Xenia Borovansky

Xenia Nikolaeva Smirnova Krüger Borovansky (August 10, 1903 — November 25, 1985) was a Russian-born dancer and choreographer, based in Australia after 1939. She was principal teacher at the Melbourne Academy of Russian Ballet, and active in running the Borovansky Ballet.

Xenia Borovansky, in the 1940s.

Early life

Xenia Nikolaeva Smirnova was born in Moscow. Her mother Aleksandra Adrianovna Smirnova (née Nikolaeva) was a dancer; her father Nikolay Vasilyevich Smirnov was a military officer. She had a brother Vladimir. She trained in ballet at the Bolshoi Ballet.[1]In the early 1920s, Xenia emigrated with her family from Rostov, Russia to Berlin, Germany[2].It was in Berlin that Xenia met Edouard Borovansky.

Career

Xenia Borovansky danced with her aunt,[3] Anna Pavlova,[4] and taught with her mother in Europe before she moved to Australia with her husband during the Covent Garden Russian Ballet tour in 1938-1939.[5] They stayed in Melbourne, and started a ballet school and dance company there.[6] Xenia Borovansky was the head teacher at the school.[1] She also choreographed original pieces, and designed costumes for her school's productions.[7] "I haven't any children, but a very large family of little boys and girls," she said of her students in 1955.[8] Her students included Ludmilla Chiriaeff (in Berlin),[9] Marilyn Jones,[10] and Charles Lisner.[6][11]

Later in life, she helped form the Borovansky Memorial Australian Academy of Dancing, an examination board for Australian ballet dancers,[12] and worked with Agnes Babicheva on creating the Association of Teachers of the Russian Method of Ballet.[13] Borovansky's syllabus continue in use at the Australian Institute of Classical Dance.[10]

Personal life

Xenia Smirnova married twice. Her first marriage to a man named Krüger ended in divorce. She married Czech-born dancer Edouard Borovansky in 1933, in London. She became a British citizen in Australia in 1945. She was a widow after Edouard died in 1959. Xenia Borovansky died in 1985, in Melbourne, aged 82 years.[14] Her papers are in the Xenia Borovansky collection, Geoffrey Ingram Archive of Australian Ballet, at the National Library of Australia.[15]

References
  1. Robin Grove, "Krüger, Xenia Nicolaeva (1903–1985)" Australian Dictionary of Biography National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  2. http://russiansinaustralia.info/2018/06/27/русские-в-австралии-9/
  3. "Pavlova, Peerless Dancer, Visited Australia Twice" The Argus (January 22, 1944): 2. via Trove
  4. Michael Meylac, Behind the Scenes at the Ballets Russes: Stories from a Silver Age (I. B. Tauris 2017). ISBN 9781786722058
  5. "Dancers Seek Home with a Garden" The Argus (April 15, 1939): 10. via Trove
  6. Alan Brissenden, Keith Glennon, Australia Dances: Creating Australian Dance, 1945-1965 (Wakefield Press 2010): 8, 119. ISBN 9781862548022
  7. "Enthusiasm at Australian Ballet" The Argus (December 10, 1940): 6. via Trove
  8. Kathleen Coyne, "Memory of Pavlova" The Argus (June 25, 1955): 9. via Trove
  9. Creative Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-century Creative and Performing Artists, Volume 1 (University of Toronto Press 1991): 1790. ISBN 9781442637832
  10. "History" Australian Institute of Classical Dance.
  11. Charles Lisner, My journey through dance (University of Queensland Press 1979): 16.
  12. "Our History" Gay Wightman School of Ballet website.
  13. Wilfrid Prest, Kerrie Round, Carol S. Fort, eds., The Wakefield Companion to South Australian History (Wakefield Press 2001): 140. ISBN 9781862545588
  14. "Mme Borovansky Dies" Canberra Times (November 29, 1985): 3. via Trove
  15. Lisa Waller, "Borovansky Takes a Bow" Canberra Times (May 3, 1990): 12. via Trove
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