Famous Ballet Masters

Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( NEWR-ee-ef, nyuurr-AY-ef; Tatar: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; Russian: Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, IPA: [rʊˈdolʲf nʊˈrʲejɪf]; 17 March 1938 – 6 January 1993) was a Soviet ballet dancer and choreographer. Nureyev is regarded by some as the greatest male ballet dancer of his generation.Nureyev was born on a Trans-Siberian train near Irkutsk, Siberia, Soviet Union to a Bashkir-tatar family. He began his early career with the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg. He defected from the Soviet Union to the West in 1961, despite KGB efforts to stop him. This was the first defe

Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 1904 – 18 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Determined to be a dancer, despite the opposition of his conventional middle-class family, Ashton was accepted as a pupil by Léonide Massine and then by Marie Rambert. In 1926 Rambert encouraged him to try his hand at choreography, and though he continued to dance professionally, with success, it was as a choreographer that he became famous. Ashton was chief choreographer to Ninette de Valois, from

George Balanchine (; born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; Russian: Гео́ргий Мелито́нович Баланчива́дзе, Georgian: გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 – April 30, 1983) was an American ballet choreographer who was one of the most influential 20th century choreographers. Styled as the father of American ballet, he co-founded the New York City Ballet and remained its Artistic Director for more than 35 years.Balanchine took the standards and technique from his time at the Imperial Ballet School and fused it with other schools of movement that he had adopted during his tenure on B

Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 1929 – 29 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. Earlier he had served as director of ballet for the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. He was also associate director of the American Ballet Theatre from 1984 to 1989, and artistic associate of the Houston Ballet from 1989 to 1992. From a family with no background of ballet or music, MacMillan was determined from an early age to become a dancer. The director of Sad

Tatiana Victorovna Stepanova, also Tetyana Stepanova, (Russian: Татьяна Викторовна Степанова; Ukrainian: Тeтяна Степанова Вікторівна, Tatiana Victorovna Stepanova) (born 1962, Odessa, Ukraine then Soviet Union) is a Ballet master, choreographer, ballet dancer, critic, essayist and historian of the dance.

Marius Ivanovich Petipa (Russian: Ма́риус Ива́нович Петипа́), born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa (11 March 1818 – 14 July [O.S. 1 July] 1910), was a French ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. Petipa is one of the most influential ballet masters and choreographers in ballet history. Marius Petipa is noted for his long career as Premier maître de ballet (First Ballet Master) of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, making him Ballet Master and principal choreographer of the Imperial Ballet (today known as the Mariinsky Ballet), a position he held from 1871 until 1903. Petipa created over

Olga Vasiliyevna Lepeshinskaya (Russian: Ольга Васильевна Лепешинская; 28 September [O.S. 15 September] 1916 – December 20, 2008) was a Soviet ballerina. She was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1951.

Fabritio Caroso da Sermoneta (1526/1535 – 1605/1620) was an Italian Renaissance dancing master and a composer or transcriber of dance music. His dance manual Il Ballarino was published in 1581, with a subsequent edition, significantly different, Nobiltà di Dame, printed in 1600 and again after his death in 1630. The work has been published in English as Courtly Dance of the Renaissance by Julia Sutton.Both manuals have been printed in facsimile edition. Many of the dances of Fabritio Caroso's manuals are meant for two dancers with a few for four or more dancers. These manuals offer a great dea

Filippo Taglioni (aka Philippe Taglioni; 5 November 1777 – 11 February 1871) was an Italian dancer and choreographer and personal teacher to his own daughter, the famous Romantic ballerina Marie Taglioni. (He had another child who also danced ballet, Paul Taglioni.) Also, although August Bournonville's version is better known, it was Taglioni who was the original choreographer of La Sylphide, in 1832.

Natalia Igorevna Bessmertnova (Russian: Наталья Игоревна Бессмертнова; 19 July 1941 – 19 February 2008) was a Soviet prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet and a People's Artist of the USSR (1976).

Mykola Kanevets (Ukrainian: Микола Канівець), is the Artistic Director and Ballet Master of the Cheremosh Ukrainian Dance Company in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. A native of Kiev, Ukraine, Mykola attended the National University of Culture and Performing Arts in Kiev, Ukraine where he graduated from the Faculty of Choreography with the distinction of Ballet Master and Choreographer. During his studies, Mykola had the opportunity to develop his dancing skills with the world-famous Virsky Studio where he traveled throughout Europe with them. This experience, along with the training he received fro

Gali Abajdulov is an actor, ballet master and ballet dancer.

