Yekaterina Geltzer (1876-1962)
Many of the dancers who performed with the Ballets Russes did not become household names, but I have always said that every dancer who has appeared on a stage has in some way shaped the dance we enjoy today. It is hard to say why some names are remembered and others are lost in the archives. Perhaps it helps if you were involved in some scandal, or you died in a bizarre way!
Yekaterina Geltzer also a star at the Bolshoi, appeared briefly with the Ballets Russes 1910 and at the Metropolitan Opera in 1912 before resuming her career later that year in Russia where she remained until 1930, as the highest ranking Soviet dancer. She created the role of Tao-Hoa, the chief character, in an early Soviet ballet classic, The Red Poppy.
(First published August 1995)