Vaganova Academy Of Russian Ballet

Michel Fokine was a Russian dancer and choreographer whose pieces are performed internationally to this day. Fokine is credited with choreographing the works of popular dancers like Anna Pavlova. Renowned for his groundbreaking works, such as Le Pavillon d'Armide, Michel Fokine has been portrayed in a couple of films, namely Nijinsky and A Woman for All Time.

Tamara Karsavina was a Russian ballet dancer who served as a principal artist at Sergei Diaghilev's popular company The Ballets Russes. Karsavina also taught ballet and is credited with co-founding modern British ballet. After settling in Britain, Tamara Karsavina popularized the dance form in Britain and helped establish The Royal Academy of Dance as well as The Royal Ballet.

The person behind the development of the Vaganova method, Agrippina Vaganova was a significant name in the Russian ballet scene. She also penned Fundamentals of the Classical Dance, which is the most-followed text on ballet. At Mariinsky Ballet, she was known as the queen of variations.

Russian ballerina Evgenia Obraztsova is best known for her performances as Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. Born into a family of ballet dancers, she joined the Vaganova Academy and then performed as part of the Mariinsky Ballet.  

Russian ballerina Alina Somova was initially pushed into sports by her mother but later moved to ballet. Now the principal dancer at the Mariinsky Ballet, she has also won many awards, such as a Golden Mask for her performance as the Tsar-Maiden in the ballet The Little Humpbacked Horse.

The first Soviet-trained prima ballerina, Marina Semyonova demonstrated an unusual style of ballet that influenced a generation of dancers. She won the Stalin Prize in 1941 when she was associated with the Bolshoi Theatre. She stayed with the company after retiring and became one of the most prominent teachers. In 1975, Semyonova was named a People's Artist of the USSR.

Ninel Kurgapkina was a Russian ballet dancer and teacher. She is best remembered for her association with the popular classical ballet company the Imperial Russian Ballet where she served as a prima ballerina. From 1969 onwards, she taught at the Imperial Russian Ballet and conducted master classes at several institutions. In 1974, she received the People's Artist of the USSR.

Leonid Lavrovsky was a Russian ballet choreographer best remembered for choreographing Sergei Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. In 1944, he was chosen as the Bolshoi Theater's head ballet master, thanks to the success and popularity of Romeo and Juliet. At the Bolshoi, Leonid Lavrovsky restaged Romeo and Juliet in 1946 for which he received the prestigious Stalin Prize.

Alla Sizova was a Russian ballerina best remembered for her association with the Imperial Russian Ballet. Along with Alla Osipenko, Natalia Makarova, and Irina Kolpakova, Sizova was one of the four superstar ballet dancers of the Soviet Union. In 1983, Alla Sizova was honored with the prestigious People's Artist of the USSR, the Soviet Union's highest artistic honor.

Rostislav Zakharov was a Russian ballet dancer, choreographer, and opera director. He is best remembered for choreographing Cinderella (1945) and The Fountain of Bakhchisaray (1934). He also worked as a professor and taught at the Russian Academy of the Arts in Moscow. In 1969, Rostislav Zakharov was honored with the People's Artist of the USSR.