Women of the All-Union Elder.

Passionate orgies, debauchery and debauchery, seduction of minors and abuse of subordinates... For many years we were told that there was no sex in Soviet Russia, hiding documents about the sexual revolution that the Bolsheviks staged in 1917 under “top secret” headings.

ACCORDING TO ILYICH'S TEACHMENTS

The Bolsheviks, who seized power, declared a “revolt of sensuality.” Simply put, all moral norms and restrictions were abolished. Leon Trotsky wrote to Vladimir Lenin: “The family, as a bourgeois institution, has completely outlived its usefulness!” Lenin answered him: “...And not only family. All prohibitions regarding sexuality must be lifted... Even the ban on same-sex love.”

Since Ilyich himself gave the go-ahead, why not have some fun? The ruling elite reveled in permissiveness for many years. There was a feeling of intoxicating freedom: do what you want, and nothing will happen to you for it. All women, without exception, became available to the leader's associates: some went to bed for ideological reasons, others were easy to bribe, others were driven by fear for their lives - theirs and those of their loved ones. The time of executions without trial or investigation. And sexual promiscuity...

PEDOPHILE WITH UNLIMITED POWER

The fashion for sexual entertainment originated in the highest echelons Soviet power in the early 1920s and until 1937 it was on the rise. They played tricks to the extent of their depravity.

One of the worst libertines of that time, as contemporaries claim, was the secretary of the USSR Central Executive Committee, Avel Enukidze. The chief economic officer of the Kremlin was in charge of not only the distribution of food and housing among the top leadership, he, according to the recollections of many, also ensured the satisfaction of their sexual whims. For example, he organized orgies for his comrades, supplying young women to Kremlin banquets, like batches of fresh fish and caviar. He himself loved to relax... in the company of little girls.

Even his contemporaries understood that his unbridledness bordered on pathology. A relative of Stalin’s first wife, Maria Svanidze, wrote in her diary: “Abel had a tremendous influence on our life for 17 years after the revolution. Being himself depraved and voluptuous, he stinked everything around him - he took pleasure in pimping, family discord, and seducing girls. Having in his hands all the blessings of life, unattainable for everyone, especially in the first years after the revolution, he used it all for personal dirty purposes, buying women and girls. It's sickening to talk and write about this. Being erotically abnormal and, obviously, not a 100% man, every year he moved on to younger and younger ones and finally reached girls 9-11 years old, corrupting their imagination, corrupting them, if not physically, then morally...”

In 1935, Yenukidze was suddenly accused of immoral behavior and expelled from the party “for political and everyday corruption.” And in 1937 he was shot. Historian Boris Ilizarov is sure that close friend Stalin "supplied girls not only" to the right people”and to his comrades, but also to the friend of his youth. It turns out that the leader removed the most important witness and protected himself from revelations on his part.

DEMONS IN THE RIB

“All-Union lustful goat” - this is what Mikhail Kalinin was called in a narrow circle of those close to him. Handsome, with a beard and glasses, grandfather Kalinin looked much older than his years - in 1917 he was only 40, but he looked like a very old man. He became famous for his irrepressible love for the theater. Or rather, to young actresses.

From the outside it looked very touching when Mikhail Ivanovich, after a performance at the Bolshoi Theater, went backstage and warmly, in a simply fatherly way, asked the young ballerinas about life. Affectionately stroking the girls, most of whom were barely 16-17 years old, on their bare arms, or even kissing their bare shoulders, the head of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee invited them to visit him - to the government dacha or directly to his office. The table with green cloth, at which the All-Union headman received visitors during the day, in the evening turned into a stage on which ballerinas in their mother's clothes danced for a single spectator...

For the satisfaction of his lust, Kalinin paid with the patronage of the entire theater: the troupe’s salary was increased annually, the dancers were given rations and were allowed to relax in Kremlin sanatoriums. Most of the artists did not complain about their fate: if they pleased Kalinin, they could even get housing in the capital.

But not everyone was pliable dolls in the hands of the “affectionate grandfather.” One of the young ballerinas, Bella Uvarova, flatly refused to indulge the “benefactor.” She was brought to him more than once for a “conversation,” but the girl was unapproachable. After one such meeting, she simply did not return home. Soon she was found in a forest near Moscow. The unfortunate parents could not even immediately identify their girl - her body was so disfigured. A scandal broke out and Kalinin immediately went on sick leave. Stalin himself intervened in the investigation. And then, by a strange coincidence of circumstances, it suddenly “turned out” that Bella’s mother and father were foreign spies. They were quickly shot and the case was closed. After this incident, the girls no longer objected when Kalinin called them to him.

Over the years, the “lustful headman” weakened, but had no intention of leaving the race. They say that at the dacha he took off his pants and sat on an open beehive, believing that bee stings would increase his potency. The peak of the aging Mikhail Ivanovich’s depraved behavior was the rape of an underage relative of Marshal Egorov, for which Kalinin’s wife was immediately arrested. Ekaterina Ivanovna was accused of not being able to restrain her husband and he was mired in debauchery. And they sent me to camps for 15 years...

FROM CLOTHES - ONLY SHOES

For a long time it was believed that the prototype of Satan’s ball in Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” was the pompous receptions at the American embassy. However, the French historian Rene Bouvet, having rummaged through the archives, found out that Mikhail Bulgakov described receptions in the mansion of the People's Commissar of Education Anatoly Lunacharsky, which he himself attended several times. For the first time, what he saw plunged the writer into deep shock. The men, dressed in tailcoats, were decorously conducting small talk with the ladies, wearing only... shoes and feathers in their hair. At the same time, the beauties were not at all embarrassed by their nudity and flirted with might and main with their gentlemen. Witches, and nothing more!

These receptions ended, as you might guess, with noisy orgies in which the Leninist elite had a blast. Lunacharsky, educated person, who came from a noble family, loved to invite ballerinas from the Bolshoi Theater, which he personally supervised, to such spree revelries.

When the People's Commissar appeared in the box, the corps de ballet became excited: every artist dreamed of attracting Lunacharsky's attention. After all, his favor promised many benefits: gifts and trips, perfumes, stockings and silk foreign underwear, and generally a heavenly life. For example, one of his mistresses, Inna Chernetskaya, gained the opportunity to stage ballets as a director, and even received government funding for her private dance school. The People's Commissar had many passions: at one time he simultaneously had fun with two actresses at once - Rukavishnikova and Ruts. In general, no one probably knew the exact number of women “supervised” by him.

Meanwhile, Anatoly Vasilyevich was married. He adored his second wife, a mediocre artist, but, as they say, a very skillful lady in bed, Natalya Sats-Rosenel, to the point of hysterics. He got her control of the Alexander Palace, the former residence of Nicholas II. On the mezzanine floor, the People's Commissar's wife set up her chambers; on Lunacharsky's orders, all the palace furniture, the library and the wardrobe of the members of the royal family were taken there. He was ready to do anything for his wife. Which, however, did not stop him from making her own niece his mistress as well...

Lunacharsky was not alone in his love “for art.” Actresses were adored by Semyon Budyonny, Klim Voroshilov, who, by the way, was the patron of the opera, Mikhail Tukhachevsky, Deputy People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs Lev Karakhan, and many other party officials vested with power.

SEX IS LIKE A GLASS OF WATER

Not only Bolshevik men went to great lengths - women also stood up for free love without borders. A society agitated by the decline of morals needed a female standard - a beautiful, liberated and sexually free revolutionary. The “First Lady” of the country, Nadezhda Krupskaya, was in no way suitable for this role. But Alexandra Kollontai - People's Commissar of Charity in the Soviet government - quite. Whatever they called her in Russia in those years: “sexual revolutionary” and “eros in uniform”...

