Olga Spessivtseva

Olga Alexandrovna Spessivtseva (Russian: Ольга Алекса́ндровна Спеси́вцева (18 July [O.S. 6 July] 1895 – 16 September 1991) was a Russian ballerina whose stage career spanned from 1913-39.

One of the maxims prima ballerinas of the twentieth century. Excellent classical technique, immaculate style and scenic spirituality is considered the embodiment of the romantic ballerina.

Olga Spessivtseva was born in Rostov-on-Don, the daughter of an opera singer and his wife. After her father's death, she was sent to an orphanage with theatrical connections in St. Petersburg, a center of culture . She entered St. Petersburg's Imperial Ballet Academy in 1906, where she was a student of Klavdia Kulichevskaya and later of Yevgenia Sokolova and Agrippina Vaganova.

After graduating in 1913, she joined the Mariinsky Theatre company, where she was promoted to soloist in 1916. An exquisite romantic dancer with perfect technique, ideally suited for roles such as Giselle and Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, she quickly became one of the most admired dancers in the company.

In 1916, Sergei Diaghilev invited her to tour with the Ballets Russes in the United States, where she danced with Vaslav Nijinsky in Le Spectre de la Rose, Les Sylphides and the "Bluebird pas de deux" from The Sleeping Beauty. In 1918 she returned to the Mariinsky, renamed the Petrograd Opera and Ballet Theater after the Russian Revolution of 1917. She was promoted to the rank of ballerina. At this time she was almost unknown in the West.

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