Vera Karalli facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Vera Karalli
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| Вера Каралли | |
Karalli, c. 1910-15
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| Born |
Vera Alexeyevna Karalli
27 July 1889 |
| Died | 16 November 1972 (aged 83) Baden, Austria
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| Occupation | Ballet dancer, choreographer and silent film actress |
| Years active | 1914–1921 |
Vera Alexeyevna Karalli (Russian: Вера Алексеевна Каралли) was a famous Russian ballet dancer and silent film actress. She was born on July 27, 1889, and passed away on November 16, 1972. Vera Karalli became well-known in the early 1900s for her amazing dance performances and her roles in movies.
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Vera Karalli: A Star of Ballet and Film
Early Life and Dance Career
Vera Karalli was born in Moscow, which was part of the Russian Empire at the time. She loved to dance and studied at the Moscow Theatre School. She finished her training in 1906, learning from a great teacher named Alexander Gorsky.
After her training, Vera joined the famous Ballets Russes dance company. She performed with them in 1909, and again in 1919 and 1920. She quickly became a lead dancer, called a soloist, at the Bolshoi Theatre after just two years. By 1915, she was a prima ballerina, which is the highest rank for a female ballet dancer. She often danced with a male dancer named Mikhail Mordkin.
Becoming a Film Star
In 1914, Vera Karalli started a new career in acting. She became one of Russia's first big movie stars. Her first film was a drama called Ty pomnish' li? (Do You Remember?) in 1914. She acted alongside the popular actor Ivan Mozzhukhin.
Between 1914 and 1919, Vera Karalli appeared in about sixteen Russian silent films. Silent films were movies without spoken dialogue, where actors used their expressions and body language. One of her famous roles was in the 1915 movie Voyna i mir, which was based on Leo Tolstoy's famous book War and Peace.
Vera often worked with the well-known director Yevgeni Bauer. She is remembered for her roles in his films, like Posle smerti (After Death) in 1915 and Umirayushchii Lebed (The Dying Swan) in 1917. Her last film was a German movie called Die Rache einer Frau (A Woman's Revenge) in 1921.
Life After the Revolution
After the October Revolution in Russia, Vera Karalli moved to live in Western Europe. She continued to perform and teach dance. In 1920, she took part in a big charity concert in Paris, France. This concert helped raise money for other Russians who had also left their home country.
In the 1920s, Vera taught dance in Kaunas, Lithuania. Later, from 1930 to 1935, she was the ballet mistress for the Romanian Opera in Bucharest. A ballet mistress helps train dancers and stages performances. She lived in Paris, France from 1938 to 1941. Finally, she settled in Vienna, Austria, where she taught ballet. Vera Karalli passed away in Baden, Austria, in 1972. She was buried in the Vienna Central Cemetery.
Vera Karalli's Films
Here are some of the films Vera Karalli appeared in:
- Ты помнишь ли? (Ty pomnish' li?) (1914)
- Сорванец (Sorvanets) (1914)
- Chrysanthemums (1914)
- After Death (1915)
- War and Peace (1915)
- Наташа Ростова (Natasha Rostova) (1915)
- Тени греха (Teni grekha) (1915)
- Обожжённые крылья (Obozhzhenniye krylya) (1915)
- Любовь статского советника (Lyubov statskogo sovetnika) (1915)
- Счастье вечной ночи (Schastye vechnoy nochi) (1915)
- Драконовский контракт (Drakonovskiy kontrakt) (1915)
- Гриф старого борца (Grif starogo bortsa) (1916)
- The King of Paris (1917)
- The Dying Swan (1917)
- Набат (Nabat) (1917)
- Мечта и жизнь (Mechta i zhizn) (1918)
- La Nuit du 11 septembre (1919)
- A Woman's Revenge (1921)
See also
- List of Russian ballet dancers