Kollontai really liked the then fashionable theory among Komsomol members about sex and a glass of water. If you want to drink, have a drink, if you want sex, have it. No love is needed for this, all these are bourgeois prejudices. Alexandra Mikhailovna, having married her second cousin, had rather chaotic intimate relationships with party comrades and just random partners.

Kollontai turned 45 when she fell head over heels in love with the handsome young Minister of Naval Affairs Pavel Dybenko. He completely shared the theory of his bed partner, and was not averse to hitting on other beautiful representatives of the revolutionary youth. And then, as they say, the scythe found a stone, because the owner suddenly jumped into Kolontai. She did not want to give “into the wrong hands” the young, tall, handsome man. But still she lost him, terribly experiencing this tragedy all her life and trying to console herself in the arms of younger and younger lovers.

In short, the glass of water theory played a cruel joke on her...

The people called him the All-Union Headman. Stalin said: “All-Union goat.” And he added: “lustful.” Mikhail Ivanovich KALININ loved to communicate with milkmaids and weavers, wives people's commissars and ballerinas. After his death, those to whom his memory was especially dear could visit the memorial office on Mokhovaya Street at any time. But the Soviet Union collapsed and the museum was closed. And after 15 years, the furnishings of his office were finally taken out of storage and placed in the branch of the Museum of Contemporary History of Russia on Delegatskaya Street. However, this small exhibition is silent about the most interesting facts of the biography of the former Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.

Maria SVETLOVA

Our new exhibition dedicated to the interiors of the 20th century, - presents the opened exhibition Lyudmila Kovaleva, head of the branch of the Museum of Contemporary History of Russia on Delegatskaya Street, we recreated Kalinin’s Reception as an example of the decoration of an bureaucratic office of those years. And they chose it mainly because of the magnificent furniture set in the Art Nouveau style of the beginning of the century.

Cabinet All-Union headman nicely equipped for life. It is clear that his owner loved simple earthly joys: drinking tea with sugar, sitting at a comfortable table and lying on a sofa made of good leather.

Fouette on the table

In the center of the office, as expected, is a huge table. The guide said that, sitting behind him, Kalinin signed decrees, including those on mass repressions. But she kept silent about the legends that surround this outstanding piece of furniture.

UNDER THE WATCHING EYE OF THE LEADER: Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Mikhail Kalinin greets the President of Czechoslovakia Edward Benes (1936)

As soon as Mikhail Ivanovich took office as Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee in 1922, he was assigned to oversee the work of the Bolshoi Theater. The all-Union headman shared the responsible party assignment with Avel Enukidze, Secretary of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. And immediately favors showered on the Bolshoi. Previously, the authorities exploited the theater for any reason: they were obliged to provide premises for all kinds of events, ballerinas were forced to dance for free at concerts. Kalinin and Enukidze immediately freed the temple of art from “corvee labor.” They ordered the artists to increase their salaries twice a year, assigned them to the Kremlin’s medical and sanitation department, and included the “ballet” housing cooperative in the construction plan out of turn.

Favors were not explained at all passionate love two high-ranking Soviet officials to art - they did not distinguish pas de deux from fouetté. Both Kalinin and Enukidze liked to have fun in the company of pretty ballerinas. And since both were public and busy people, they invited dancers directly to the office. The ballerinas took off their tutus and performed fouettés naked, so much so that under the influence great power art Kalinin grunted and groaned, and the well-made legs of the table only creaked quietly.

WITH CHILDREN: kind grandfather Kalinin loved the younger generation not only in a fatherly way

The All-Union elder presented the beauties with imported lingerie, cosmetics and trinkets. He especially liked the youngest dancers. Not all the girls understood what a great honor they were receiving. 16 year old Bella Uvarova conquered Mikhail Ivanovich with her beauty, but did not reciprocate the high patron. This is what brought upon herself the wrath of the sensualist. After another call to the Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the girl disappeared. And soon her disfigured body was found in a forest near Moscow. Stalin ordered the creation of a special commission to investigate the incident. Kalinin was urgently sent on leave to “get medical treatment.” And then another “spy” process began in Moscow, where the names of the parents of the missing artist appeared. They were repressed, and Kalinin returned to his duties and continued his patronage of the Bolshoi Theater.

Ballerina mentor Ekaterina Geltser Once, having learned that Michal Vanych had dishonored her young student, she threw a statuette of Mephistopheles at the old libertine. It's a pity, but this figurine is not among the museum exhibits.

The wife was responsible for the violence

Unfortunately, the exhibition does not include another memorable exhibit, which testifies to the versatility of the interests of the all-Union headman.

EKATERINA GELTSER: the brave ballerina was not afraid to fight back the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee

After all, we must give Mikhail Ivanovich his due: he loved not only ballet. The chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee paid no less attention to operetta. Historians could support this fact with the printed word, taking it from the collections of the Library named after. V.I. Lenin issue of the newspaper “Izvestia” for 1924 with a feuilleton Demyan Bedny“About how our elder Kalinich recaptured Tatyana Bakh from Averbakh.” For half a page, the poet painted in vivid colors the incriminating evidence against Kalinin provided to him by the NKVD, skillfully bringing down his anger at “certain old men, those in power, who are getting mixed up with young actresses from the operetta.” Mikhail Ivanovich, who at that time had an affair with a young singer Tatiana Bakh, however, did not calm down and did not stop seducing the girls. He just stopped making friends with Stalin’s opponents in the party. The leader appreciated the faithful elder for his understanding and thanked him, turning a blind eye to his fornication.

But Kalinin’s wife did not want to tolerate her husband’s adventures. In 1924, after 18 years life together, Ekaterina Ivanovna left for Altai, leaving her unfaithful husband and five children in Moscow. She was tired of living under the same roof with her husband's mistress - the housekeeper Alexandra Gorchakova.

TATYANA BACH: having become Kalinin’s mistress, the aspiring singer immediately turned into the prima of Moscow operetta

Beautiful, educated, from noble family, Gorchakova initially took care of the Kalinins’ children and ran the household, and then extended her influence to Mikhail Ivanovich.

However, the 50-year-old headman was gradually slowing down. The nervous work was taking its toll - more and more often the girls left him unsatisfied. But the All-Union headman was not used to giving in to difficulties. He looked for unconventional ways to restore his former strength. Helped him in noble cause friend is an artist Meshkov, whose workshop was located not far from the reception room of the Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Kalinin often, tired of receiving walkers, ran to a painter friend for a glass of liqueur. Meshkov advised Michal Vanych old folk way for impotence - bee stings to improve blood flow to the penis. At the artist’s dacha, the all-Union elder sat down on bee hive naked and endured the bites of angry insects for the sake of love. However, the method had no effect. A rumor about the sexual weakness of the all-Union headman spread in a vile manner throughout Moscow. The girls began to avoid meeting with Mikhail Ivanovich. In 1938, the aging head of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee took a 17-year-old young lady to her dacha and tried to rape her. Unfortunately, it turned out that the victim turned out to be a relative of the military leader Alexandra Egorova. Kalinin tried to settle the trouble by paying the victim a large sum. But the next one big story Stalin really didn’t like it. Rumor has it that, enraged, the leader ordered the arrest of Kalinin’s wife, allegedly because she could not keep her husband near her. Ekaterina Ivanovna spent seven years in the camps. She was released in 1945. She did not forgive the offense and did not return to her husband. And a year later Mikhail Ivanovich passed away.

BOLSHEVIK FAMILY: Mikhail and Catherine with their son Alexander (1908)

QUOTE

“After another call to the Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the girl disappeared. And soon her mutilated body was found in a forest near Moscow."

