Olga Preobrajenska (1871–1962). Russian ballerina and teacher

Olga Preobrajenska was born in St Petersburg in 1871, and began her studies at the Imperial Ballet School in 1879. Her balletic heritage was impeccable, with such luminaries as Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, Christian Johansson and Enrico Cecchetti forming her education. She graduated into the Imperial Russian Ballet at the Maryinsky Theatre in 1889 and became a ballerina in 1900. She had an extensive repertoire at the Maryinsky and was also able to appear as a guest artist in many European capitals. Although she began teaching in St Petersburg in 1914, she left Russia in 1921 to teach worldwide. She eventually settled in Paris, teaching at the Salle Wacker from 1923, where she was to stay for the next 40 years. She was the idol of countless dancers who flocked to her classes whenever they had both free time and enough money to travel. Olga Preobrajenska died in 1962.