Xenia Borovansky
{{Short description|Russian-born dancer and choreographer}}
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.
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.Robin Grove, [http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kruger-xenia-nicolaeva-10000 "Krüger, Xenia Nicolaeva (1903–1985)"] Australian Dictionary of Biography National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. In the early 1920s, Xenia emigrated with her family from Rostov, Russia to Berlin, Germany.{{Cite web|url=https://russiansinaustralia.info/2018/06/27/русские-в-австралии-9/|title=[Русские в Австралии] Всё о Ксении Николаевне Борованской|date=June 27, 2018}} It was in Berlin that Xenia met Edouard Borovansky.
Career
Xenia Borovansky danced with her aunt,[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11803254?searchTerm=Xenia%20Borovansky%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&searchLimits= "Pavlova, Peerless Dancer, Visited Australia Twice"] The Argus (January 22, 1944): 2. via Trove{{open access}} Anna Pavlova,Michael Meylac, [https://books.google.com/books?id=kitADwAAQBAJ&dq=Alexandra+Nikolaeva+ballet&pg=PP208 Behind the Scenes at the Ballets Russes: Stories from a Silver Age] (I. B. Tauris 2017). {{ISBN|9781786722058}} 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.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12117969?searchTerm=Xenia%20Borovansky%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&searchLimits= "Dancers Seek Home with a Garden"] The Argus (April 15, 1939): 10. via Trove{{open access}} They stayed in Melbourne, and started a ballet school and dance company there.Alan Brissenden, Keith Glennon, [https://books.google.com/books?id=C_Ve0H7Q3lUC&dq=Xenia+Borovansky&pg=PA8 Australia Dances: Creating Australian Dance, 1945–1965] (Wakefield Press 2010): 8, 119. {{ISBN|9781862548022}} Xenia Borovansky was the head teacher at the school. She also choreographed original pieces, and designed costumes for her school's productions.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11327186?searchTerm=Xenia%20Borovansky%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&searchLimits= "Enthusiasm at Australian Ballet"] The Argus (December 10, 1940): 6. via Trove{{open access}} "I haven't any children, but a very large family of little boys and girls," she said of her students in 1955.Kathleen Coyne, [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71890178?searchTerm=Xenia%20Borovansky%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&searchLimits= "Memory of Pavlova"] The Argus (June 25, 1955): 9. via Trove{{open access}} Her students included Ludmilla Chiriaeff (in Berlin),[https://books.google.com/books?id=FeflDQAAQBAJ&dq=Xenia+Borovansky&pg=PA1790 Creative Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-century Creative and Performing Artists, Volume 1] (University of Toronto Press 1991): 1790. {{ISBN|9781442637832}} Marilyn Jones,[http://www.danceaustralia.com.au/syllabus-guide/australian-institute-of-classical-dance "History"] Australian Institute of Classical Dance. and Charles Lisner.Charles Lisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=mAB1AAAAIAAJ&q=Xenia+Borovansky My journey through dance] (University of Queensland Press 1979): 16.
Later in life, she helped form the Borovansky Memorial Australian Academy of Dancing, an examination board for Australian ballet dancers,[https://www.gaywightmanschoolofballet.com.au/pages/our_history "Our History"] Gay Wightman School of Ballet website. and worked with Agnes Babicheva on creating the Association of Teachers of the Russian Method of Ballet.Wilfrid Prest, Kerrie Round, Carol S. Fort, eds., [https://books.google.com/books?id=EDgPo8KWKh4C&q=Xenia+Borovansky The Wakefield Companion to South Australian History] (Wakefield Press 2001): 140. {{ISBN|9781862545588}} Borovansky's syllabus continue in use at the Australian Institute of Classical Dance.
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.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/127541253?searchTerm=Xenia%20Borovansky%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&searchLimits= "Mme Borovansky Dies"] Canberra Times (November 29, 1985): 3. via Trove{{open access}} Her papers are in the Xenia Borovansky collection, Geoffrey Ingram Archive of Australian Ballet, at the National Library of Australia.Lisa Waller, [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/122244635?searchTerm=Xenia%20Borovansky%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&searchLimits= "Borovansky Takes a Bow"] Canberra Times (May 3, 1990): 12. via Trove{{open access}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- Michelle Potter, [http://michellepotter.org/news/xenia-borovansky-tamara-tchinarova-finch "Xenia Borovansky & Tamara Tchinarova Finch"] Michelle Potter... on Dancing (September 29, 2017); a blog post around a 1980 letter to Borovansky, with photographs.
- {{Find a Grave|123865770}}
- Frank Salter, Borovansky: The Man Who Made Australian Ballet (Wildcat Press 1980). {{ISBN|9780908463046}}
- Edward H. Pask, The Ballet in Australia: The Second Act (Oxford University Press 1982). {{ISBN|9780195542943}}
- [https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1822869/ A painted portrait of Xenia Borovansky], in the collection of the National Library of Australia.
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borovansky, Xenia}}