After the death of the all-Union mayor, the city of Tver was renamed Kalinin, the former Koenigsberg was named after him, until recently the city of Korolev near Moscow was Kaliningrad. In Moscow, his name was given to an avenue (now Novy Arbat) and a metro station (now Alexandrovsky Garden). None of the figures Soviet era never received honors on such a large scale. Strange coincidence, but after the collapse Soviet Union and ten years of oblivion, they remembered him, and not his party comrades, and it was his office that was recreated, and not Kirov or Molotov. Perhaps this happened because Kalinin, like no one else, sincerely loved the people, a good half of which were women.

BY THE WAY

Galina Danelia, the wife of the famous director Georgy Danelia, in her youth was friends with the grandson of Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin, also Mikhail. According to her, he was smart person with phenomenal thinking, knew perfectly Japanese. Galina lived with him in a 5-room apartment on the street. Alexei Tolstoy. The girl tried to seduce Mikhail. But, ironically, the descendant of a loving admirer of women adhered to an unconventional sexual orientation. One day Galina caught him with painted lips in a lady's dress. And later Mikhail reproached that, living with him, Galina prevents him from inviting his friend Stasik to visit for intimate meetings.

4 April 2013, 10:15

Anastasia Volochkova: In the dressing room they threatened me with a knife!

The ballerina's partners were severely beaten so that they would not appear on the same stage with her.

One day, two fans came to my dressing room - huge men with a basket of flowers,” Nastya recalls the events of that evening. - Well, I think, as usual, they want to ask for an autograph. And they... pulled out a knife and said: “Anastasia, on behalf of the director of the Bolshoi Theater we demand to stop trial and pick up the documents."

The director of the Bolshoi Theater, Anatoly Iksanov, tried to deprive me of my partners. The dancers who continued to participate in my performances were beaten! Zhenya Ivanchenko suffered the most. On the eve of the opening of the season at the Bolshoi Theater in 2003, where we were supposed to dance with him " Swan Lake", he suddenly disappeared. It turned out that he was beaten in the entrance of the house, with a warning that if he appeared on the threshold of the Bolshoi Theater or next to Volochkova again, it would be even worse.

To suppress hunger, ballerinas drink shampoo!

For many, ballet dancers mean lush tutus, graceful pointe shoes and incessant applause. Only the initiated know what is hidden behind this gloss: those who managed to pass the strict selection committee and many years of daily training in the hall of mirrors. These people devote all their time and health to ballet. Simply because they cannot do otherwise.

Asya Vasilyeva

In the ninth grade, a new girl came to our school - slender, elongated as a string, but at the same time graceful as a cat, Mashenka. Previously, she studied at a choreographic school in the “classics” and could become a professional ballerina. She could, but she didn't want to. I just couldn’t stand the crazy physical exertion.

Natural selection

Those who still decide to connect their lives with ballet will have to endure entrance examination to the choreographic school. The most strong schools Russia - in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Perm, Vladivostok and Novosibirsk. Those admitted live in dormitories. The classes are tough - no baby talk.

“Almost all teachers are strict and callous people,” recalls my classmate Maria Yakubovskaya. - The choreographer was screaming all the time! When she noticed the relaxed buttocks of the ballerinas, she grabbed a fly swatter and spanked the girls, shouting “pick up your butts.” To help us stretch our legs better, a huge ruler was used: with its blows, the teacher showed which muscle needed to be tensed. I was covered in bruises.

Missing classes is out of the question! - user Swan advises mothers on a special forum. - My daughter once had a bad cold and was lying in bed with high temperature. The teacher called and said in a steely voice: “He can’t train, let him go!” There are a lot of people willing to take your place. I feel sorry for the child - take him home! Good reason To miss there can only be death! Be prepared that your child will have to study from morning until late evening. My daughter also stretched at night.

No matter how talented and diligent a girl is, if she was born with the wrong physical characteristics, the road to classical ballet is closed to her, explains Yakubovskaya. - The examiners at the school look at you like a dog at a show: if the joints are not mobile enough or there are problems with stretching, the length of the legs is inappropriate or the size of the head is disappointing, they are instantly rejected.

The first thing you notice admissions committee, - eversion (the ability of the legs to turn outward). In addition, girls must be very flexible: easily lift their legs 180 degrees, gracefully bend their backs, literally folding in half. Another important quality is high rise. Many people, in order to achieve the desired result, “break it” - this is the name for forced stretching of the ligaments of the upper part of the foot.

The easiest way is to put your toes under a radiator or cabinet, advises BalletRose on the forum. - The main thing is that the gap between the floor and the object is as small as possible. The essence of the “torture” is to keep the legs under the radiator in the sixth position (exactly), while the knees should remain straight and the toes should be directed towards the floor. It hurts, but you have to endure it!

The future ballerina must have long limbs. Ballet dancers even have a special “long-legged” index, which is calculated upon admission to the school.

Each child is measured twice - in full height and from the top of the head to the buttocks,” explains Yakubovskaya. - Then the height in a sitting position is divided by the height in a standing position and multiplied by one hundred. The ballet norm is 49 - 52 percent. Actually, this index can be assessed with the naked eye: the legs of ballerinas should be much longer than the body.

Victims of art

The competition in ballet is simply monstrous: out of 500 who come to the audition, only 30 will be accepted, only half of them will finish their studies at the school, and only one will dance the leading roles.

The most difficult tests for young ballerinas come during school days.

We get up at seven in the morning, before classes we need to wash the floors and make the bed, have time to collect our hair into a “bump,” said 13-year-old Nadezhda Vysotskaya, a student at the Perm Choreographic School. - Many girls bite and scratch teachers during stretching - such unbearable pain. I remember writing letters to my mother in which I begged her to take me home, but new day, and I went to class again.

For the servants of Terpsichore perfect figure- skeleton. Each calorie in food is counted by the school's in-house nutritionist. The required weight is again calculated using the formula: height minus 122. Anyone who goes beyond these limits is excluded.

In the evening you want to eat especially badly,” Nadezhda continues. - To cope with this, I chew gum. I heard that someone was drinking shampoo.

Before the control weigh-in, the students begin to lose weight with all their might. It’s especially tough in the fifth grade, after which in choreographic classes schools goes the great purge: a duet dance is introduced into the program, and it is believed that it is harmful for boys to lift more than 50 kilograms.

The day before the weigh-in, we ate a lot of furosemide, a strong diuretic,” ballerina Evgenia Petrova shares her experience. - One of the girls sat on cheese and dry wine for two weeks. From such a diet she was constantly slightly tipsy and immediately after the exam she fainted. The most vulnerable were children from wealthy families: they were always experimenting with unknown medicines. Happened and tragic stories. The daughter of a famous TV announcer was graduating from college. Before the exam, she lost a lot of weight, and, apparently, because of this, something happened to her psyche. After eating an apple, she ran to the toilet to induce vomiting, and then to the mirror to see if she had gained weight. When she became completely weak, she was admitted to the hospital, fed intravenously, but she was tearing out the tubes. It all ended horribly: she died weighing 38 kilograms!

But there is also in ballet happy people who can eat whatever they want without any consequences for their figure. Alla Mikhalchenko always ate a full lunch, bought a cake or five sweets from the buffet and immediately went to the rehearsal.

Bloody pointe shoes

Professional ballerinas get sick four times more often ordinary people. As a rule, they suffer from digestive disorders, menstrual irregularities, arthritis, osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases. Cases of infertility among dancers are not uncommon.

By graduation, half of our girls’ periods had stopped,” Lana says on the forum. - But the most painful topic is the legs. Pointe shoes are almost half the size of regular shoes. This allows you to rest on your toes, but greatly deforms your foot. You can recognize our feet from a thousand: all covered in bumps, calluses, and bruises. Everyone who has “broken” their lift sooner or later has loose and even torn ligaments. Because of this, the legs are easily tucked in when jumping. I’m not even talking about fractures!

That is why, before putting on new pointe shoes, the ballerina carefully prepares them: she breaks the sock with a hammer, making it softer, rips out the insole, rubs the sole with a kitchen grater, and cuts the very tip of the shoe, sewing up the resulting hole with thick threads.

