Tchernicheva, Lubov (1890–1976)

Russian-born British ballerina and ballet mistress who was one of Sergei Diaghilev's most brilliant dancers. Name variations: Liubov Pavlovna Chernysheva; Luba Tchernicheva. Born Lubov Pavlovna Tchernicheva in St. Petersburg, Russia, on September 17, 1890; died in Richmond, Surrey, England, on March 1, 1976; married Sergei Grigoriev (a stage and rehearsal director), in 1909 (died 1968).

A major figure in 20th-century classical ballet, Lubov Tchernicheva was born in St. Petersburg in 1890 and studied at that city's Imperial Ballet Academy, graduating in 1908. She joined the Maryinsky Theater and in 1909 married Sergei Grigoriev, the stage and rehearsal director. She and her husband moved to Paris in 1911 and joined the Ballets Russes company directed by the brilliant Sergei Diaghilev. Within a few years, Tchernicheva had become the company's leading dancer, comparable to Tamara Karsavina . Where Karsavina projected warmth and voluptuousness, Tchernicheva was the embodiment of aristocratic aloofness, enigmatic elegance, and at times even icy sadism. Ballet critics were sometimes at a loss to describe her brilliance, noting simply that in such ballets as Les Sylphides she attained the state of "sweet melancholy which is the keynote of the ballet."

At home in the work of most of the great choreographers of her day, Tchernicheva was particularly distinguished in the repertory of Michel Fokine. In 1926, she took on the job of ballet mistress to Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. After the dissolution of this fabled company three years later, she looked for a new permanent position, finding it in 1932 with the Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo, formed by Colonel de Basil to fill the gap left by the demise of the Diaghilev ballet. Tchernicheva and her husband took on key roles. Innate physical endowments coupled with her intelligent use of her body enabled Tchernicheva to dance well past the retirement age of most ballerinas. After she had been dancing for more than three decades, many of her countless admirers affectionately referred to her as "Auntie Luba," not only as a sign of respect but also as a delicate allusion to her age. As late as 1937, she was brilliantly creating a new role, that of Francesca in David Lichine's Francesca da Rimini. Despite advancing years, she continued to dance and remained strikingly beautiful on stage, enjoying great success in such roles as Zobeide in Scheherazade and the Miller's wife in The Three Cornered Hat. Lubov Tchernicheva and her husband remained active in the de Basil company until it was disbanded in 1952.

Avoiding full retirement, Tchernicheva and her husband next concentrated on staging individual productions of great ballet classics from the Diaghilev repertory. Some of their highly praised productions included The Firebird (Sadler's Wells Ballet, 1954) and Petrushka (Royal Ballet, 1957). Incredibly, it was in 1959 that Tchernicheva made her last appearance on stage, creating the role of Lady Capulet in John Cranko's Romeo and Juliet at La Scala, Milan. Even after her husband died in 1968, she continued to teach at the Sadler's Wells Ballet and the London Festival Ballet. Always a strict disciplinarian, she was determined to maintain the ballet traditions of the imperial Russia that she had known in her youth. By the time Lubov Tchernicheva died in Richmond, Surrey, England, on March 1, 1976, her place in ballet history was secure.

sources:

Beaumont, Cyril. The Art of Lubov Tchernicheva. London: C.W. Beaumont, 1921.

Koegler, Horst. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Ballet. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987.

"Lubov Tchernicheva: Celebrated ballet dancer," in The Times [London]. March 4, 1976, p. 16.

Woodcock, Sarah C. "Tchernicheva, Lubov," in Martha Bremser, ed., International Dictionary of Ballet. Vol. 2. Detroit, MI: St. James Press, 1993, pp. 1402–1405.

John Haag , Associate Professor of History, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia