Nikolai Legat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nikolai Gustavovich Legat (Russian: Николай Густавович Легат) (1869 - 1937), was a dancer with the Russian Imperial Ballet from 1888 to 1914 and was the main successor to the roles of the great ballet dancer, Pavel Gerdt. Legat later held duties of a balletmaster in Russia, teaching and passing on the legacy of the repertoire of that company, namely the work of the prolific choreographer and great balletmaster, Marius Petipa.

Nikolai had a younger brother, Sergei Legat, who was also a dancer with the Imperial Russian Ballet from 1894 to 1905 when he died at age thirty. He originated the role of the Nutcracker (at age 17) at the premiere of the famous Ivanov/Tchaikovsky ballet, The Nutcracker at the Theatre Mariinsky in St. Peterburg, Russia, on December 6, 1892.