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Tamara Geva (Russian: Тамара Жева, born Tamara Levkievna Zheverzheeva, Russian: Тамара Левкиевна Жевержеева; 17 March 1906 – 9 December 1997) was a Soviet and later an American actress, ballet dancer, and choreographer. She was the daughter of art patron and collector Levkiy Gevergeyev ^[ru] and she was the first wife of the well-known ballet dancer/choreographer George Balanchine.[1]

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Tamara Geva
Geva in Manhattan Merry-Go-Round (1937)
Born	Tamara Zheverzheeva (1906-03-17)17 March 1906 St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died	9 December 1997(1997-12-09) (aged 91) New York City, U.S.
Citizenship	Russian American
Occupation	Actress ballet dancer choreographer
Years active	1924–1983
Spouse(s)	George Balanchine ​ ​ (m. 1921; div. 1926)​ Kapa Davidoff (m. 19??; div. 19??) John Emery ​ ​ (m. 1942; div. 1963)​

Throughout her life she danced with Diaghilev's Ballet Russes, performed with husband George Balanchine, and performed in and choreographed many notable Broadway shows.[2] Geva also wrote an autobiographical book entitled Split Seconds.[3]

Family and early life

Tamara Geva was born in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire[4] on March 17, 1906. Geva's mother was well-known actress Tamara Urtahl and her father was passionate collector and art enthusiast Levkiy Gevergeyev ^[ru] (or Zheverzheyev).[4]

Her father was known as a freethinker. He sponsored Russian avant-garde artists and their projects through his enthusiasm for artistry. Geva described her mother, Tamara Urthal, as a beautiful but selfish woman. Her parents were unable to marry until their daughter was six years old. As a child, she lived in a huge 19th-century house (Ivan Zheverzheev′s house at Rubinstein Street, 18) which had an extensive art, book and theater collection as well as a miniature theater all organized by her father and his years of collecting such artifacts. Her father had agents all over who found art, writings, and artifacts from a variety of well-known artists to add to his massive collection. Geva has said that this collection was her father's most prized possession.[1] After the Russian Revolution ended and Levko had passed away, his extensive theatre memorabilia collection was preserved and put into an exhibit at Saint Petersburg State Museum of Theater and Music ^[ru].[1] Geva grew up in the midst of the Bolshevik Revolution where she experienced true hardships in her youth.[5]

Training and early career

Tamara began her ballet training by taking private lessons in dance studios with notable teachers such as Evgenia Sokolova and Alexander ^[ru] & Ivan Chekrygin ^[ru]. At age 13 she began to attend dance classes at the St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre School, when it began to accept older students for evening classes shortly after the revolution.[6] These evening classes were segregated by sex, so the only time the boys and girls interacted was during ballroom dance classes. It was here that she met dancer and choreographer George Balanchine, who at the time was the teacher for the ballroom dance classes. She and Balanchine became close shortly after this and he began choreographing pieces for them both. One of the first things they did was La Nuit to Anton Rubinstein's Romance in E-flat. Geva remembers audiences thinking it was "terribly erotic."[1] During the Revolution Balanchine moved in with Geva's family. To make ends meet the two would perform in small theaters performing dances Balanchine choreographed as well as music sung by Geva accompanied by Balanchine.[7] She married Balanchine in 1924, when she was 17 years old.[6] Soon after, she shortened her surname and the couple left Russia in 1924.[1]

Career

While the couple was still in Russia, Geva and Balanchine began appearing together professionally in ballet concerts. In 1924, the couple met Anton Dolin, one of Sergei Diaghilev's star dancers. Dolin suggested that they audition for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Diaghilev was immediately impressed by the pair and he hired them on the spot to join the Ballets Russes.[5] Balanchine and Geva defected from Soviet Russia and left on a tour to Europe with Diaghilev as a part of the Ballets Russes.[8][5] Geva was a part of Ballet Russes for 2 and a half years from 1924 until 1927 during which they performed in places such as Paris and Monte Carlo.[1] Geva performed in The Triumph of Neptune with the Ballets Russes in 1926 where she wore a costume made of tiny mirrors that weighed 75 pounds.[1] Geva remembered Diaghilev as having a superior air at all times and that he would often look down upon others, but he could also turn his charm on at any time he needed it.[1] Diaghilev often stuck Geva in the corps de ballet, so she left the company fairly early to find more fulfilling work.[1]

In 1927, Geva left Europe and made her way to America while touring with Nikita Balieff's Chauve-Souris. During this time, she introduced Balanchine's choreography to New York City, where she danced three solos choreographed for her by him.[5] She premiered these three pieces entitled Romanesque, Grotesque Espagnol with music by Albeniz, and Sarcasms with music by Prokofiev at the Cosmopolitan Theatre and was called "a Russian star".[5] After this, Geva began performing with the Ziegfeld Follies.[7] Later Geva transitioned towards Broadway where she appeared in a number of notable musicals between 1925 and 1953 including Three's A Crowd (1930),[9] Flying Colors (1932)[10] and Whoopee! (1934).[11] She cherished her time on Broadway as a performer, but she also got the chance to choreograph many numbers in these productions. She choreographed the "Talkative Toes" dance for Three's a Crowd and "Two Faced Woman" in Flying Colors.[1]

