logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2021
58m 40s

How a ballerina survived the Gulag

IMMEDIATE MEDIA
About this episode

Christina Ezrahi speaks to Elinor Evans about the story of Nina Anisimova, one of the most famous ballerinas in Stalin’s Soviet Union. After being arrested for supposed counter-revolutionary activity, Anisimova was transported to a forced labour camp, only to make a remarkable return to the stage.

 

(Ad) Christina Ezrahi is the author of Dancing for Stalin: A Dancer’s Story of Courage and Survival in Soviet Russia (Elliott & Thompson Ltd, 2021). Buy it now from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dancing-Stalin-Dancers-Courage-Survival/dp/1783965576#:~:text=Dancing%20for%20Stalin%20is%20a,of%20courage%2C%20resilience%20and%20triumph.&text=of%20Bolshoi%20Confidential-,Nina%20Anisimova%20was%20one%20of%20Russia's%20most%20renowned%20ballerinas%20and,career%20concealed%20a%20dark%20secret./?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-viewingguide


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Up next
Jul 10
Live Aid: pop's Big Bang moment
It may be hard to believe for those of you who can remember it, but this month marks the 40th anniversary of the iconic music extravaganza that was LiveAid. David Hepworth co-presented the BBC's coverage of the event, a role that gave him a ringside seat at Queen's celebrated per ... Show More
34m 26s
Jul 8
Exploring the medieval world with Marco Polo
You may be familiar with the name of Marco Polo – the 13th-century Venetian merchant who travelled along the Silk Road, journeyed through Asia and spent time at the court of Mongol emperor Kublai Khan. Famously, he documented his experiences in a detailed account that has inspire ... Show More
44m 59s
Jul 7
The Mitford Sisters | 1 : life of the week
For much of the 20th century, six sisters from Britain’s minor aristocracy had a knack for making headline after scandalous headline. They were Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica and Deborah Mitford. Now, the sisters' incredible shared story has been adapted into a TV drama cal ... Show More
49m 28s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2024
The Dark History of Ballet
Whilst ballet is undoubtedly one of the most graceful and elegant art forms, it also has a long and dark history of sexual exploitation. How did King Louis XIV's love of the ballet fundamentally change it? What was the patronage system and how did dancers use it to their advantag ... Show More
55m 32s
May 2023
Living Behind the Iron Curtain
This week David talks to Katja Hoyer and Lea Ypi about life under communism. East Germany was the most successful of the communist states of Eastern Europe, measured by economic prosperity and sporting success. Did the GDR ever really offer a model of how Soviet-style communism c ... Show More
57m 31s
Feb 2023
Svetlana! Svetlana! The Strange Life of Josef Stalin's Daughter, with Dan Kitrosser
As the daughter of Josef Stalin, it's safe to say Svetlana Iosifovna Alliluyeva was never destined for a normal life. Still, no one could have predicted the bizarre globe-trotting adventures she would take as she escaped the Soviet Union and became the world's most famous defecto ... Show More
38m 39s
Aug 2023
The Romanov Daughters - Olga, Tatiana, Maria & Anastasia
The daughters of Tsar Nikolai II of Russia and his wife Alexandra Feodrovna were born into the wealthiest royal family in the world. Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia had glittering futures ahead of them with the prospects of marrying the grandest royals in Europe and living the ... Show More
41m 19s
Jun 2023
Wagner vs Putin: A History of Russian Coups
On the 24th of June, 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin and his paramilitary group Wagner carried out what appeared to be an attempted coup in Russia. In a seismic turn of events, his mercenaries marched across the Russian border without resistance and seized key military installations in t ... Show More
24m 40s
Apr 2024
137. Empress Theodora: Making Heaven on Earth
The Empress Theodora is often unfairly remembered for the salacious stories that have been told about her when she was forced to work in a brothel. She was far more than that. She used her power to improve the fortunes of women who were unfortunate enough to go through the same s ... Show More
55m 37s
Mar 2020
Isadora Duncan
Isadora was the purest of unconventional free spirits and one of history's most unique dance innovators. Many people only know how she died, but how she lived is a much more inspiring and fascinating story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 
1h 20m
Jan 2024
Russian ballerina defects to the west
In 1970, Natalia Makarova became the first female ballet star to defect to the West from Russia.The dancer claimed asylum during a UK tour, nine years after another Russian dancer, Rudolf Nureyev, had defected.Natalia later joined the American Ballet Theatre in New York. She woul ... Show More
9m 12s
Mar 2024
Что в голове у либералов?
Дворянин, богач, либерал Евстафий Любанский — приличнейший человек, с какой стороны ни посмотри. Он прогрессивен, он любезен, у него прекрасная жена, и самое высокое общество (включая семью губернатора) собирается у него на балах в Лошицкой усадьбе. Однако именно он в 1905-м году ... Show More
44m 41s
Jan 2024
The Life and Death of Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin died just over 100 years ago, on the 21st of February, 1924. The Russian revolutionary leader fought in no battles, spent much of his time in libraries and was in his 40s before he held high public office. Yet he managed to take over one of the world's largest empi ... Show More
36m 46s