Autograph Note Signed to Saint-Saens

Autograph note signed from the important Russian ballerina to composer Camille Saint-Saëns. On a postcard illustrated with a portrait of Tsar Nicholas II and his son Tsarevich Alexei, Preobajenska has penned an Easter greeting: "Joyeux Paques! / Olga Préobajenska." Postmarked St. Petersburg, March 1909. A remarkable item from the legendary Imperial Russian prima ballerina, who met Saint-Saëns in 1909 when she danced in his ballet Javotte in Paris. Very fine. 3.5 x 5.5 inches (9 x 13.5 cm).

Probably the best loved ballerina of the Russian Imperial Ballet, Preobajenska was an early student of Legat and Cecchetti, before she moved to the Mariinsky Theater, where she was prima ballerina for nearly a quarter century. Nearly every major mid-20th-century Western dancer visited Preobrajenska for lessons and her prized students included Tamara Toumanova, Margot Fonteyn and Irina Baronova. (17553)

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Dance

Autograph Letter

Classical Music

• Sold