Agrippina Vaganova, the great ballet teacher

Agrippina Vaganova, the founder of the theory of Russian classical ballet, was born in 1879 in Saint Petersburg into an Armenian family. At the age of 10 she entered the Petersburg Theatre School, graduated in 1895 and a year later joined the corps de ballet of the Mariinsky Theatre. Critics called her the “queen of variations”.

After leaving the stage in 1914, she began teaching and developing her own method. In 1931 she became artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre ballet, and in 1934 she received the title of People’s Artist of the RSFSR. Her book “Basic Principles of Classical Ballet” is the main manual for ballet teachers around the world. She died in 1951.

The portrait shows a woman with a feather ornament in her hair, earrings and a jewelled necklace.