Natalia Bessmertnova

Natalia Bessmertnova
Natelya Bessmertnova as Giselle, 1966.
Born	19 July 1941 (1941-07-19)
Died	19 February 2008 (2008-02-20) (aged 66)

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).

She was born in Moscow in 1941 and trained at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography from 1953 to 1961. Among her teachers were Maria Kozhukhova and , and later Marina Semyonova. She graduated in 1961 as the first student in the school's history receiving A+ in the final examinations. In 1963 she joined the Bolshoi Ballet and was its prima ballerina for three decades. She was married to Yuri Grigorovich, former Director and Chief choreographer of the Bolshoi. When Yury Grigorovich was forced to leave the Bolshoi in 1995, she took part in a historic strike which led to cancellations of scheduled performances. Bessmertnova died in Moscow on 19 February 2008, aged 66, from cancer.

Her sister Tatyana (born 1947) was also a ballet dancer.