RUSSIAN “FIRST LADY"

Evening Star, Issue 21628, 25 January 1934, Page 12

RUSSIAN “FIRST LADY"

PHETTY BALLET DANCER Tradition in Russia dies hard. In Imperial days it was the custom for Russia’s rulers—grand dukes and generals—* to court the beautiful dancers of the ballet. There are no grand dukes left in Russia, and only one ruler-—Stalin—but the pretty ballet dancers have remained. One of tha most beautiful and talented of them i» Shirnova, of the Moscow Ballet Theatre. She is not only a good dancer, she is a good .Communist and a good citizen, too. Though she is a clever artist she has never left Russia. Stalin’s excursions from the Kremlin ara extremely rare. His three luxurious motor cars, with Ogpu guardsmen on the running boards to shield him from attack, ara seldom seen. tately, however, the three cars have been observed standing outside the Ballet The. atre, while Stalm and his entourage oc. cupied the former royal box, like a grand ducal party of twenty years ago. Fifteen “controls” guard Stalin in tha Kremlin. Few visitors have penetrated be. yond the first. But Smirnova possesses a “No. 1” pass permitting her to enter tha Kremlin at. will. It is reported, states an English paper, that she intends to resign from the ballet, and that there is to be a marriage in high quarters, and a second Lady of the Krem. Im, not so mysterious or silent as: that strange and lonely figure, Stalin’s first wife, who died in sad circumstances more than % year ago. ■