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The 2 Russian Ballerinas Who Killed Themselves In The Middle Of A Performance On Stage
In the 1920s, two promising artists and best friends fell for the same man and could think of only one tragic solution to their problem
Love can make people do crazy things. This can only get messier when feelings get complicated. Nearly a century ago, two Russian ballerinas, who were best friends and in love with the same man, killed themselves in the middle of a stage performance in Moscow.
On April 27, 1928, Agnessa Koreleva and Natalie Aksenova, both 20 years old, caused shock and bewilderment when they both plummeted to their death during a production of the Russian revolutionary ballet, Red Poppy. Just as the show was coming to an end and the orchestra was at its crescendo, the two young women, both bound, plunged to the stage from the fly gallery in front of a confused audience. The production was full of heroic exploits and drama, so initially, many thought that what happened was part of the show — using dummies to create a dramatic effect.
The screams of the other dancers and crew were drowned out by the thunderous applause of the audience, who were under the impression that the ballet had ended once the curtains were drawn, which had actually been done in order to shield the spectators from seeing more of the grisly scene, which left both women dead.
Once investigators began examining what led to the double death, it was revealed that the pair were best friends. Furthermore, they were believed to have fallen in love with the same man, a scene painter named Kurilko who had seen his star rise in the world of ballet and was considered quite a catch. Unable to reconcile the love triangle, they decided that killing themselves was the only course of action that made sense.
The next day the story took an even more bizarre turn when two men were arrested for their roles in the deaths. It was alleged that one of them had advised the two women that suicide was the obvious solution to their problem. Unfortunately, we don’t know how the case played out after that but the end result of two bright young artists being dead didn’t change.
The Russian ballet has long been renowned for its beauty and quality. Their productions can be majestic and over the top, but once in real-life tragedy played out on stage, which was only discovered once the curtains went down and a complicated love entanglement was unraveled.
