Autumn is the time to return to the theatre. We would like to open the new season with an amazing story: here are postcards from the museum Collection repository featuring Vera Karalli (1889-1972), one of the brilliant ballerinas of the Bolshoi Theatre of the early 20^th century. 

Karalli graduated from the Moscow Choreographic School in 1906, under the tutelage of Alexander Gorsky and became a soloist at the Bolshoi Theatre almost immediately. Gorsky discovered a rare gift in her: not just virtuosic technique, but the ability to transform movement into a living, dramatic story. Her signature style became that of a "ballerina-actress." 

Karalli’s repertoire featured numerous star roles, including Odette-Odile, Giselle, Aurora, Nikiya, Kitri, Raymonda, and Liza. However, her true signature role was Aspicia in "The Pharaoh's Daughter"– a grand 1862 ballet by Marius Petipa set to the music of Cesare Pugni. In 1905, Gorsky staged his own bold and daring version of the ballet production in Moscow, inspired by recent archaeological discoveries in Egypt. Interestingly, at the premiere, the role of Aspicia was danced by Anna Pavlova, who had arrived specifically from St. Petersburg, sharing the stage with Karalli – a rare moment of rivalry between two future legends. 

It gets even more interesting. Gorsky created roles for Karalli that had never existed before: the priestess Tanit in "Salammbô", Anitra in the oriental extravaganza "Nur and Anitra", and Eunice in the ballet "Eunice and Petronius" set to the music of Chopin. These exotic, mythological heroines allowed her to break away from memorized canons and invent an entirely new character of movement. 

A 1916 postcard captioned "The 5^th Symphony" deserves special attention – it is based on Gorsky's ballet of the same name to the music of Glazunov. Shepherds and shepherdesses of Ancient Greece, staged "in the à la Duncan style"– wearing sandals or completely barefoot. On the postcard, we see a light dress with loose folds and antique elongated silhouette: one can feel the direct influence of Isadora Duncan's aesthetics, which had just conquered the Russian stage. 

Other cards showcase completely different plastic language, featuring a fur cape and intricate headdress. This sense of decorativeness resonates with particular strength in photography, where captured motion is transformed into a graphic composition, and the costume and pose define the heroine's character even before the dance begins. 

Karalli’s connection to Mikhail Fokine is defined by the famous "The Dying Swan" set to the music of Saint-Saëns – a piece he originally created for Anna Pavlova, but which soon entered Karalli’s repertoire as well; Moscow critics wrote that in this miniature, she at times even eclipsed Pavlova herself. Later, in 1909, during Diaghilev’s legendary first Parisian season, Karalli danced Armide in "Le Pavillon d'Armide" alongside Vaslav Nijinsky as her partner. However, the triumph was short-lived: just a few days later, Pavlova arrived in Paris and took over the role, prompting Karalli to return to Russia. 

These postcards serve as a momentary testament to the era when the rigid academic standards were giving way to a new, free understanding of the stage, and Vera Karalli was among those, who shaped this transformation.