
Olga Preobrajenska
Olga Iosifovna Preobrajenska was probably the best loved ballerina of the Russian Imperial Ballet....

, who she described as her "first and only permanent teacher" and an "immortal friend". Toumanova made her debut at the Paris Opera at the age of ten in the children's ballet L'Éventail de Jeanne
L'Éventail de Jeanne
L'éventail de Jeanne is a children's ballet choreographed in 1927 by Alice Bourgat and Yvonne Franck.The music is a collaborative work by ten French composers, each of whom contributed a stylised dance in classic form:...

 (for which ten French composers wrote the music). George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...

 saw her in ballet class and engaged her for de Basil's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo was a ballet company created by members of the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo in 1938 after Léonide Massine and René Blum had a falling-out with the co-founder Wassily de Basil...

 as one of the three "baby ballerinas."

A popular performer and actor, she came to be called "The Black Pearl of the Russian Ballet", because, as A.V. Coton wrote, "she was the loveliest creature in the history of the ballet", with black silky hair, deep brown eyes and pale almond skin. She was the most glamorous of de Basil's "baby" ballerinas who took London by storm in the Thirties. Throughout her dynamic career her mother was devoted companion, nursemaid, dresser, agent and manager - she was always at the helm.

Balanchine created the role of the Young Girl for Toumanova in his ballet Cotillon and had her star in his Concurrence and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (ballet)
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to the Concert Suite of Richard Strauss with a libretto after Molière...

. Léonide Massine also worked closely with Toumanova in the creation of many of his ballets. She played the part of the Top in his Jeux d'Enfants. Balanchine created a role for her in his Le Palais de Cristal (since re-titled Symphony in C
Symphony in C (ballet)
Symphony in C, originally titled Le Palais de Cristal, is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and balletmaster George Balanchine to Bizet's Symphony in C , which he wrote at the age of 17 while studying with Charles Gounod at the Paris Conservatory...

) in 1947 at the Paris Opera.

In 1936, while Toumanova was performing ballet in Chicago, a 16 year old boy by the name of Burr Tillstrom
Burr Tillstrom
Franklin Burr Tillstrom was a puppeteer and the creator of Kukla, Fran and Ollie....

 came to see her perform. Following the ballet, Burr came backstage and actually introduced himself to her. As they talked Toumanova and Tillstrom became friends. Some time later, Tillstrom showed her a favorite puppet he had made and she, surprised by his revelation, exclaimed, "Kukla," and Burr Tillstrom went on to create a very early (1947) television show for children, titled, Kukla, Fran and Ollie
Kukla, Fran and Ollie
Kukla, Fran and Ollie is an early American television show using puppets, originally created for children but soon watched by more adults than children. It did not have a script and was entirely ad-libbed...

.

In the United States, Toumanova appeared in the movies The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is a 1970 film directed and produced by Billy Wilder; he also shared writing credit with his longtime collaborator I. A. L. Diamond. It starred Robert Stephens as Sherlock Holmes and Colin Blakely as Dr. Watson...

, Tonight We Sing
Tonight We Sing
Tonight We Sing is a 1953 musical biopic film, directed by Mitchell Leisen, based on the life and career of the celebrated impresario Sol Hurok. It stars David Wayne and Ezio Pinza.-Cast:*David Wayne as Sol Hurok*Ezio Pinza as Feodor Chaliapin...

 (playing Anna Pavlova), Deep in My Heart, Days of Glory, and Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...

's Torn Curtain
Torn Curtain
Torn Curtain is a 1966 American political thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews.-Plot:On a cruise ship en route to Copenhagen, Michael Armstrong , an esteemed American physicist and rocket scientist, is to attend a scientific conference...

. In 1944, she married film producer and screen writer, Casey Robinson
Casey Robinson
Casey Robinson was an American producer and director of mostly B movies and a screenwriter responsible for some of Bette Davis' most revered films...

; the marriage ended in divorce.

John Gregory described Toumanova as a "remarkable artist - a great personality who never stopped acting. It is impossible to think of Russian ballet without her."

Obituary


External links

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