Birthday ball/Coming out party

[Ally Kumari]

Nad - Posting on behalf of Ally. : ) Is this it?

http://radikal.ru/F/i057.radikal.ru/0901/d4/b277d7dd69c6.jpg.html

A bit fuller


And one more


P.S. When you download, the pics will get a bit larger.

[blessOTMA]

Thanks Ally, really nice.

[Kalafrana]

Going back a bit to the dances which were popular in 1911-14, I would be a bit surprised if Nicholas and Alexandra had allowed Olga and Tatiana to dance the more modern dances.

I remember distinctly from reading Virginia Cowles: '1913, the Defiant Swan Song' that there was a craze for the tango in 1913 but it was considered to be bordering on the indecent in polite society. Specifically, Nicholas II forbade Russian officers to dance the tango in uniform (which meant in practice that they couldn't dance the tango in Russia at all, but only when abroad and so in civilian clothes). The Kaiser also put a ban on the tango, and there was a scandal in Berlin when someone held a tango tea in the Reichstag reception rooms.

But there were still the waltz, the polka, the polonaise, the mazurka and variations thereon. From what I have read of Tolstoy, the Russians placed great store on the mazurka - does anyone know why?

Ann

[Sarushka]

I'm quite sure Olga mentions dancing the mazurka in her 1913 diary -- during the tercentenary celebrations in the capital, if I recall correctly.

Sadly, there's no entry for the day of her 18th birthday.

[Yelena Aleksandrovna]

Wonderful images of Olga!!!! Her dress was very elegant!! ;-)

[Naslednik Norvezhskiy]

A less glitzy, but probably just as enjoyable dance which Olga attended was "The Dance on Paatio" in 1913:

Excerpt from this thread about a wonderful book about the IF's Finnish summer cruises:

NAOTMAA did not have much interaction with the locals because of the strict security measures and because of the language barrier. (It is often claimed that NII knew some Danish from his mother, but the Virolahti area was quite monolingually Finnish anyway.) NII also became increasingly unpopular in Finland as his government started Russification and limiting Finland's autonomy. But still old people in the area could remember encountering the Tsar walking on the local roads. He smiled and greeted them politely in Finnish.

There were a few instances however when the IF met with the locals. For instance in 1913 locals were invited to an al fresco supper and dance on the island of Paatio close to the Bay of Shtandart. The young fishermen discussed who should have the honour of asking the Emperor's eldest daughter for a dance. A certain Matti Mikkola assembled the courage to ask the Grand Duchess Olga for a dance and they danced a polka in the Nordic midsummer night....

Strangely enough this innocent swing with a son of the people had political consequences. A Finnish satirical newspaper called "Fyren" (= The Lighthouse) grabbed these news of the usually so secluded IF interacting with their Finnish subjects and published a rather charming sketch of a petite young woman with a tiara on her head dancing with a young big burly fisherman. The Imperial censorship authority accused the paper of lèse-majesté, but the Finnish judges only laughed at the charge. Three years afterwards, however, in the middle of WW1, the artist and editor were arrested by order of the Finnish Senate and had to serve a short prison sentence!

[Naslednik Norvezhskiy]

Instead of a drawing I wish a Nordic troubadour like Evert Taube had immortalized it in a waltz called Hur den finländske Fritjof Andersson bjöd upp kejsardottern Olga till dans på Paatios ö i Vederlax fjärd.... It's just soooooo romantic à la Taube!

= How the Finnish Fritjof Andersson [stock character, sailor and charmer in Taube's songs] asked the Emperor's Daughter Olga to dance on the Isle of Paatio in Virolahti Bay.

Although a real Finnish polka has more suggestive rythm.... :-)

[blessOTMA]

Wonderful  infomation Fyodor Petrovich! Thank you!

[Naslednik Norvezhskiy]

You are welcome. Here is the offending sketch: Venäjän hovi tanssii Paatiossa, the Russian Court dances on Paatio

[blessOTMA]

You are welcome. Here is the offending sketch: Venäjän hovi tanssii Paatiossa, the Russian Court dances on Paatio

LOL!  It's very well done! Thank you for posting it! I can't see what there was to be offended about , but then I'm not with the Imperial censorship authority!

[GrandDuchessAndrea]

This is strange: in a very big, great book called Nicholas and Alexandra by George Vilinbakhov there is a quote by Pierre Gilliard saying "in 1914 when the war broke out, Olga was almost 19 and Tatiana was 17. they had never attended a ball, they had only taken part in a few parties given by their aunt Olga A." etc. But what about Olga's coming out ball?!?! Gilliard was OTMA's tudor from 1905-1917! That couldn't be that he didn't remember about the coming out ball! Does anyone know why he said that? 

[rosieposie]

Ally I love them pics of Olga she looks really bashful,  turning sweet 16. 

GDAndrea,  I'm not sure why Gillard would not have mention it.  I'm guessing he is mostly summing up that the girls never attended an Offical ball.  A coming out is more of a dance celebration.   I did my debut nine years ago.

[nena]

This is strange: in a very big, great book called Nicholas and Alexandra by George Vilinbakhov there is a quote by Pierre Gilliard saying "in 1914 when the war broke out, Olga was almost 19 and Tatiana was 17. they had never attended a ball, they had only taken part in a few parties given by their aunt Olga A." etc. But what about Olga's coming out ball?!?! Gilliard was OTMA's tudor from 1905-1917! That couldn't be that he didn't remember about the coming out ball! Does anyone know why he said that?  

I have noticed it too. You know, misunderstandings can arise due to the different variations of translations -- what exactly did he mean by 'Ball', and so on...Or simply questionable memory. ;-) Somewhat like a word-game.

[Sarushka]

Gilliard's recollections aren't infallible. For example, he gives an entirely different date for the grand duchesses having their heads shaved than Nicholas notes in his diary.

[GrandDuchessAndrea]

Ahh. So a coming out ball offical ball is different than an offical ball. I see now.
And about the hair...Gilliard must not have had a very good memory.