Alexandra Denisova
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Alexandra Denisova (Russian: Александра Денисова; born 1922 or 1923), real name Patricia Denise Meyers Galian, is a Canadian ballerina.
Born in Canada, she started taking classical ballet lessons in childhood.
After the October Revolution, many artistic and cultural professionals, including ballet dancers and choreographers, emigrated from Russia, bringing with them the typical Russian forms of ballet, which was developing mostly independently from the Western trends since the 19th century and followed classic forms long abandoned in the West. As the Russian ballet enjoyed great popularity in the West, these emigrants were always in great demand. It is due to this popularity that the European dancers started to adopt Russian pseudonyms. Young Patricia Galian also followed this trend and started to perform as Alexandra Denisova.
Before the beginning of World War II, she worked in troupe of Original Ballet Russe — OBR (other name is Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo). The troupe went on tour in the different countries, first of all making tour across Europe. All were broken by the Second World War: tours across Europe have been cancelled. The route has changed in a direction to the South America. Soon troupe Original Ballet Russe gave representations in Havana. One of founders of troupe Vasily Voskresensky, the former officer of the Russian imperial army, having brought troupe to Cuba, to Havana, has decided to meet the old colleague-officer who has settled there — Nikolay Yavorsky.
Nikolay Yavorsky wasn't the professional dancer too, but once in young years he has been given to training to ballet. In emigration this knowledge was useful. He began to give lessons of ballet skill. Among his pupils there were brothers Fernando Alonso (1914) and Alberto Alonso (1917—2007) and a girl Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad del Cobre Martínez Hoya. Fernando Alonso and Alicia married; Alicia became Alicia Alonso. Alberto Alonso began his dance career aged 17 in 1936 with Original Ballet Russe where he became the partner, and then the husband of ballerina Alexandra Denisova. Alberto Alonso and Alexandra Denisova married in May 1939 in Melbourne.
Tours in Australia were tightened, in 1940 during this tours David Lichine created the ballet Graduation Ball (Alexandra Denisova as one of girl). To return to Europe at war it was impossible. It was reflected in the troupe finance. Some dancers have left troupe to America which was far from war. As a result Alexandra Denisova accepted all roles of a star of troupe Irina Baronova, and has coped with them so successfully that critic Arnold Haskell marked in the publication in the newspaper The Home on April 1, 1940:
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