Anatole Obouhkoff (1895-1962)
Anatole Obouhkoff was born in St. Petersburg in 1895. He was a student at the Imperial School in St. Petersburg and graduated in 1913. He became premier danseur in 1917 of the Russian State Theatre, Petrograd.* Obouhkoff left Russia in 1920 to dance with the Bucharest Opera and Ballet Romanoff's Romantic Ballet. He was instrumental in getting Nemtchinova and Dolin to form their own company. Later, Obouhkoff and Nemtchinova married and the couple danced with the Kaunas Ballet. He joined René Blum's Ballet Russe in 1935, and Col. de Basil's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1939. Obouhkoff was considered one of the best danseur nobles of his time.
He came to America in 1940 and became a most loved and feared teacher at the School of American Ballet. .
Obouhkoff died in 1962 and is still missed by many. Vera Nemtchinova died in 1984. They were both great teachers. Many of my readers have had the pleasure of taking classes with Nemtchinova and/or Obouhkoff.
(First published December 1995)