Up for auction “French Prima Ballerina” Ludmilla Tchérina Hand Signed 3X5 Card ES-6582E Ludmilla Tchérina (born Monique
Tchemerzine; Adyghe: Шамырзэ
Лудмилэ-Моникэ; 10 October 1924 – 21 March 2004) was a French prima ballerina and actress. Tchérina was born Monique
Tchemerzine, into Circassian aristocracy as the
daughter of Kabardian Prince Avenir
Tchemerzine (Adyghe: Шамырзэ), a
former Russian general, who had escaped from St. Petersburg, and Stéphane
Finette, a French woman. She studied
with Blanche d'Alessandri, Olga Preobrajenska and
Clustine. She started dancing at 16 and danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte
Carlo, where she was spotted by Serge Lifar. She made her Paris debut creating the rôle of
Juliet in his Romeo and Juliet in
1942, becoming the youngest prima ballerina in the history of dance. In 1945
she was a principal dancer with the Ballet des Champs-Élysées and performed in
Paris concerts with her husband Edmond Audran. She created various rôles in
Lifar's ballets including: 'Mephisto Waltz' in 1945, A la memoire d'un heros in 1946 and
in Le Martyre de
Saint-Sebastian in 1957. She appeared often with
the Paris Opera, the Bolshoi Ballet and the Kirov Ballet as a guest performer. Tchérina acted in
several films including The Red Shoes, Les Rendezvous, The Tales of Hoffmann, Oh... Rosalinda!! and Luna de Miel. She also
appeared in television. In the 1980s she turned to writing and published two
novels under her own name, L'Amour au Miroir (1973)
and La Femme a L'Envers (1986).
Tchérina had a lifelong passion for painting and exhibited in many major
galleries. She also conceived and executed several monumental sculptures,
including Europe à Coeur, chosen in 1991 by the EU to symbolise the
union of Europe and now located at the European Parliament. In 1994 she
created Europa Operanda, now installed at the French terminal of
Eurotunnel. |