This a list of ballet dancers from Russian Federation, Soviet Union and Russian Empire including both ethnic Russians and people of other ethnicities. This list as well includes those, who was born in the Russian Federation/ Soviet Union/ Russian Empire but later emigrated, and those, who was born elsewhere but immigrated to the country and performed there for a significant portion of their careers.
The original purpose of the ballet in Russia was to entertain the royal court. The first ballet company was the Imperial School of Ballet in St. Petersburg in the 1740s. The Ballets Russes was a ballet company founded in the 1909 by Sergey Diaghilev, an enormously important figure in the Russian ballet scene. Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes' travels abroad profoundly influenced the development of dance worldwide.[1]The headquarters of his ballet company was located in Paris, France. A protégé of Diaghilev, George Balanchine, founded the New York City Ballet Company.
During the early 20th century, many Russian ballet dancers rose to fame. Soviet ballet preserved the perfected 19th century traditions,[2] and the Soviet Union's choreography schools produced one internationally famous star after another. The Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow and the Mariinsky in Saint Petersburg remain famous throughout the world.[3]
For the full plain list of Russian ballet dancers on Wikipedia see the Category:Russian ballet dancers.
| Contents: | Top · 0–9 · A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| George Balanchine (1904–1983) Russian Empire Soviet Union France United States (Georgian descent) Choreographer, balletmaster |
Balanchine was one of the XX century's foremost choreographers, a balletmaster of the Ballets Russes in France, founding balletmaster (and co-founder) of New York City Ballet: his work created modern ballet, based on his deep knowledge of classical forms and techniques. | ||
| Irina Baronova (1919–2008) Soviet Union Romania France United States Switzerland Russian Federation Australia Ballerina, ballet mistress |
She was one of the Baby Ballerinas of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, discovered by George Balanchine in Paris in the 1930s. She created roles in Léonide Massine's Le Beau Danube (1924), Jeux d'enfants (1932), and Les Présages (1933); and in Bronislava Nijinska's Les Cent Baisers (1935). Between 1940 and 1951 Baronova appeared in several films, and worked as ballet mistress for the 1980 film Nijinsky. | ||
| Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948–present) Soviet Union United States Danseur |
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| Natalia Bessmertnova (1941–2008) Soviet Union Russian Federation Prima ballerina |
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catherine Chislova (1846–1889) Russian Empire Ballerina |
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandra Danilova (1903–1997) Russian Empire Soviet Union France United States Prima ballerina |
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| Natalia Dudinskaya (1912–2003) Russian Empire Soviet Union Russian Federation Prima ballerina |
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michel Fokine (1880–1942) Russian Empire United States Danseur |
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yekaterina Geltzer (1876–1962) Russian Empire Soviet Union Prima ballerina |
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| Elizaveta Gerdt (1891–1975) Russian Empire Soviet Union Ballerina |
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| Pavel Gerdt (1844–1917) Russian Empire Premier Danseur Noble |
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| Alexander Godunov (1949–1995) Soviet Union United States Danseur |
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avdotia Istomina (1799–1848) Russian Empire Prima ballerina |
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vera Karalli (1889–1972) Russian Empire Ballerina |
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| Tamara Karsavina (1885–1978) Russian Empire United Kingdom Prima ballerina |
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| Theodore Kosloff (1882–1956) Russian Empire United States Danseur |
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| Mathilde Kschessinska (1872–1971) Russian Empire France Prima ballerina assoluta |
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olga Lepeshinskaya (1916–2008) Russian Empire Soviet Union Russian Federation Prima ballerina |
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| Serge Lifar (1905–1986) Russian Empire France Danseur |
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| Lydia Lopokova (1892–1981) Russian Empire United Kingdom Ballerina |
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Léonide Massine (1896–1979) Russian Empire Danseur, choreographer |
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| Asaf Messerer (1903–1992) Russian Empire Soviet Union Danseur |
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| Sulamith Messerer (1908–2004) Russian Empire Soviet Union United Kingdom Japan Ballerina,choreographer |
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| Victoria Mironova |
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anastasia Nabokina |
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| Bronislava Nijinska (1891–1972) Russian Empire United States Ballerina,choreographer |
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| Vaslav Nijinsky (1890–1950) Russian Empire Danseur,choreographer |
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| Rudolf Nureyev (1938–1993) Soviet Union France Danseur,choreographer |
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valery Panov |
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| Anna Pavlova (1881–1931) Russian Empire Prima ballerina |
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| Marie Petipa (1857–1930) Russian Empire France Ballerina |
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| Marius Petipa (1818–1910) France Russian Empire Danseur, choreographer, ballet master |
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| Maya Plisetskaya (1925–present) Soviet Union Russian Federation Lithuania Spain Prima ballerina assoluta |
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| Olga Preobrajenska |
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tatiana Riabouchinska |
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| Ida Rubinstein |
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galina Samsova |
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| Marina Semyonova |
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| Daniil Simkin Russian Federation Danseur |
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| Olga Spessivtseva |
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| Mariia Surovshchikova-Petipa (1836–1882) Russian Empire Prima ballerina |
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vasily Tikhomirov |
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| Tamara Toumanova (1919–1996) Russian SFSR France United States (Georgian descent) Prima ballerina |
Trained in Paris by Preobrajenska, Toumanova was one of Balanchine's Baby Ballerinas and a close colleague of Léonide Massine. She made her debut in the children's ballet L'Éventail de Jeanne. Nicknamed The Black Pearl of the Russian Ballet, she performed in Balanchine's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme and Le Palais de Cristal. She appeared in Hollywood films, including The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, Tonight We Sing (playing Anna Pavlova), Deep in My Heart, Days of Glory, and Alfred Hitchcock's Torn Curtain. |
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galina Ulanova (1910–1998) Russian Empire Soviet Union Russian Federation Prima ballerina assoluta |
Trained under Agrippina Vaganova and her own mother, a ballerina of the Imperial Russian Ballet, Ulanova joined the Mariinsky Theatre in 1928. After 1944 she became a prima ballerina assoluta in Bolshoi Theatre. In 1945 she danced the title role in the world premiere of Prokofiev's Cinderella. On her first international tour in 1956 she achieved enormous success. Having retired from the stage in 1960, Ulanova coached many generations of the Russian dancers |
| Portrait | Person | Details | Stage Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agrippina Vaganova |
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| Vladimir Vasiliev |
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| Ekaterina Vazem |
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| Diana Vishneva (born 1976) Soviet Union Russian Federation Prima ballerina |
Vishneva is one of the 21st century's leading dancers; she is a prima ballerina at the Mariinsky Ballet since 1995 and performs as a guest in ABT since 2005, as well as on other world scenes. Her repertoire includes Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, La Bayadère, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Giselle. She also performs in George Balanchine's Jewels and Kenneth MacMillan's Manon. | ||
| Pierre Vladimiroff (1893–1970) Russian Empire France United States Danseur |
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| Anastasia Volochkova |
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