Ballet dancer Sulamith Messerer Real Photo postcard 1947

Description

Vintage original photographic postcard of the celebrated
Russian Soviet ballet dancer
Sulamith Messerer
Sulamith Mikhailovna Messerer
,
OBE
(
Russian
:
Сулами́фь Миха́йловна Мессере́р
, August 27, 1908, Moscow – June 3, 2004, London) was a
Russian
ballerina
and
choreographer
who laid the foundations for the
classical ballet
in
Japan
.
Sulamith studied in the
Moscow Ballet School
under
Vasily Tikhomirov
and
Elisabeth Gerdt
and danced in the
Bolshoi Theatre
from 1926 until 1950. In 1933, she and her brother
Asaf Messerer
became the first Soviet dancers to tour
Western Europe
. She also practised swimming all her life and held the Soviet swimming record for the 100-metres
crawl
between 1927 and 1930.
After her sister
Rachel Messerer-Plisetskaya
was arrested in the
Great Purge
, Sulamith legally adopted Rachel's daughter
Maya Plisetskaya
, whom she coached into one of the greatest
ballerinas
ever. From 1950 until 1980, she was also active as a
ballet mistress
and teacher in the Bolshoi. Since 1961, she spent much time in
Tokyo
, where she mastered
Japanese
and was instrumental in establishing the
Tokyo Ballet
.
In 1980, at the age of 72, she defected to
Great Britain
, where she continued to work as a much sought-after coach. Her many honours included the
Stalin Prize
(1946), the
Order of the Sacred Treasures
(1996), and the
Order of the British Empire
(2000).
Plain Back.
CONDITION :
Excellent, see picture.