Anton Dolin
From 1916, part of the building was a ballet academy run by the dance teacher Serafina Astafieva (1876–1934), great niece of Leo Tolstoy. Astafieva trained Alicia Markova who came to Diaghilev's attention when he visited the school in 1921 and went on to join his Ballets Russes. Anton Dolin and Margot Fonteyn also trained there.