Felix Cherniavsky - Correspondence with Dance Collection Danse 2

Added 19th Mar 2022 by Beth Dobson (Archives and Programming Assistant, DCD) / Last update 19th Mar 2022

Maud Allan 1222a 51 2008-2-71.jpg
Maud Allan 1222a 51 2008-2-71.jpg
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Felix Cherniavsky - Correspondence with Dance Collection Danse 2

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Maud Allan Research Collection
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Books name . " THE SALOME DANCER " The Life and Times of Maud Allan By Felix Cherniavsky Published by McClelland & Stewart , Inc. 481 University Avenue Toronto , Ontario M5G 2E9 Her great love was the piano . She had gone to Berlin to study at the Royal Academy of Music . She had hoped to become a world famous classical pianist . Cherniavsky has written ... without question , Theo's tragedy was the mainspring of Maud's career as a dancer . It inspired those dramatic dance interpretations ... in which the theme of death was more than peripheral ... " Reviewed by Jeanne Murphy Lives of performers seem to provide us with much rich and scandalous material . Certainly Maud Allan's story includes all of that plus a most shocking event that altered her life and tarnished San Francisco's reputation , once again Her reviews were mixed and confused . " She had no formal training and insisted she had no interest in the terpsichorean art " . She was often referred to as " the naked dancer " due to her revealing costumes ; somewhat like a Belly Dancer's . Still , she did become a celebrity , " and with that came many admirers . " She had many affairs among the Rich and Famous and at one time was the mistress of the second Duke of Westminster in 1909 . " Her successful career as a dancer was , in fact , as fortuitous and almost as short - lived as her conquest of London . " a Felix Cherniavsky has written his biography of this exotic dancer with the sensitivity of someone who was very close to his subject . This is probably explained by the fact that his father and two brothers , known as The Cherniavsky Trio , group of musicians who accompanied Maud Allan at many of her performances around the world knew her well . His uncle , Mischel , was involved in a love affair with her . When the relationship ended , as all of Mauds ' affairs eventually did , she remained close to the family and her diaries and letters were left with them . Cherniavsky's history of Maud and her career pales beside Theo's . As the sister of Theodore Durrant she spent her life angry and ashamed and the event would forever effect her relationship with the world . Even living in Berlin she was unable to avoid the notoriety . As Theo's " ghastly , unmotivated " murders became a national , as well as international , news - media event and was labeled by the Examiner as , " The Crime Of The Century . " As a teacher of English Literature he has a way with the written word and his research does not end with the materials at hand . He spent time in many libraries as can be seen by the extent of his Bibliography and the numerous FOOT NOTES at the end of each chapter . I realize that this research is valuable to the author but the NOTES are so extensive , sometimes four and five pages , that they interrupt the flow of the story and give the writing a mighty pedantic character . Why was the press so obsessed with the case ? Why was the public so fired up for a conviction ? The author has some interesting theories . Was it because Adolph Sutro , who was mayor at that time tried to prevent the arrest of Theo , who may have been his grandson ? During the trial the Chronicle , on July 25 , 1895 , ran a story stating that " Mrs. Durrant is the daughter of a well known Placer County engineer . " The Examiner , branded Theo a murderer before charges were even filed . Was this because of the political animosity between Sutro and Hearst ? Cherniavsky introduces us to Maud Allan as a tragic character who was the sister of Theodore Durrant , San Francisco's " most hated crimina ! " . He was executed at San Quentin for the murder of two young women in a Mission district Baptist church in 1895 . Originally from Toronto , the family moved to San Francisco in 1873 when she was four years old . Her mother , who had been adopted , may have had a tie to the city as there is some evidence that she was the daughter of Adolph Sutro and a Mrs. George Allan of Virginia City who was known as , " the $ 50,000 diamond widow " . Maud took the name Allan when she started her career on the stage , claiming it was her mother's maiden Was it because of the climate in the city ? Many brutal and unsolved murders had taken place around this time . The Los Angeles Times reported ... there had been eight violent deaths at the hands of persons unknown ... all within the first two weeks of the month . " More fuel for the fire . The San Bernadino Independent , " described San Francisco a city of some 240,000 as the hotbed of licentiousness and crime on the coast . " And The Fresno Republican went even further . " For six weeks or more San Francisco has been the theater of a carnival of blood 6 SFHA QUARTERLY PRING 1995