The Legat Saga: Nicolai Gustavovitch Legat 1869-1937

The Legat Saga tells the tragic story of the brilliant Russian artist Nicolai Legat, caught up in the cataclysmic events of war and revolution. In pre-revolutionary years, Legat contributed significantly to the lyrical beauty of the Maryinsky dance style, achieving the highest honors as First Dancer, Ballet Master, Professor of the Class of Perfection, and Soloist to the Tzar. Leaving Russia in 1914, he danced in the music halls of Paris and London with his young partner, Nadine Nicolaeva, whom he subsequently married. Returning to Russia in 1915 he tried to re-establish himself as a choreographer, but during the troubled yeas of the new regime his task was rendered largely ineffectual by discord among fellow artists and economic severities. He eventually left the Soviet union in 1922. He practiced his art in London and Paris and eventually set up his own school in Colet Gardens, Kensington. He never achieved the acclaim his great talent merited, although he was greatly loved and revered by the brilliant dancers of the period who flocked to his studio. John Gregory's research reveals aspects and events previously unchronicled and gives descriptions of the essence of Legat's pure dance and his remarkable method of teaching. The Legat Saga is a compelling biography that probes the mystique and exoticism of the Russian soul that inspired the fabulous art of Russian Ballet. Profusely illustrated with period photographs of all the famous dancers and ballerinas of the period. -- Midwest Book Review