MOSCOW. (Anatoly Korolyov, member of the...
danced with Asian splendor and icy perfection.The following evening was devoted to opera, with the great Feodor Chaliapin singing, and then ballet again - the premiere of "Les Sylphides" with Anna Pavlova and "Cleopatra" with the phenomenal Ida Rubinstein, carried by slaves dressed in topaz and emeralds out to the podium, sprinkling rose petals onto a vast blue carpet.
The words "success" and "triumph" could not even begin to describe the excitement that gripped the French public, press and elite 100 years ago. The power and beauty of the Russian ballets was in stark contrast to the miniature world of Parisian marionettes of the time. The French ballet of the time was a tedious flurry of pale rags and scenery made out of painted cardboard. Painted cardboard dolls in wigs jumped around this grayness, imitating the esthetics of Versailles from 200 years ago.
It had no blood, no passion, just wall-to-wall powder and chalk.