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Dancing on the Beach at Baabe

A mysterious collection of documents concerning the Russian ballerina Catherine Devilliers has been deposited in the archive on permanent loan. It includes newspaper clippings, photographs, letters and the engraved copper plate for a calling card. Together they offer a glimpse into the secretive world of the pre-war international lesbian set which included Mercedes de Acosta, Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich.

Whirling distantly in their glamorous orbit was Devilliers, the expatriate daughter of a Russian actress and a French father, who had trained at the Bolshoi and danced for Diaghilev in revivals of The Rite of Spring and The Three-Cornered Hat. In the 1920s she was teaching in Berlin and dancing with the Russian Romantic Theatre.

Handsome

The gay artist Pavel Tchelitchew, who designed the scenery for two Romantic Theatre productions, was a close friend. She appears briefly in Parker Tyler's biography of Tchelichew, dancing on the beach at Baabe on the Isle of Rügen:

"With black shiny hair and thick features, including large lips and upturned nose, she is like a handsome Negroid gypsy: secretively withdrawn one moment, loud and open the next as her metallic voice rings out."1

In the 30s Devilliers took refuge from the Nazis in Paris and teamed up with the couturi?re Princess Dilkusha de Rohan - wartime saw them living together in London with "an impressive collection of Picasso drawings"2 while de Rohan worked alongside Guy Burgess at the Ministry of Information.

Devilliers' later life seems shrouded in mystery and the date of her death is unknown. If anyone has any further information, please contact us at the Box No.

1, Parker Tyler, The Divine Comedy of Pavel Tchelichew (New York: Fleet, 1967) p 273

2, Barrie Penrose and Simon Freeman, Conspiracy of Silence: The Secret Life of Anthony Blunt (London: Grafton, 1986) pp 279-80

Brighton Ourstory Project would like to thank Joyce Chester for translating some of the Devilliers papers from the Russian and French.