After graduating from college, the ballerina begins to struggle for the stage.

There are no girlfriends in ballet: at any moment they can stick a knife in your back,” one of the Bolshoi Theater artists under the nickname Tata confesses on the forum.

“They once rubbed some kind of ointment on the inside of my suit,” Ivan says on the forum. - During the dance, the body warmed up - the skin became sensitive, and this ointment caused unbearable pain. They also somehow cut the elastic bands on the ballet shoes that hold them on the leg. During the dance, the shoes came off.

Despite her extensive connections, the daughter of the famous comedian Vladimir Vinokur remained just a good ballerina.

My things were thrown out of the dressing rooms into the corridor, making it clear who was boss in the house,” says Anastasia. - About broken glass in pointe shoes - also true!

Not everyone can cope with incredible physical and psychological stress. Most ballet dancers, in order to dance while overcoming pain, swallow handfuls of painkillers, and some get hooked on strong tranquilizers and alcohol.

Ballet dancers also cannot boast of huge earnings - their income depends on the number of performances and roles: in large theaters, ordinary ballerinas receive 15 - 20 thousand rubles, in the provinces - 6 - 9 thousand. They are saved, of course, by tours, for which they pay travel allowances , and the opportunity to work part-time in other productions. Prim and leading artists have a better situation - they bring home from 50 to 80 thousand.

Ballet dancers' vacation usually lasts a month. Creative retirement comes after 20 years of service - as a rule, at 35 - 37 years. This does not mean at all that upon reaching of this age ballerinas are thrown out of the theater: Ekaterina Maksimova, for example, performed until she was 55, Galina Ulanova - until 50, Maya Plisetskaya - until 65. But today's dance youth prefer to play it safe by mastering more “earthly” professions after choreography school.

Fouette on the table

Many ballerinas have powerful patrons. Even famous by Alexander Pushkin, the dancer Avdotya Istomina could not choose which of her fans to prefer - the cavalry guard Vasily Sheremetev or Count Alexander Zavadovsky. As a result, the rivals staged a duel. Sheremetev died.

Nicholas II was a fan of one of the brightest ballet stars of the last century, Matilda Kshesinskaya. This was the norm of that time - men from the royal family always gravitated towards artists Imperial Theater. Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Sr. was fond of the ballerina Ekaterina Chislova, as a result of which the dancer had two sons and two daughters. A Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich admired the art of the ballerina Kuznetsova so much that in this endless delight he built her a two-story house and stayed in it for weeks.

Kshesinskaya's romance with the Tsarevich ended after his marriage to Princess Alice of Hesse. Afterwards, the ballerina passed from hand to hand to Nicholas’s cousin, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich. He even invited his girlfriend to marry, but she chose the young Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich.

The Bolsheviks, having come to power, also did not disdain the “lordly” hobby. Joseph Stalin himself loved to admire how Olga Lepeshinskaya danced at the Bolshoi Theater, and always gave her a ride home after the performance. Sometimes the leader left the ballerina in the early morning.

One of the most famous admirers of ballet fairies was the “all-Union headman” Mikhail Kalinin. For this, Stalin nicknamed him “the all-Union lustful goat.” They say that Kalinin invited girls to his office and forced them to twirl the fouetté in what their mother gave birth to right on his desk. According to rumors, Bella Uvarova, one of the ballerinas whom Mikhail Ivanovich had his eye on, refused to participate in this disgrace, and after some time her body was found not far from Moscow. After this incident, Kalinin was urgently sent on an unplanned vacation.

It’s impossible to count how many ballerinas were in Lavrentiy Beria’s bed. From time to time he stopped by the Bolshoi Theater to watch the ballerinas warm up and choose a girl according to his mood.

The famous dancer Maris Liepa was Galina Brezhneva's lover, although he was married at that time. Their romance lasted five years, the secretary general’s daughter helped him in his career all this time.

Highly spiritual striptease

Ballet has always been associated with homosexuality. Therefore, every dancer must have a wife, who becomes a protection against suspicion. Only having a life partner has the prospect of becoming a traveler. But there were brave souls who were not afraid of their orientation. For example, Vakhtang Chabukiani. This legendary dancer had a courageous appearance, a bright temperament and... an endless love for boys.

Rudolf Nureyev in a narrow circle of Leningrad gays acquired a reputation as a hot Tatar guy. In his own version of “Sleeping Beauty,” he turned his back to the audience and slowly took off his long cloak until, finally, the dancer’s luxurious buttocks were revealed to the viewer. By the way, he died from the disease of gays and drug addicts - AIDS.

LENINGRAD IN MOURNING

On the day of the rehearsal with the conductor and the philharmonic orchestra, I heard crying and screams, and saw people running. I asked the costume designer Lisa:
- What kind of panic? What's happened?
- Kirov is our father and benefactor, our leader - Sergei Mironovich Kirov was killed by the Nazis! They say that he was killed by German Trotskyist puppets.
How to find out the truth? Who can tell me what to do? She went outside. The city was in a fever. Everyone was in a hurry. The transport was crowded. I called home and the Kirov secretariat - to no avail: no one answered the phone. I tried to call his acquaintances and friends - to no avail.
It seemed as if everyone had died out. I needed to talk to someone, no matter what.
I went to the Moscow station so as not to feel lonely. The station was cordoned off and I was not allowed in. I had to return to the hotel. There was a note waiting for me in the room, asking me to urgently contact the Party Committee. However, they didn’t pick up the phone there either.
On December 2, I wandered around completely empty Leningrad. In the evening I returned to my room and lay down in the cold bed. The hours passed very slowly.
In the morning the city was paralyzed. Somehow I made it to Smolny, where farewell to Kirov was taking place. Together with other privileged people, she went up to the second floor, where the coffin was located. Kirov looked as if he were alive. - tears, mountains of wreaths, armfuls of flowers from institutions, factories, factories, military, schools, theaters, police... In the depths of the hall sat Kirov’s wife and sister with tear-stained, gray faces.
The orchestra played Mozart's Requiem. At the same time, the bells of St. Sophia Cathedral and St. Nicholas Cathedral were ringing.
After the funeral I was arrested again. I could not betray Kirov, even a dead one, and said: “Sergei Mironovich told me about his childhood, about how he became a revolutionary, about the November plenum, about his future work in Moscow. He pronounced the names of Stalin and members of the Politburo with respect.” Stalin was present at the interrogation. He was silent, thoughtful and sad.
Later I noticed one detail: Stalin was in Leningrad from December 1 to 5 and personally supervised the investigation; On December 2, an obituary was published in Pravda, and on December 3, at 5 p.m., he held a press conference at the Bolshoi Theater, where he officially informed the press about Kirov’s murder.
How was he in two places at the same time? And during the interrogation, when Stalin asked me one single question, I got the impression that it was not Stalin, but someone else who talentedly played his role.
Voroshilov told me: “Vera Alexandrovna, you have a ticket to Moscow booked, my car will take you to the station.”
She returned to Moscow on December 6. I had not yet recovered from the experience when the head of Stalin’s personal security presented me with my new security- Bugrova and Arsentiev.

