Evening star., 1922-08-27
How Oleneva, a Russian
Dancer, Saved Her Child

tho lounge lizard become dark.
short, greasy and Of obviously pre-
tended youth.
The Russian ballerina begant "1
was in America tho season before last
with Pavlowa. L am Maria OLE
neva."
There are many who will remember
Maria Oleneva. When the Pavlowa
troupe returned to America two sea-
sons ago, after a long absence and
made what was one Of the fine sue
cesses of recent theatrical annals. the
girl was the second lead to Pavlowa.
and any who attended the Ballet
Russo" that year will have carried
away a picture of her graceful. youth
full body. moving exquisitely to the
measures OF swaying music. She en-
chanted critics and public from ono
end of the continent to the other. and
opened a career for herself in the land
whose dollars are the magic of an ex-
change e-distracted world. And now
with this recollection. 1t was the more
astonishing that Maria Oleneva was
practicing her perfect art in a poor
variety theater of Milan.
y 4 + X
CHE had left America, she said, to
~ take an engagement rs prima
ballerina for the opera season at the
Teatro Costanza. in Rome, and after
the season. short one-had found
herself isolated in Italy. The post OF
prima ballerina at the Costanza Is one
of more glory than money, but Ole
neva had taken small reckoning OF
such difficult matters as the rate OF
exchange. A divine simplicity lay In
her, a simplicity whose heights were
revealed by the story she told a
story of Russian hardships. which
made her Italian hardships seem as
pleasant as Italy itself. She related:
After I had graduated from the
Imperial Ballet School and had made
my debut at the Moscow Opera I got
married. When the ascendancy of the
bolshevists came I was left in the
turmoil with a little boy of two years
to take care OF. The reds recruited
me to go on a dancing tour through
the principal cities of Russia. and
since they have not lost the native
Muscovite love for art. they awarded
me magnificent pay in rubles. jewels
and honors, but 1 demanded a salary
of very different sort. Food wasvery
scarce and all the people were hun
cry. Bread was given out in small
rations. My little boy could not eat
ha n
he choked when he tried to swallow
it. was frantic with the fear of see
Ing the child starve to death in my
arms, and when l came before the
bolshevik commissary for my con-
tract I demanded a salary of a bagful
of farina day. He agreed, and 1
went on tour, taking my boy with me
and an old nurse We lived well on
that bag Of farina day. We trav-
eled in a box car, and the baby slept
in big satchel of mine. All the
while l waited for a chance to get
down to the Crimea, where could es-
cape to the anti-bolshevik army there.
Il made a great success. and in
every town the reds gave great
feasts there was no lack of food, and
at each of them I would steal half a
dozen of the fine. white biscuits and
hide them in my bosom. I took them
home and how the little fellow would
eat them. Then at Kiev one Of the
most important officials of the Mos
cow government gave a gala dinner
in my honor.
"It was held in one of the old pal
aces and was a magnificent affair." but
an ugly mocksry with universal hun
ger through the country. I went TO
it eagerly. certain that would be
able to fitch some choice tidbits to
bring to my boy. A dozen officers OF
the red army were there with their
women They were in a wild mood, a
mood for champagne. I pretended to
drink, but avoided the wine as much
as I dared. Still the little 1 drank
made me dizzy. The company grew