Georgina Parkinson (20 August 1938 – 18 December 2009) was a British ballerina, ballet mistress and a coach at the American Ballet Theatre. Parkinson was born in Brighton, England. She was a ballet dancer for The Royal Ballet in the 1960s. Her breakthrough performance was in 1964 with Les Biches, and she performed in narrative ballets like Swan Lake and Raymonda. In 1978, she performed character roles at Ballet Theatre. While she went home to Battersea in London for a year to spend time with her family, she returned to the Theatre as a ballet mistress. She was close with dancers Julie Kent and

Enrico Cecchetti (Italian pronunciation: [enˈriːko tʃekˈketti]) was a ballet dancer, mime, and founder of the Cecchetti method. He was born on June 21, 1850, in Rome and died in Milan on November 13, 1928. He was the son of two dancers from Civitanova Marche. He began his career dancing for the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he improved his skills. People praised Cecchetti for his agility, strength, and technical abilities.

Leslie George Edwards lived from August 6, 1916, to February 8, 2001. He was a British ballet dancer and master. Edwards worked with the Royal Ballet organization for sixty years. He was one of the last dancers connected to Ninette de Valois's original pre-war Vic-Wells Ballet. He retired from the stage in 1993.

Sir Anthony James Dowell (born February 16, 1943) is a retired British ballet dancer. He served as the former artistic director of the Royal Ballet and is recognized as one of the great danseurs nobles of the twentieth century.

Nancy Raffa is an actor.

Marianne Sedova is a ballerina.

Arthur Saint-Léon lived from September 17, 1821, in Paris to September 2, 1870. He served as the Maître de Ballet for the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet from 1859 until 1869. He created the choreography for the ballet Coppélia.

Jean Coralli (January 15, 1779 – May 1, 1854) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer. He created Giselle (1841), which is considered the quintessential Romantic ballet of the nineteenth century, in collaboration with Jules Perrot.

Jean Dauberval, also known as Jean D’Auberval, was a French dancer and ballet master. He was born in Montpellier in 1742 and died in Tours in 1806. Dauberval created the popular ballet La fille mal gardée. He studied at the Paris Opéra under Jean-Georges Noverre. In 1763, he became premier danseur for the Académie Royale de Musique. He was named ballet master in 1771.

Jean-Baptiste Pitrot was a French dancer and balletmaster. He was born in Bordeaux on May 22, 1729, and died in Brussels on January 4, 1809. To distinguish him from his elder brother Antoine, he was called Pitrot cadet (Pitrot the younger). His father, Barthélemy Pitrot, was an actor and dancer who traveled across French provinces and the Southern Netherlands during the eighteenth century.

Alexander Plisetski (Russian: Александр Михайлович Плисецкий) (October 20, 1931 – October 29, 1985) was a Russian ballet master and choreographer. He was the younger brother of the famous ballerina Maya Plisetskaya.

Lev Ivanovich Ivanov was a Russian ballet dancer, choreographer, and Second Balletmaster of the Imperial Ballet. He was born in Moscow on March 2, 1834, and died in Saint Petersburg on December 24, 1901. As a performer, he gained prominence by performing as an understudy in a performance of La Fille Mal Gardée. Ivanov choreographed Acts II and IV of Swan Lake. These acts include the Dance of the Little Swans, Act II of Cinderella, and The Nutcracker. He worked with Marius Petipa.

Radu Poklitaru is a dancer and ballet master.

Jill Morse is a Ballet Master and Ballerina.

Pierre Rameau lived from 1674 to January 26, 1748. He was the French dancing master for Elisabetta Farnese. Rameau wrote two books that provide valuable information about Baroque dance. His first book, Le Maître à Danser (1725), provided instructions for formal ballroom dancing in the French style. The first part covered posture, reverences, steps, and the ballroom minuet. The second part focused entirely on arm usage.

Louis Gallodier (c. 1734 – June 6, 1803) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer. He spent most of his career in Sweden, where he became the ballet master of the Royal Swedish Ballet and greatly influenced ballet development there.

Jules-Joseph Perrot (August 18, 1810 – August 29, 1892) was a dancer and choreographer. He became the Ballet Master of the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. He created famous 19th-century ballets, including Pas de Quatre, La Esmeralda, Ondine, and Giselle with Jean Coralli.

Pehr Christian Johansson lived from May 20, 1817, to December 12, 1903. He was a teacher, choreographer, and balletmaster for the Russian Imperial Ballet. Johansson worked with the Royal Swedish Ballet between 1829 and 1841. He performed for the Imperial Russian Ballet from 1841 to 1866. Born in Stockholm, Sweden, he moved to Russia as a dancer. He became one of the most important teachers in Russian history. He began teaching in 1860 and became the leading ballet instructor at the Imperial Ballet School by 1869.

Lev Manahimov is the father of Russian singer Jasmin.

Mauritzio Giannetti is a ballet master and physiotherapist. He appeared in the 2013 documentary film Sometimes I Dream I'm Flying.

Nenette Charisse Tucker is a ballet master and the mother of Nana Visitor.