19 July marked what would have been the 70th birthday of the legendary Bolshoi Ballet premier danseuse Natalia Bessmertnova. In the above image, Bessmertnova dances the lead role in Giselle.
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During her life, Bessmertnova danced all the classic female ballet roles… Odile/Odette, Giselle, Juliet, Raymonda. In the above image, Natalia Igorevna dances the role of Odile in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake in 1965.
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Her main inspiration was her husband, choreographer Yuri Grigorovich, whose name is associated with the “golden age” of the Bolshoi Theatre, which lasted from the ‘60s through the ‘80s. In the above image, Natalia Igorevna as Rita and Irek Mukhamedov as Boris in The Golden Age staged by Grigorovich in 1984.
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One of her frequent partners on the stage, Mikhail Lavrovsky, said, “To dance with Bessmertnova was exciting and thrilling. She electrified the audience, much like Pavlova, Spesivtseva, and Ulanova did … If Natalia Bessmertnova was alive in Petrarch’s day, he’d have composed a sonnet about her”. In the above image, Natalia Bessmertnova, dancing the role of Phrygia, and Mikhail Lavrovsky, in the role of Spartacus, collaborated in Khachaturian’s Spartakus in 1968.
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Natalia Igorevna was one of the most romantic and lyrical dancers of her time, as was shown by the fine delicate movements of her hands, which seemed to enhance her every movement. In the above image, Bessmertnova dances in Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet in 1979.
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Bessmertnova wasn’t from an artistic family; her father was a physician. Nevertheless, Natalia and her sister Tatiana chose to study at the Moscow Ballet School. Once there, Mikhail Gabovich saw the talent of the fragile doe-eyed girl, and he said, “This girl has to a great future ahead of her”. In the above image, Natalia Igorevna in a rehearsal at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1979.
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Bessmertnova with her teacher Marina Semyonova, during a session in the Bolshoi Theatre rehearsal hall in 1970.
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Immediately after graduating ballet school, Natalia Igorevna joined the Bolshoi Ballet troupe, where she danced from 1961 to 1995. In the above image, Bessmertnova in a scene from Leopold Minkus’ Don Quixote (choreographed by Marius Petipa) in 1979.
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Her début performance was in Les Sylphides (music by Frédéric Chopin, choreography by Michel Fokine), of the eight canonical parts, she performed in numbers 4, 5, and 7 (based on Chopin’s Mazurka in D major, Op 33 No 2, Mazurka in C major, Op 67 No 3, and Waltz in C sharp minor, Op 64 No 2). In the above image, Natalia Igorevna preparing for the stage in 1966.
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Another early triumph of Bessmertnova was her performance in Adolphe Adam’s Giselle (choreography by Marius Petipa); it became one of her favourite roles. In the above image, Natalia Igorevna dancing Giselle in 1979.
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“Her sophisticated characterisation and inherent lyricism, coupled with great naturalness, made her Giselle unique”, Mikhail Baryshnikov recalled. In the above image, Natalia Igorevna, in the role of Giselle, and Mikhail Lavrosky, in the role of Albrecht, in Adam’s Giselle.
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For Bessmertnova, her husband, the choreographer Yuri Grigorovich, who collaborated in many of her performances, became her inspiration. Thanks to their combined efforts, Russian dancers received much international acclaim. In the above image, Natalia Igorevna and Yuri Grigorovich during a rehearsal in 1979.
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Together with the Bolshoi, she travelled extensively, performing in some 90 countries. Bessmertnova danced on the stage of the Paris Opera, La Scala in Milano, the Vienna and Rome Operas, and the New York Metropolitan Opera. In the above image, Natalia Igorevna, in the role of Kitri, in Minkus’ Don Quixote in 1972.
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“Indeed, Bessmertnova brought a poetic spirit into the Bolshoi Ballet of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She was a new sort, quite unlike any other ballerina before, unusually pure and sublime. She was a divinely-marked ballerina”, Vadim Gaevsky said of Bessmertnova. In the above image, Natalia Igorevna prepares to make her onstage entrance.
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19 July 2011
RIA-Novosti
Voices from Russia 
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