Alexandre SAKHAROFF (1886 – 1963) – Dancers.

Alexandre Sakharoff, whose real name was Alexander Zuckermann, was a Russian dancer, choreographer and teacher born in Mariupol and who died in Siena.

After studying law and painting in Paris, he attended a performance of Sarah Bernhardt dancing the minuet and decided to become a dancer.

He studied dance and acrobatics in Munich, where in 1910 he performed his first work inspired by mythological subjects and Renaissance paintings. He was probably the first male freestyle dancer in Europe.

With his partner Clotilde von Derp, whom he married in 1919, he developed a personal form of modern dance, which he called “abstract pantomime”.
They design their own costumes, which, like their dancing, are imbued with refined preciosity.

He met and befriended the Russian-born Expressionist painter Alexej von Jawlensky, who painted an expressive portrait of him.

After their London debut in 1922, their reputation spread beyond Europe. Fleeing Nazi Germany, the couple emigrated to South America in 1940 and returned to Rome in 1952, where they opened a school in Palazzo Doria.
They are considered one of the most famous couples in dance history.