Dancing for Stalin

Nina Anisimova was born in 1909 in imperial St Petersburg. One of the most renowned character dancers of the Stalinist period, she won her way into the hearts of her audience over many decades. Yet few knew that her exemplary career was a fragile construct built atop a dark secret.

In 1938, at the height of the Great Terror, Nina vanished. Only a handful of people knew that this famous dancer had not only been arrested by Secret Police, accused of being a Nazi Spy, but sentenced to forced labour in a camp in Kazakhstan. There, her art would become a salvation, giving her a reason to fight for her life when she found herself without winter clothes in temperatures of minus 40 degrees.

Over the coming weeks, Nina’s husband, Kostia Derzhavin, began to piece together what had happened to his wife. What he decided to do next was almost without precedent – to take on the ruthless Soviet state to prove her innocence. He would put himself in danger to save the woman he loved.

Dancing for Stalin is a remarkable true story of suffering and injustice, of courage, resilience and love.

About the Author

Christina Ezrahi is an award-winning historian of Soviet cultural politics and Russian ballet. Before undertaking her doctoral studies at University College London, she studied International Relations at the universities of Princeton and Oxford, and worked in Moscow for the United Nations. Her first book, Swans of the Kremlin: Ballet and Power in Soviet Russia (University of Pittsburgh Press) was awarded the 2017 prize for Best Dance Book published in France.

Christina appears in the media as an expert on the relationship between Russian politics and ballet and has recently acted as historical advisor to Ralph Fiennes on a film about Rudolf Nureyev. Born in Munich, Christina lives in Tel Aviv with her husband and two children, and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She is also a trained classical dancer.