Edouard Borovansky 1902-1959

He swiftly graduated from the corps to character roles and made his London debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 13 September 1927, dancing the role of the shopkeeper’s assistant in one of Pavlova’s specialities, The Fairy Doll. He toured with Pavlova through Britain, Germany, Italy, South America, Asia and, in 1929, Australia, on the ballerina’s second visit for J.C. Williamson’s. And he fell in love with one of Pavlova’s ballerinas, the Bolshoi-trained Xenia Smirnova, a niece of Palvova’s manager, Victor Dandre.

Pavlova’s company did not survive her death in 1929, so Edouard and Xenia eked out a living in Paris, teaching children in a makeshift studio. In 1932 ‘Borowanski’ became ‘Borovansky’ when he found a place in Colonel de Basil’s touring Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, a reconstitution of Diaghilev’s legendary Ballets Russes. With his talent for character roles, Borovansky was cast as the Strong Man in Le Beau Danube, Polkan in Le Coq d’Or and the Shopkeeper in La Boutique Fantasque. The company’s first London season, at the Alhambra from 4 July 1933, was a sensation. At its conclusion, in October, Borovansky and Xenia were married. An American tour followed.

Borovansky danced at Covent Garden every year from 1933 until 1938, when de Basil rebadged his company The Covent Garden Russian Ballet, and set off for an Australian tour under the aegis of J.C. Williamson’s. Headed by Irina Baronova, Tatiana Riabouchinska, Anton Dolin and David Lichine – and with Borovansky among the 100 or so other dancers – the company opened its tour at His Majesty’s in Melbourne in September 1938. When the tour finished in Sydney in April 1939, eight of the dancers opted to remain in Australia, Borovansky among them: Hitler had just invaded his homeland, and war loomed in Europe.

Although Australians had flocked to see imported ballet companies, at that time there was virtually no classical ballet training in Australia. De Basil told The Sydney Morning Herald that Australians lacked the artistry necessary for dance. They were, he said, ‘Footballers, yes, ballet dancers, no.’ At that time local teaching was largely confined to theatrical and social dancing, but the Borovanskys decided to change all that. In May 1939, in partnership with a local teacher, Eunice Weston, they opened their Academy of Russian Ballet above a shop in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne. There they offered instruction in ‘Classical and Character Dancing, Mime and Make Up’. Mrs Borovansky did most of the teaching, while her husband ran the school and provided choreography and specialised expertise when needed.