YAGODA AND MASSEUSE NATASHA

On December 19, I sang for the workers of the electric lamp plant. I was terribly tired because I had to encore a lot.
She came out of the entrance and sat down, as always, in the back seat of the car. I was surprised by the curtains in the car.
Suddenly I felt the touch of a cold hand on my knee. She screamed in fright:
- Driver, take it to the police! There are bandits in the car!
In response I heard a quiet laugh:
- Vera Alexandrovna, aren’t you ashamed to be afraid of your friends?
I recognized Yagoda.
- Genrikh Grigorievich, when will you finally stop following me? “And I burst into tears, I was so exhausted.
Yagoda began to unbutton my fur coat:
- Verochka, I love you. Honestly, I love you. And I’m jealous of all these sons of bitches who hang around you, and especially the ones with mustaches. I know everything about you: about all the meetings with Stalin, about Zinoviev’s proposal, about the affair with Tukhachevsky and about the trip to Sestroretsk with the late Kirov. Well, what about me? You are avoiding me, Verochka! Aren't you afraid of Yagoda? Sergei Mironovich Kirov is just the beginning...
- I beg you, stop. I'm very afraid, but I swear to you, nothing happened between us. We were only friends.
Yagoda laughed:
“If you tell anyone a word of what you hear from me, I’ll kill you!” However, no one will believe you. They'll think you're crazy. And I will settle accounts with the fat man Malenkov and the big girl Yezhov later. I’ll skin them, make a handbag and give them to you as a souvenir. Verochka, if you stay with me, we will overcome all difficulties!
We drove for about forty minutes. “It seems we have arrived,” Yagoda said cheerfully. Two german shepherds ran up to the car. Yagoda called them: “Baby Tiger!”
The soldier brought the cold dinner.
- Come here, Bulyga! - Yagoda returned it. A frightened soldier came running. - Rag, who are you going to feed cold food? – The embarrassed soldier blinked his eyes. Yagoda took a metal rod and slowly hit Bulyga. The bloodied soldier muttered something wildly. “Answer,” the sadist yelled, “who did you want to feed with this shit?!”
Next strike! The soldier fell, writhing in pain. When they took him away, I asked:
- Is this performance performed for me?
- How did you guess, madam? Sometimes it's worth demonstrating your base instincts.
A beautiful young woman came in and began setting the table. Yagoda spanked her familiarly. The woman grinned, and I recognized the Kremlin masseuse Natasha.
- Genrikh Grigorievich, tomorrow at eleven I have a very serious rehearsal, which Malenkov and other party leaders should attend.
- Don't worry, you won't be late. Now rest,” he pointed to the door of one of the rooms, “this is your room.”
I was attacked by tetanus, I was unable to move, my legs were stiff.
- Do I have to repeat it?! - Yagoda shouted, hitting the top of his boot with the rod. “They don’t repeat anything twice in this house!”
There was a low ottoman in the room, a small table with drinks in the corner and two armchairs nearby.
I cursed my life... Suddenly I saw that a completely naked Natasha entered the room and lay down under the blanket:
- Vera Alexandrovna, take my example. Come on, I'll warm you up.
-Are you mad?
- The boss will come now, and he doesn’t like to wait. Several women were handed over to the soldiers for disobedience and then imprisoned.
Natasha stood up and began to forcefully undress me. I screamed, and then she covered my mouth with her left hand and hit me in the stomach with her right...
Yagoda came in wearing white underpants.
- Well, my beauties, let's play?
Natasha hugged her boss. I felt sick and went to the bathroom. The shower made me feel better, but Natasha came for me and took me to Yagoda, who was sitting naked on the ottoman.
“Now I’ll have fun with Verochka, and you go make some coffee,” he said to Natasha.
I stood there as if pinned down, not moving. Yagoda threw me onto the ottoman with all his might...
Later Natasha came into the bathroom and said that if I uttered a single word, she would strangle me with my own hands.
At breakfast, Yagoda ate meat and drank cognac.
“Verochka,” he said, “I’m happy that you found time to spend the evening with me, I hope not the last!” I would like to invite you to Zagorsk and Pereyaslavl. The three of us will go - you, me and Natasha, and we will invite Mikhail Nikolaevich Tukhachevsky to be the driver. – I choked from surprise. “Do you want to see the photographs,” my tormentor continued sarcastically, “the ones where you are sitting on the lap of this warrior?” If you behave badly, I will send them to Comrade Stalin. He collects documents of this kind.
- Please, stop mocking me. Why are you obsessed with me? There are so many in our theater beautiful ballerinas and singers.
- Thanks for the information, but at the moment I need you.
- And Natasha?
- She is my slave. I saved her from the gallows, and even now the rope is in my hands... I can tighten the noose at any moment. I hope you finally understand that you need to be on friendly terms with me?
I forced myself to answer:
- You are right, Genrikh Grigorievich!

NATALIA MOKROUSOVA

Bugrov, my new security guard, was officially listed as a prop master at the Bolshoi Theater. At the theater buffet he sat down at my table:
- What's happened? You look sick.
- I urgently need to see “Uncle Kolya”...
I got dressed, and the barman let me out through the service entrance. Bugrov and Arsentiev took me to some basement room of the Central Committee, where “Uncle Kolya” - Yezhov - was waiting for me along with Malenkov and Poskrebyshev.
“Comrade Davydov,” Yezhov asked formally, “did you want to meet with us?”
- Comrades, you are all in mortal danger!
The faces of those around them stretched out in surprise.
- After the concert at the electric lamp factory...
“We know that,” interrupted Malenkov, “they replaced your car.” Take your time, tell in detail what happened next.
I told them the beginning of my adventure, explaining who Natasha is.
“Just don’t put her in jail,” she warned, “otherwise she will understand that I let it slip.”
I was ashamed to talk about further events, but they insisted: “Vera Alexandrovna, we are your true friends, we are responsible for your safety to Comrade Stalin..."
I was forced to continue:
- Yagoda ordered me to go to his bedroom and said that this was not our last meeting. He threatened that he would settle accounts with everyone and especially with Comrade Stalin. He let it slip that Sergei Mironovich Kirov was killed on his orders. I beg you, save me! You have an army in your hands, and this pygmy is threatening a woman who is dear to Comrade Stalin... If my life is indifferent to you, I would rather poison myself than endure this.
- N-nda... the situation... - Yezhov coughed. - Comrades, what proposals will there be?
Poskrebyshev responded quietly:
- We will transfer Natalya Mokrousova to new job, suppose, to a factory. One fine day, while cleaning, she will fall into boiling water due to a violation of safety rules. Then we will “treat” it, the bird will sing...
- I give you three days to complete this operation. Those responsible are Poskrebyshev, Yezhov, Vlasik and Mehlis,” Malenkov ordered.
“Allow me to offer you the following information,” said Poskrebyshev.
- Let’s listen, Alexander Nikolaevich.
- Varvara Petrovna Kiryushkina, aka Natalya Mokrousova, Olga Peyarova, Maria Karpenko, Aleftina Rodimtseva and so on, was born in Nikolaev in 1910. Her mother ran a visiting house. She fled to Turkey and lives in Constantinople. Her father died at Perekop. After school, Natalya worked in a pharmacy, owned by two brothers. I lived with both of them. One day she robbed them and burned down the pharmacy. Then she organized a “raspberry” in Odessa on Debasovskaya, 19. She was engaged in smuggling with Turkey, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Romania. Fluent in German and French. In Vladivostok she was arrested for selling dog meat and ran away. In Omsk, she married a former tsarist officer involved in the fish trade. She killed her husband, chopped up his body and hid it in the basement in a barrel of pickles. She took all the valuables and set the house on fire. The second time she was arrested in Tambov, but she killed one of the guards and escaped. she soon showed up in Leningrad, and then under a different name in Moscow, where she sold drugs. Demyan Bedny became interested in her and recommended her to work in the Kremlin. So she became a masseuse. Soon she was identified and sent to Lubyanka. There her first “significant” meeting with Yagoda took place: the People’s Commissar made her his partner.
“Comrade Stalin should not know anything about this,” said Malenkov. – It is necessary to place round-the-clock security at Vera Alexandrovna’s doors. Yagoda needs to be given a new “fun”.

