A Great Find

As you’ll know by now, I have a particular interest in the Ballets Russes, particularly the first Serge de Diaghilev period of 1909-1929. And so I was excited to find this 1909 footage of Maria Alexandra Baldina (1885-1977) and Theodore Kosloff aka Fyodor Kozlov (1882-1956), her husband, performing ‘Valse Caprice’, a pas de deux created by Nikolai Legat to music by Anton Rubinstein. The ballerina (variously known as Alexandra Baldina and Maria Baldina) appeared with Tamara Karsavina, Vaslav Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova in ‘Les Sylphides’ at the work’s 1909 premiere with the company at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Baldina was the Waltz Girl. Koslov also had a brief association with the Ballets Russes in 1909, from where it was said he stole the choreography for a number of ballets created for the company. The dancer went to America in 1909, extending his work to film and stage acting, choreographing ballets and for broadways shows and teaching. He famously appeared as Azte