Born in St Petersburg in 1904, Nathalie Poutiatine took classes with Tamara Karsavina and Felia Dubrovska at her home on Millionaya Street. Like so many of her compatriots, Poutiatine escaped her homeland in April 1919, following the uprising of the Bolsheviks and the assassination of Tsar Nicholas II in 1917, and the abdication of Grand Duke Michael Alexsandrovich signed at the Poutiatine’s house in March 1919. Together with her mother Princess Olga, her aunt Catherine and uncle Michael, Poutiatine arrived on the SS Bermudian on April 25, 1919 and remained in Malta until 1921. Poutiatine continued her music and dance once she settled in Paris. She studied under the acclaimed Russian teacher Lubov Egorova between 1921 and 1926, hoping to perform with Anna Pavlova’s company on return from the Australian tour. In 1927 she returned to Malta following her marriage to Edgar Tabone.

Poutiatine first appeared in La Danse de la Tsarevna (Little Humpbacked Horse, 1864) at the Royal Opera House (Valletta, Malta) in a celebratory concert for the birthday of King George V on June 02, 1929. Between 1930 and 1939, Poutiatine gave annual concerts at the Royal Opera House.

Poutiatine in Danse de la Tsarevna du “Ballet Konek Gobunok”,1929. Postcard to Lino Grech, undated). Courtesy of Margarita Gass.

She began teaching students and used the stage as an extension of the studio to educate young women in the art of ballet. In the mid-1950s, a handful of students began teaching classes in Sliema and two major contributors, Tanya  Bayona and  Daphne Lungaro-Mifsud, further developed the range of ballet education on the island by establishing their schools in 1965. Poutiatine continued to teach until the early 1980s, when she amalgamated her school into the Tanya Bayona-Princess Poutiatine Academy. She passed away in January 1984.

Poutiatine at her studio on Parallel Street, Sliema c. 1933-1934. Photo courtesy of Tanya Bayona.

The legacy of Poutiatine lives on in the subsequent generations of dance teachers and students who today enjoy the art of ballet on the island of Malta.