SEMYON MIKHAILOVICH BUDENNY

Stalin invited me to a New Year's reception on December 31st.
I was introduced to Khrushchev and Sholokhov - an unprepossessing man with bow legs. Yagoda arrived with his ugly wife and, leaving her in the company of Khrushchev, came up to me:
- Vera Alexandrovna, one of these sons of bitches scalded Natasha a couple of weeks ago, she is in great pain. Verochka, when will we see each other again? I really want you.
“After the premiere of “Sadko,” I promised only so that he would fall behind.
- I'll be patient.
Everyone left the reception together. I decided to walk, but a car stopped next to me, and the driver began to honk. Budyonny’s mustache could be seen behind the glass: “Verochka, sit down. Shall we go for a ride?”
I was indifferent to everything, I was disgusted with life, and, unexpectedly for myself, I agreed.
- To Peredelkino! – Budyonny cheerfully ordered the driver and suggested to me: “Shall we celebrate?”
- I agree, in New Year's Eve everything is possible!
Older soldiers served us. Semyon Mikhailovich explained:
- These are my former sergeants, they don’t want to part with me. Their whole life was spent in the army, they say that for them I am their own father... Verochka, please do me a favor: try my pickled cucumbers and mushrooms, here’s caviar, salmon with lemon. Drink vodka, don’t be shy, yesterday I received two boxes from the factory. After dinner we’ll have a hot bath, I’ll rub your back, you’ll rub mine...
Hearing this proposal, I immediately imagined the Kremlin bathhouse, Natasha, sticky Yagoda...
“Thank you,” she answered dryly, “I am clean.”
- Vera Alexandrovna, answer me honestly, without frills: can we talk “man to man”?
- Semyon Mikhailovich, I won’t be angry, you can say whatever you want.
- I have a family, a devoted, kind, good wife. She respects me and never argues with me. I have a large apartment in Moscow. This dacha is also mine. Big pension. I'm already old - I'm over sixty, but when I see you, my blood boils. I'm a simple man, but maybe we can understand each other. I divorce my wife, they will give me another apartment, Voroshilov will help - he respects me. You quit your job, your throat is too tender, you shouldn’t sing anymore for all these dogs who don’t understand a damn thing about art. You will have the most expensive fur coats. I will bring a battalion of soldiers who will fulfill all your wishes. Only one thing is required of you: do not turn away from me in bed.
Budyonny delivered this entire speech in a cheerful, joking tone.
- Thank you for your directness, I understand and respect your feelings, I appreciate your kindness. A woman is always pleased when she knows that she is loved, but I am married, and you know my husband...
Semyon Mikhailovich sighed, but continued in the same tone:
- Okay, we will live like this, you will become my mistress, you will come to me once a week. You won’t regret it, I can thank you... in every way.
- Semyon Mikhailovich, it’s time for me to go home, it’s getting light.
- How many days will you think about it? – Budyonny did not yield.
“Maybe a month, maybe two,” I answered jokingly.
- Parfen! take our famous guest to Moscow. -Can I kiss you? – he asked when I got dressed.
-Only on the cheek.
The dashing cavalryman hugged me with such force that all the buttons of his tunic flew off.
- How sweet you are, my filly! Just let me ride you...” he said, licking his lips, and walked me to the car.
At home I had a note from Tukhachevsky waiting for me, he asked me to call urgently.
- Verochka, dear, where have you gone? I was very nervous.
Laughing, she answered:
- You all disappeared somewhere. My husband left with a busty weaver, and I was taken to the dacha by the “chief cavalryman” - Budyonny.
An hour later he was with me, completely confused:
- I’m surprised, why do you need this extravagant mustache?
- Misha, don’t be jealous. This is just another fan in my retinue. You know, Semyon Mikhailovich absolutely seriously proposed marriage to me. Don't be angry, please! I'm already exhausted by this vile life.

MIKHAIL IVANOVICH KALININ

Once, when I was at the dacha in Kuntsevo, Stalin received a call from the checkpoint.
- Who has arrived?... Kalinin... let me in.
- Should I leave? – I asked.
- Stay, Verochka. The "ass fool" arrived, entangled in dirty deeds due to the fact that he cannot miss a single skirt. If you are interested, then I will tell you in more detail the ins and outs of this “celestial being”.
Kalinin entered, greeting Stalin like a soldier. It was obvious that he couldn't see well
- Sit down, Mikhail Ivanovich. What's new? What's the urgency?
- Sorry, Joseph Vissarionovich, but I’m unfamiliar with this beautiful lady...
- Do you have sclerosis, Mikhail Ivanovich? Don't you recognize the pride of the Bolshoi Theater?
“How can you…” Kalinin kissed my hand. - I'm happy to meet you! Please contact me, here is my phone number, I am always at your disposal.
Stalin said reproachfully:
- Either he doesn’t recognize him, or he immediately invites you to visit!
“Iosif Vissarionovich,” the old pretender changed the subject, “today the radio broadcast three times the resolution of the Central Committee on strengthening the fight against child crime.
- In a week, give me the exact numbers of arrested adult relatives of criminals. They need to be imprisoned for a long time so that they learn to work. A child is not born a criminal - his parents are to blame for his crimes. Mobilize the press, radio, cinema. Re-education is the task of our party.
Kalinin left, and Stalin called the waitress:
- Prepare fried trout with potatoes.
- It will be served in ten minutes.
While we were waiting, Stalin said the following.
- One day a woman came from another city with a request to Kalinin. Seeing her daughter in the corridor, Kalinin fulfilled her request and invited them to live in Moscow at the Metropol Hotel. One day, under the pretext of a tour of Moscow, he took his daughter to his dacha and raped her. The mother turned out to be a close relative of the major military leader Yegorov. To hush up the scandal, Kalinin gave this woman a large sum of money. But we taught him a lesson: thirty of his relatives were exiled to Verkhoyansk. Now he is meek as a lamb. This is how the disciples and associates of the great Lenin work!
- Comrade Stalin, thank you for your trust...
“If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t tell this story.”
Later, I learned about another tragedy, the culprit of which was Kalinin.
He really liked ballerinas and often went to the theater. It must be said that the young ballerinas, knowing his power, completely flirted with him. Mikhail Ivanovich gave them chocolate, imported linen, and invited them to dinner. In anticipation of gifts, they did not refuse him small liberties and kisses on the neck.
One day, Kalinin became seriously interested in sixteen-year-old ballerina Bella Uvarova. The director of the ballet school did everything to protect the girl, but Kalinin followed her everywhere.
Bella's father was an engineer, worked in the People's Commissariat, her mother was a translator, she knew several European languages. Bella danced with four years. Then she began to study choreography and staged ballet sketches herself. One day, without telling her parents, she called alone famous ballerina and asked me to look at it. The ballerina really liked Bella and she helped her enter the choreographic school. The Bolshoi Theater pinned its hopes on Uvarova.
Bella Uvarova disappeared two weeks after meeting Kalinin. Only a month later, Bella’s mutilated corpse was found in a forest near Moscow. The girl was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery. An investigation began, which established that after the performance, on the day of her disappearance, some unknown people forcibly put Bella into a car and drove away. The family saw Bella at Kalinin's dacha, judging by the photograph of the girl they identified...
The management of the Bolshoi Theater turned to Comrade Stalin for help. It was absolutely by chance that the complaint fell directly into his hands. A commission was created consisting of Malenkov, Yezhov, Poskrebyshev, Mehlis. Kalinin was pretty battered, but Stalin really needed him, and these saints saved the old rapist: they sent him on a long vacation “for treatment.”
Soon the Izvestia newspaper published a report about acts of sabotage in industry organized by English spies. Among the “spies” were the parents of the unfortunate Bella.