In 1935 Geva performed with the American Ballet, Balanchine's ballet company in New York. She performed in their first performance where she danced in Errante with music by Schubert.[7] She later immersed herself in film and theater work while staying in America.[1] In 1936, she was paired with actor Ray Bolger in On Your Toes by Rodgers and Hart. In On Your Toes, she danced in the dramatic "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" sequence and a balletic parody choreographed by Balanchine and composed by Dick Rodgers.[7] New York Times reviewer Brooks Atkinson described her performance as "magnificent", adding "she can burlesque it with the authority of an artist on holiday".[4] She went on to act in productions of the works of Euripides, George Bernard Shaw, and Jean-Paul Sartre. She acted in Euripides' The Trojan Women where she played Helen of Troy in New York in 1941, and in the Los Angeles production of Sartre's No Exit in 1947.[1] In 1953 Geva played the character of Lina Szczepanowska a sarcastic acrobat in a New York revival of George Bernard Shaw's Misalliance. The cast included Roddy McDowall and Richard Kiley. In 1959, Geva and Haila Stoddard created Come Play With Me a musical comedy with a score penned by Dana Suesse, which had had a short off-Broadway run. She was the lead choreographer for Ben Hecht's film Specter of the Rose (1946), based on the Nijinsky legend. Her last ever performance was onscreen in Frevel [de] (1983).[5]

Marriages

In 1923, Geva married George Balanchine in Russia at the age of 17. A year later in 1924, Geva and Balanchine left Russia. Geva was the first of Balanchine's four wives, all of whom were dancers. They divorced by 1926, but remained good friends and constantly worked together throughout both of their careers.[7] Geva later married Kapa Davidoff (né Garabed Tavitian; 1897-1982). Davidoff was an actor and fashion executive who had previously been married to a flier, Lucia Davidova;[12] They also ended up divorcing. In 1942 Geva married again, this time to American actor John Emery, former husband of Tallulah Bankhead; that union ended in divorce in 1963. Geva never had any children.[1]

Death

Tamara Geva died on 9 December 1997, at the age of 91, at her home in Manhattan from natural causes.[4]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1925	Wood Love	Oberon
1925	Cock of the Roost	Jutta, Rombergs Tochter
1925	Joyless Street	Lia Leid	Uncredited
1925	Die unberührte Frau	Jane, ihre Mutter
1926	Gräfin Plättmamsell
1929	Zwischen vierzehn und siebzehn - Sexualnot der Jugend	Parent
1931	The Girl Habit	Sonja Maloney
1934	Their Big Moment	Madame Lottie Marvo
1937	Manhattan Merry-Go-Round	Madame 'Charlie' Charlizzini
1942	Orchestra Wives	Mrs. Beck
1943	Night Plane from Chungking	Countess Olga Karagin
1946	Specter of the Rose		Choreographer
1948	The Gay Intruders	Maria Ivar
1951	The Adventures of Ellery Queen		Episode: "The Ballet Murder"
1951	The Web		Episode: "Golden Secret"
1978	Cartas de amor de una monja	Monja
1979	Diaghilev: A Portrait	Narrator
1984	Frevel	Bardame	(Final film role)

Broadway credits

[9]

Year	Title	Role
1927	Chauve-Souris	Performer
1928	Whoopee!	Yolandi
1930	Three's a Crowd	Performer
1932	Flying Colors	Performer
1933	A Divine Drudge	Lania
1934	The Red Cat	Mimi
1935	Alma Mater	Performer
1936	On Your Toes	Princess Zenobia, Strip Tease Girl
1941	The Trojan Woman	Helen
1944	Peepshow	Leonie Cobbe
1950	Pride's Crossing	Zilla
1953	Misalliance	Lina Szczepanowska

Memoir

• Geva, Tamara. Split Seconds: A Remembrance. Limelight Editions, 1972. ISBN 0060115122

References

External links

• Tamara Geva at IMDb
• Tamara Geva at the Internet Broadway Database
• Tamara Geva at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Video about Geva's father
• https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/0d5ec560-3b72-0134-dd7f-60f81dd2b63c

На других языках

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- [en] Tamara Geva

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[ru] Жевержеева, Тамара Левкиевна

Тама́ра Левки́евна Жеверже́ева (Тама́ра Же́ва; 1907—1997) — артистка балета, хореограф, актриса мюзикла и кино. Первая жена Джорджа Баланчина (1924—1926), вместе с ним эмигрировавшая из России.

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