Vera Volkova Biography

It was the turn of Vera Volkova. She was not a manager and organizer, but a brilliant teacher who changed the face of the Danish ballet and the creative fate of numerous brilliant students. Photo from the collection of the authors of the photo from the collection of the authors of the Canal Vera Nikolaevna Volkova was born in a noble family, studied at the Smolny Institute, but let's look at the date of her birth - May 31 of the year - and it will become obvious to us that the Smolinka will be quite early and predictable for the life of the Smolyanka by the fatal events of Russian history.

So it happened. The revolution began, and the Volkov family was once prosperous in the hungry and freezing Petrograd without a livelihood.

It was then that Verochka came to mind that you can earn a living with dancing. She fell in love with dancing in Smolny, although she hardly thought about making it with her calling. Surprisingly, the cultural life in Petrograd continued in the year, and creative workers could count on good rations. But in order to dance professionally, Volkova had to study, and she entered the ballet school, led by the philosopher and critic Akim Volynsky, and taught in it Nikolai Legat, Olga Preobrazhenskaya, Maria Romanova and Agrippina Vaganova.

Volkova did not become an outstanding performer, but the views of Volynsky, who believed that there should be an absolute idea behind every ballet, and Vaganova’s method, which was formed before her eyes, determined a lot in her professional life. Like many people in their position, the Volkov family from the very beginning of the revolution thought about emigration, but for various reasons this intention could not be realized in any way.

However, in the year Vera Volkova realized: now or never. The political regime was tightened, everything went to the fact that soon the borders would close completely. And Volkova decided. It was no longer possible to leave the country across the western border, as another famous ballet emigrant Serge Lifar did it, and Volkova chose another path - through the Chinese city of Harbin, which before the revolution was in a joint Russian -Chinese possession, and in the year had a special status.

The Volkova family remained in Leningrad, but the dancers - Sergey Toropov, with whom she had a novel, and Grigory Goncharov, emigrated with her. Trinity did not stay in Harbin. Their plan was to get to Europe, but they did not have money for such a trip, and they settled in Shanghai, which was then a cosmopolitan and rich city with a violent rhythm of life.

Many foreigners lived in it, traditional Chinese quarters coexisted with European ones, where at every step there were chic hotels, restaurants, night clubs. Shanghai in the years. Photo from the Internet Shanghai in the years. A trio of Russian dancers performed a photo from the Internet in these clubs and a cabaret, but the earnings were not enough not only to move to Europe, but also for life, and they worked part-time.

Volkova found a place in the store of a ladies' dress, and Goncharov began to give dance lessons. Once Volkova happened to meet with one of his students - a summer English girl named Peggy Hukham. Time will pass, and this girl will become a student of Volkova herself, but under a different name under which the whole world knows her today, Margo Fontaine. In the meantime, Vera Volkova was busy with a painful survival.

In unusual climate and among poverty and deprivation, she fell ill, but could not afford treatment. Her condition became threatening when a true miracle occurred. Volkova met the English businessman Hugh Finch Williams. They fell in love with each other, and Finch Williams paid for Volkova’s treatment and ultimately arranged a visa to her and took her with him to England.

This happened in the year. In the year, having settled the formalities with the documents of the Volkova emigrant, they got married. Vera Volkova and her husband Hugh Finch Williams. The photo from the collection of the authors of the channel seemed that the emigrant, barely spoke English, was doomed to be an eternal housewife, but Vera Volkova did not fit such a life. She began to vigorously look for her occupation, even tried to return to the ballet scene, but during her illness she lost her shape, and now she was already 30 - too late to start again.

In addition, as we recall, she was not an outstanding ballerina even in the best years. However, pretty soon she found her genuine calling - to teach others, conveying to them the knowledge and skills that she herself acquired from her outstanding teachers.