TUKHACHEVSKY AND STALIN

During a tour in Kyiv, after the performance, I met Tukhachevsky in a restaurant. He came to inspect the Kyiv Military District.
Tukhachevsky managed to get rid of his personal guard and driver, and we went to the village to one of his distant relatives. I told him about the arrest of Kamenev and Zinoviev.
- What else is going on?
- Stalin is preparing a decree on conferring marshal ranks.
- When will it be signed?
- Don't know.
- They won’t assign me a marshal. Stalin has been sharpening his grudge against me for a long time.
- Misha, he needs you!
- Do you know something?
- Oh, there are so many rumors going around...
- Vera Alexandrovna, we see each other so rarely!
- But, Misha, you don’t love me! They say that you have mistresses in every city.
- Who told you this? – Tukhachevsky got angry. - Who? I'll take him to clean water! – He took my hand and whispered: “I only need you, I dream about you every night.” What happened in youth is gone...
I asked him why Kirov was killed.
“Sergei Mironovich is not the first and not the last victim of Stalin,” he said gloomily. – I hope you won’t betray me?
- Don't speak if you're afraid!
- Don’t be angry, Verochka, scary time Now. I realized a long time ago what Stalin was. This bandy-legged pygmy imagines himself as Napoleon. In his youth, Joseph Dzhugashvili joined a nationalist organization, where he remained until 1917. And then, without a twinge of conscience, he betrayed his comrades-in-arms to Vyacheslav Menzhinsky.
Now I will settle accounts with him! Don't look at me so surprised. Stalin was afraid of Kirov, afraid that he would take his place. Is there a dictator who will give up power on his own? For many years, Kirov supported Lenin. At all meetings, the fearless Kirov sought a ban on repression and a reduction in the number of camps. In 1921, on Lenin’s initiative, Kirov was elected secretary of the Central Committee of Azerbaijan. After 5 years, Stalin recommended him for the post of secretary of the Leningrad party organization, in place of his former protégés Zinoviev and Evdokimov. Kirov became the master of Leningrad: he did not take Stalin into account at all and independently solved the most serious problems.
Joseph Vissarionovich seeks only to strengthen his usurper power and uncontrollably leads this huge country. He surpassed even the Roman emperors in immorality; after Lenin’s death, he consistently got rid of his opponents and supported his supporters with all his might. The people's love for him rests on fear. And he constantly invents new methods of strengthening this love.
- And you, Mishenka, who are you? Sorry for the direct question, but do you consider yourself better than Stalin’s hangers-on?
- It’s hard to talk about myself: I also shot people who did not accept the revolution.
- So where are your feelings of mercy, pity, shame?
- In all my actions I was guided, first of all, by civic duty. There is no place for sentimentality in the fight for justice.
- You are a nobleman, an aristocrat, a former white officer, how did you decide to change all this? I’m asking you so directly, without any pretense, because I love you, I love you for the first time in my life.
Tukhachevsky was breathing heavily and unbuttoned his collar. We went out into the garden.
- Verochka, you asked me a terrible question! I will open my whole soul to you. You and I are very close, but life will separate us. You know, this is even better for me. You have to pay for mistakes. What do I have in common with these dark men Voroshilov and Budyonny? They climbed up and pretended to be colonels. I, a highly educated, professional military man, depend on the mood of any stupid people’s commissar. And nothing can be done, the Stalinist bureaucratic apparatus cannot be broken... That's it, the movie is over!
- Misha, what should we do?
- Be patient... and wait for the end.

GEORGE MAKSIMILIANOVICH MALENKOV

Having received an invitation to Malenkov’s birthday, I went to buy him a pair of Ukrainian embroidered shirts as a gift. I hail a taxi, and then he pulls up. He offered to get into the car, and we quickly drove to his dacha in Serebryany Bor. The owner there was his wife Golubtsova, who recently, thanks to the support of the party, received a doctorate technical sciences– without defending a dissertation – and management of the Moscow Energy Institute. The hero of the occasion himself refused for the sake of party work higher education.
Among the guests were Mikoyan, Voroshilov, Kaganovich, Yezhov, Poskrebyshev, Ordzhonikidze, Andreev, Shvernik.
“Vera Alexandrovna, I’m happy that you came,” Malenkov said.
- Thank you, and I am glad to meet you at home.
“Let’s leave the guests and talk,” he took me by the arm, and we went out onto the terrace. It was a quiet night.
“Vera Alexandrovna,” Malenkov broke the silence, “I’ve been thinking about you for a long time, I’m interested in your life.”
- I don’t understand what you mean?
- In other words, we are talking about a declaration of love.
- Oh, for God's sake, don't... Please! I'm tired of listening to declarations of love, the most sincere, marriage proposals!
Thirty-three-year-old Malenkov resembled a fat tame bear.
“I’ll be honest,” he continued slowly, “I won’t leave you behind, it’s stronger than me.” By the way, Stalin’s latest hobby is the singer Zlatogorova, she has already visited him three times. Sometimes he remembers his old affections: a week ago Valeria Vladimirovna Barsova visited him. You won’t remain faithful to him in such a situation, will you?
- Georgy Maximilianovich, you shock me! Let's return to the guests, and we will continue our conversation another time, with me, especially since I have a lot to tell you.
Malenkov grabbed my hand and didn’t let go for a long time:
- Today is the most joyful day for me, I feel that with you I will be happy!
- During the evening, Yezhov and Poskrebyshev took turns making appointments with me and promising that everything would remain secret.
I sang five romances and Carmen's aria. At dawn, returning home tiredly, I found in my coat pocket an envelope with money and a receipt: “Fees for a government concert: 500 rubles.”

STALIN'S THREATS

All night I read "Quiet Don" by Sholokhov. The Bolshoi Theater was going to stage an opera by Ivan Dzerzhinsky based on this novel, and I got the part of Aksinya. From the first pages of the novel I was struck by life Don Cossacks: fathers rape their daughters, husbands beat their wives, everyone drinks, criminals write laws, superstitious Cossacks are cut off from the world, do not understand the goals of the wars in which they participate, despise their neighbors - Ukrainian and Russian peasants.
In the morning, Stalin’s chauffeur Alyosha Bugrov came to pick me up. A young maid greeted me: “My name is Valya, Valentina Ivanovna. You will have to wait.”
Stalin knew how to make his guests wait, and I was no exception. Finally he appeared and greeted me with a threatening coldness.
“Valechka, give me some wine and fruit,” he said, sitting down in a chair, and turned to me: “I know about all your affairs.”
Such an introduction did not promise anything good. He looked at me gloomily and smoked his pipe.
- I went to Semyon Budyonny’s dacha, you travel with Tukhachevsky, you sleep with Yagoda, you visited Malenkov... Tell me, Vera Alexandrovna, what should I do with you? What are you, slutty? Should I put you in jail? It won't fix you. I was in prison and, as you can see, I haven’t changed.
I was scared to death.
Snapping his fingers, he continued:
- You’re silent, does that mean it’s true?
- Joseph Vissarionovich, do with me what you want, just leave me alone. I'm tired of making excuses all the time.
Stalin grinned:
“Great, I like that you’re not afraid,” he called and Valechka appeared. “Give us dinner,” he ordered her. I refused. Stalin quipped: “What, even your wonderful appetite has disappeared?” Apparently you're in lately really tired, we will urgently need to send you to rest.
I was shaking: he could send me to a resort, or he could send me to prison, or to a camp, and no one would help me.
“Verochka, don’t be afraid,” Stalin unexpectedly said affectionately, “you will go to Sukhumi, where my friend Lakoba will take care of you.”
I drank the cognac in one gulp.
- Bravo, Vera Alexandrovna! “He who knows how to drink, knows how to love,” as the Russian philosopher Alexander Ivanovich Herzen said. Well, now, after exchanging pleasantries, let’s go and relax: a surprise awaits you.
In the bedroom, Stalin took out an engraved box.
- Please, this is for your wonderful Lyubava!
- Joseph Vissarionovich, I cannot accept such a valuable gift.
Stalin was offended.
- I was able to take five hundred rubles for three songs, and maybe for something else, from Malenkov...
In order not to quarrel and to please him, I put on a gold watch, a ring and earrings with diamonds, hugged and kissed him.
- Thank you, darling! With or without a gift, you are always the most desirable man for me, my lord.
- This is the first time I’ve heard this from you, Verochka! I need your caresses, your hands. We haven't seen each other for a long time, and I'm angry and nervous. I will try not to torment you, Verochka.
My fate was in his hands. Time passed, and Stalin became more and more jealous. The information that his hangers-on gave him was often false. I had to act out fiery passion.
Emboldened, I once rushed into the attack.
“Iosif Vissarionovich,” I said dryly, “you constantly lecture me, but you yourself accept women.” They also inform me: you don’t forget Barsova, you made friends with Bronislava Zlatogorova and, if I’m not mistaken, you didn’t ignore the delicious Valechka...
Stalin burst out laughing, demonstrating rotten teeth– I didn’t treat it, I was terrified of pain.
- Where does such awareness come from? Possessing a woman is natural for a man. There should be as many of them as he wants. Lermontov wrote to Raevsky: “My friend, if not you, then someone else will. It’s better to be first than second.” Verochka, my sunshine, I love you! – and kissed me impulsively. “I’m not calling, I’m trying to forget you.” But I can’t live without a woman, you can’t go against nature. Here's my direct phone number, but don't tell it to anyone and don't call often. You will go on vacation to Sukhumi, relax at Lakoba’s and, if you want, you can also relax in Sochi.
- Joseph Vissarionovich, believe me, I am very touched by your concern, but understand me: I live in constant fear, I am afraid of people from your circle, I could be imprisoned, killed - and there will be no trace left.
Stalin sighed and his gaze became cold.
- Tell me who? I'll talk to each one separately.
- Yagoda – he terrorizes me more than anyone else.
- This scoundrel has been playing with death for a long time. I'll shake the soul out of him!

