Stalinova baletka - Příběh odvahy a boje o přežití v sovětském Rusku – Ezrahi Christina (2022)

She was sentenced and sent to the gulag. The strength and will to survive were given to her by her passion and love for dance. Nina Anisimova (1909-1979) was one of the most remarkable ballerinas and also one of the first women choreographers. Yet, few know that her exemplary career hid a dark secret. In 1938, during the peak of Stalin's Great Terror, Nina was arrested by the secret police, accused of espionage in favor of the German Nazis, and sentenced to forced labor in a camp in Kazakhstan. Without hope – and without warm clothing in an area where winter temperatures drop below -40 °C – she found redemption in her art, which gave her the strength to fight for her life. While Nina struggled to survive in the gulag, her husband fought for her freedom in Leningrad. Despite all the adversity of the regime at the time, she was eventually released and miraculously managed to return to her former life just as the Great Patriotic War broke out. Despite the wartime suffering and the practices of Stalin's totalitarian state, her indomitable determination led her to become an icon of the Kirov Theatre ballet company.