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Aleksandr Rumnev (5 February 1899, Moscow - 12 October 1965, Moscow), Russian dancer, choreographer, teacher, pantomime actor and, later, film actor. Né Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Ziakin, as a dancer he was known as Rumnev or Rumnieff, taking his professional pseudonym from the name of his family estate, Rumnia. He was apparently inspired in his dance career after his parents regaled him with their description of a performance by Isadora Duncan; only seven at the time, he immediately stripped off his clothes, wrapped himself in a sheet, and began furiously dancing in front of a mirror. By the age of twenty he had his own students and a studio, Quest for Dance. All private dance studios were closed down by the Moscow city authorities in 1924, which brought about the eventual death of avant-garde dance in Soviet Russia. Gay and with his style of dance considered "decadent", as the Stalinist grip grew tighter he fled Moscow in 1933. Some years later he was arrested, though, and spent time in prison. His film career began in 1943 and continued until 1958, his most notable performances being in
Aktrisa (1943), In the Name of the Motherland (1943), and Cinderella (1947). (He was also the choreographer for
Aktrisa and Cinderella.) Three years before his death he was finally able to found the Experimental Theatre for Pantomime. He died at the age of sixty-six.
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Rumnev was part of that experimental firmament in arts that flourished in Soviet Russia in the 1920s. So many hopes for the new Soviet republic, a new way of life. So many in Europe went to Russia in hopes of creating a better society, all to be destroyed by Stalin's policies. The worst crime a country commits is when it kills its own people as Stalin had done in Russia. (of course, also when a country kills people of another) The second worst crime is when a country kills culture, whether its own or another's. Rumnev, one of the many victims of Stalin's terror, yet he persevered at the end of his life with his pantomime theater. Sadly, it closed shortly after his death. He was in a few films and choreographed several others. The films 'Aktrisa' and 'In the Name of the Motherland' are WWII films and 'Cinderella' is a Russian retelling of that story. Known as 'Zolushka' in Russia, 'Cinderella' is a most charming film, well made and in color. (yes, the film is on youtube) I am surprised it never aired in a dubbed version on American TV, as some East European films had. Back in the late 60s and early 70's, in Southern California, I recall watching a few East European children's films ('Emperor's Nightingale' by Jiri Trnka, the 'Fabulous World of Jules Verne' and 'Baron Prasil' by Karel Zeman) on the 'Childrens Film Festival' with Kukla, Fran & Ollie and Ben Hunter's Movie Matinee on KTTV channel 11 at noon that would feature children's films during the holidays. Later, PBS channel 28 would show foreign films, those were the days. In the short-term Stalin won battle to control Russian culture, in the long term Rumnev and other artists won the war. - RJ/IE
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