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Olga Preobrajenska




Olga Preobrajenska ( 18711962 ) was probably the best loved Ballerina of the Russian Imperial Ballet . Although the royal family supported her rival, Mathilde Kschessinska , it was Preobrajenska whom St Petersburg auduences favoured the most.

In 1879 , she joined the Imperial Ballet School , where her teachers were Nicholas Legat , Enrico Cecchetti , and Christian Johansson . After 10 years of intensive training, she moved to the Mariinsky Theatre , where she would work for the next quarter a century. In 1900 , she earned the title Prima Ballerina .

After the Russian Revolution , Preobrajenska dedicated her life to teaching new generations of dancers, first in Petrograd , then in Paris . Every major mid-20th-century Western dancer visited Preobrajenska for lessons. Tamara Toumanova and Margot Fonteyn were among the many ballerinas she coached.


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