Marina Timofeyevna Semyonova[p] was the first Soviet-trained prima ballerina. She was born in Saint-Petersburg. She was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1975.(Russian: Марина Тимофеевна Семёнова, 12 June [O.S. 30 May] 1908 – 9 June 2010)
The first great dancer formed by Agrippina Vaganova, she graduated from the Vaganova School in 1925, which "is registered in the annals of Soviet ballet as the year of the unprecedented triumph of Marina Semyonova"[1]. She worked in the Kirov Ballet until 1930 when Stalin had her transferred to the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. There she married Lev Karakhan, an Old Bolshevik and Deputy Foreign Minister, best known as an advisor to Sun Yat-sen. He was purged in 1937.
Semyonova was guest with the Paris Opéra Ballet in 1935 where she danced Giselle with Serge Lifar.[2] She received the Stalin Prize for 1941 and retired in 1952. After that, she became one of the most important teachers and répétiteurs of the Bolshoi Theatre. Natalia Bessmertnova, Marina Kondratieva, Nadezhda Pavlova, Nina Sorokina, Ludmila Semenyaka, Nina Timofeyeva and Nina Ananiashvili were among her adepts.
Semyonova retired from her coaching duties at the age of 96. She is known for her friendship with young danseur Nikolay Tsiskaridze who interviewed her on several occasions. She also has a daughter by elocutionist Vsevolod Aksyonov. In 2008, the Bolshoi Theatre celebrated Semyonova's centenary. Semyonova died on 9 June 2010 in her home in Moscow, just 3 days before her 102nd birthday.
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