Krieger, Victorina (b. 1896)

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Krieger, Victorina (b. 1896)

Soviet ballet dancer and critic. Name variations: Viktorina Krieger. Born April 9, 1896, in St. Petersburg, Russia; dau. of Vladimir Krieger and Nadezhda Bogdanovskaya-Krieger (both in theater).

Trained at school of Bolshoi Ballet, then joined the company (c. 1910), where she danced in numerous productions of 19th-century classics to great success; danced with Laurent Novikoff with Anna Pavlova's Co. in US (1921); remained in US and worked with Mihkail Mordkin on dance acts for East Coast Prologs and Criterion Theater, including The Doll Shop (1921) and Mordkin's Bacchanalia; returned to Soviet Union where she rejoined Bolshoi Ballet (1925); influenced by Stanislavski, formed Moscow Arts Theater of Ballet (1929), dedicated to creating a repertory of more naturalistic ballets; worked as writer and dance critic and served as director of Bolshoi Theater Museum.

See also memoirs (in Russian), Moil Zapiski (My Notes, 1930).