Dr Christina Ezrahi
Dr Christina Ezrahi
Christina Ezrahi is an award-winning historian of Soviet cultural politics and Russian ballet. Before undertaking her doctoral studies at University College London, she studied International Relations at the universities of Princeton and Oxford, and worked in Moscow for the United Nations. Her first book, Swans of the Kremlin: Ballet and Power in Soviet Russia (University of Pittsburgh Press) was awarded the 2017 prize for Best Dance Book published in France. Christina appears in the media as an expert on the relationship between Russian politics and ballet and has recently acted as historical advisor to Ralph Fiennes on a film about Rudolf Nureyev. Born in Munich, Christina lives in Berlin with her husband and two children, and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She is also a trained classical dancer.
Books
Dancing for Stalin: A Dancer’s Story of Courage and Survival in Soviet Russia
Rights
Endorsements
Shattering, cinematic and brave.
Nina Anisimova's story is extraordinary – heroic and harrowing in equal measure, a snapshot of the best and worst of Stalin's Russia – and Christina Ezrahi does it vivid, gripping justice.
Christina Ezrahi vividly charts this brutal and uplifting story, bringing alive an extraordinary resourcefulness and determination to survive.
Christina Ezrahi has uncovered a remarkable, untold episode in Soviet ballet history, which she brings to life through her customary rigorous research, clarity of expression and elegance of prose.
An inspiring tale of survival against the odds. Ezrahi's diligent scholarship casts much-needed light on ballet history's darkest chapter.
Synopsis
An innocent woman sent to the Gulag. A passion that gave her the will to survive.
Nina Anisimova was one of Russia's most renowned ballerinas and one of the first Soviet female choreographers. Yet few knew that her exemplary career concealed a dark secret.
In 1938, at the height of Stalin's Great Terror, Nina was arrested by the secret police, accused of being a Nazi spy and sentenced to forced labour in a camp in Kazakhstan. Trapped without hope – and without winter clothes in temperatures of minus 40 degrees – her art was her salvation, giving her a reason to fight for her life.
As Nina struggled to survive in the Gulag, her husband fought for her release in Leningrad. Against all odds, she was ultimately freed and astonishingly managed to return to her former life, just as war broke out. Despite wartime deprivation and the suffocating grip of Stalin's totalitarian state, Nina's irrepressible determination set her on the path to become an icon of the Kirov Ballet.
A remarkable true story of suffering and injustice, of courage, resilience and triumph.