Once again I ask myself the question: could I - not a heroic, but an ordinary woman - could I change anything? I'm not making excuses for myself, but there were people who did much worse than me.
These lustful men from the government literally attacked me from all sides, I received invitations to breakfasts, lunches, dinners and car rides. Budyonny became more and more insistent, Malenkov called constantly, and the blind Kalinin was annoying. Voroshilov and the hunchbacked dwarf Yezhov reminded us of himself. Even Stalin’s faithful secretary, the pockmarked Poskrebyshev, offered me his “services.” And above this pack is Tukhachevsky. The only man I loved... But at the pinnacle of power was Stalin. In this kaleidoscope, I was forced to maneuver, promise, smile, deceive and play in order to win or survive.
My boat floated without a sail for a long time, and the waves carried me out to the open sea... What will happen next? Don't know. And I don't want to know.

Rich and powerful men have always been partial to ballerinas. One of the central TV channels broadcast a television series about ballet and ballerinas “ Palm Sunday" Indeed, at all times among ballerinas it was considered not only shameful, but even prestigious to have powerful persons as patrons. And the male half of humanity - both in the time of Pushkin and in the era of the USSR - was often carried away by girls in tutus.

Fouette on the table

The dancer Avdotya Istomina, glorified by Pushkin, could not choose which of her fans to prefer - cavalry guard Vasily Sheremetev or Count Alexander Zavadovsky. As a result, the rivals staged a duel, Sheremetev died.

The most famous admirer of one of the brightest ballet stars of the 20th century - Matilda Kshesinskaya - was Tsarevich Nicholas II. When he was crowned on the throne, the ballerina had a new guardian - Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, then Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich and his son Andrei.


The Bolsheviks, having come to power, also did not disdain the “lordly” hobby and actively began to visit ballet performances. Joseph Vissarionovich himself loved to go to the Bolshoi Theater to admire how he danced close friend Olga Lepeshinskaya. And then, after the end of the production, he gave Prima a ride home in a government car. Often he left Lepeshinskaya already in the morning. The leader often brought with him part of his retinue to performances, among which there were also many lovers of beauty.

One of the most famous admirers of ballet and ballerinas was the “All-Union Elder” Mikhail Kalinin. Stalin called him “a lustful all-Union goat” for this. Kalinin, as they say, invited girls to his office and forced them to spin fouettés in what their mother gave birth to right on his desk. According to rumors, one of the ballerinas that Kalinin had his eye on, Bella Uvarova, refused to participate in his “castings”. Kalinin came from all sides, but the girl was unapproachable. One day, Uvarova’s body was found not far from Moscow, and Kalinin was then sent on an unplanned vacation.

It’s impossible to count how many ballerinas were in Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria’s bed. From time to time he stopped by the Bolshoi Theater to watch the ballerinas warm up and choose something “new” for himself.


But not only female ballerinas were friends with the authorities. The famous dancer Maris Liepa was Galina Brezhneva's lover, although at that time he had been happily married for a long time. Their romance lasted five years, and all this time Maris promised Galina to divorce his wife in order to formalize their relationship. But he never kept his promises. Brezhneva, all this time, helped him in his career, hoping that her lover would appreciate her efforts and understand that she was the woman of his life. “Every man who became a close friend of Brezhneva, of course, could not help but think about her capabilities. And they used it,” Roy Medvedev is sure.

Fame and arthritis

In the late 1970s - early 1980s. Among the party elite, the fashion for romances with ballerinas has passed. But a new trend has appeared - to send your children and grandchildren to ballet. Ksenia Gorbacheva, the granddaughter of Mikhail Gorbachev, studied ballet for ten years at the most prestigious ballet school in the country. “I never became a ballerina, but I got knees that ache in bad weather and arthritis,” says Ksenia.


The granddaughter of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Yuri Andropov, Tatyana, graduated from ballet school and was hired by the Bolshoi Theater. But she also did not become a famous ballerina. She got married and moved to the USA, where she took up teaching activities. Alisa Khazanova, daughter of Gennady Khazanov, also tried her hand at the Bolshoi. But an injury prevented her from becoming a prima singer. Now Khazanova is building a career in cinema.

Its creators decided to show not only the “beautiful wrapper”, but also the other side of this art, talking about the behind-the-scenes intrigues and romances of ballerinas with influential men. Nastya Vinokur became famous as a ballerina thanks to her father, Vladimir Vinokur. After all, it was he who told on many television broadcasts what a talented daughter he had. And recently he began to show off a tattoo on his arm of Nastya in a tutu.

Nastya Vinokur’s friend Lola Kochetkova, the daughter of authoritative businessman Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov, did not immediately get into the Bolshoi Theater, despite her father’s AiF.”

I wanted to dance at the Bolshoi Theater. But for the first time in the history of Russian ballet, a graduate who passed the state exams with all A’s was not accepted. And not because I am special, but because of intrigue: the then director of the Bolshoi Theater, Vladimir Vasiliev, had a conflict with the rector of our academy, Sofia Golovkina. Vasiliev told me that I short, so I don’t fit.” But in the end, Lola was still accepted into the Bolshoi Theater.

Nowadays, ballet girls are considered a good match and marry influential businessmen. Prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater Irma Nioradze became the wife of philanthropist and winemaker Gochu Chkhaidze.

Maris Liepa's daughter Ilze is married to oilman Vladislav Paulus.

And Anastasia Volochkova was courted by philanthropist Anzori Aksentyev, and oil tycoon Vyacheslav Leibman (Volochkova recaptured him from Ksyusha Sobchak), and construction magnate Sergei Polonsky. And the disgraced businessman Mikhail Zhivilo, while still “in law,” gave Nastya luxurious gifts. Businessman Suleiman Kerimov left his passion Natalya Vetlitskaya for the sake of Volochkova’s attention. And the last admirer of Volochkova’s talent and her husband Igor Vdovin left his wife and three children for the blond beauty. Art is art, and the passions around ballet are the most mundane...

Valentina Yakubovskaya