Whilst there is a wealth of publications focussed on the connected themes in twentieth-century ballet, including monographic studies on Russian ballet émigrés working across mainland Europe, the legacy of the iconic Ballets Russes of the 1920s and the subsequent companies of the 1930s, as well as the political contexts of Malta, there is currently no publication that explores the legacy of Princess Natalie Poutiatine within the connections across histories, cultures and contexts. A book publication by Dr Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel, with contributions by Tanya Bayona MQR, Professor Lynn Garafola and Professor Janice Ross, has been published by Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malta, in collaboration with Midsea Books.

Princess Poutiatine and the Art of Ballet in Malta fills the identified gap and extends the line of enquiry outlined in two research outputs offered by Farrugia-Kriel: notably, Émigrés, the Empire and dancing back to the colony: Narrating the lives and histories of Russian and Maltese ballet matriarchs at the University of Malta in March 2014, and Fragments of the past, buried amidst hidden archives: Insights into the diasporic connections of the Ballets Russes in the work of Princess Nathalie Poutiatine (1904-1984) in 1930s Malta at the University of Bedfordshire in September 2016. In developing these initial trajectories, this new publication offers a set of largely unwritten narratives that surround the development of the art of ballet in Malta, notably those connected to the heritage of Poutiatine, including her studies in Paris in the 1920s as well as her settlement on the island in 1928, her first concert on 2^nd June 1929 to mark the celebration of King George IV’s birthday and the ‘golden era’ of concert dances at the Royal Opera House in Valletta between 1930 and 1938. Other significant features of this  book include  interviews with former students from the 1940s through to the late 1970s, including former Ballet Rambert dancer Anna Truscott, Clarissa Gatt, Sheila Mamo, Tanya Bayona (who amalgamated her school with Poutiatine’s in the early 1980s), Daphne Lungaro Mifsud, Miriam Muscat Manduca,  and renowned artist Mary De Piro, Maryse Griffiths, Alexandra De Domenico, Daniela Bruno, amongst many others.

Launched in March 2020 at the iconic Manoel Theatre in Valletta, the book is available via MidSea Books and other retail and online bookstores in Malta.

Front Cover

Russian Dance costume

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 continued

Danse Tzigane

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 continued