Olga Preobrajenskaya
| Olga Preobrajenska Ольга Преображенская |
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Preobrajenskaya in the Pas de Diane from Le Roi Candaule, ca. 1899
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| Born |
Olga Iosifovna Preobrazhenskaya 21 January 1871 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire |
| Died | 27 December 1962 (aged 91) Paris, France |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Occupation | Prima ballerina, ballet teacher |
| Former groups | Russian Imperial Ballet |
Olga Iosifovna Preobrajenska born Preobrazhenskaya (Russian: О́льга Ио́сифовна Преображе́нская; 2 February [O.S. 21 January] 1871 – 27 December 1962) was a well-known Russian ballerina of the Russian Imperial Ballet and a noted ballet instructor.
She was born in Saint Petersburg as Olga Preobrazhenskaya (the final syllable of her surname was dropped to shorten her name for professional purposes, and she used the French transliteration, Preobrajenska).
Olga—born frail and with a crooked spine—was an unlikely prima ballerina. But she had dreams of being a dancer, and for years her parents tried unsuccessfully to get her enrolled in dance school. The selection committee repeatedly rejected her as a candidate. But after three years of trying, her parents succeeded and the 8-year-old Olga entered the Imperial Ballet School in 1879.
Despite her physical shortcomings, Preobrazhenskaya grew strong with training under master instructors Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov and Anna Johansson. She developed excellent turnout and toe point, though her hunched back remained troublesome. She was also naturally expressive, bringing new life to a "hackneyed" repertoire, and exhibited the desired softness and grace of a dancer.
In addition to her love of dance, Preobrazhenskaya had musicality to go with it; she studied singing, performed opera arias, and played the piano masterfully.
In 1892, she made her debut in Kalkabrino, the first of her many performances in Petipa creations, which included Bluebeard (1896), Les Millions d'Arlequin (1900) and Les Saisons (1900). She also performed in Ivanov and Gerdt's Sylvia (1901), Nikolai and Sergei Legat's The Fairy Doll (1903), and Mikhail Fokin's The Night of Terpsichore and Chopiniana (1908).
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