page_title: List of Russian ballet dancers
section_title: S
hierarchical_section_title: List of Russian ballet dancers / Alphabetical list / S
caption_attribution_description: Format: Photograph For the sad life story of Olga Spessivtzeva (billed Spessiva for phonic simplicity or maybe to make the name more the same length as "Pavlova" who had toured six years before on her Australian tour); and the part Australia played in her life, see the Valerie Lawson article: The life of Olga Spessivtseva: spies, delusions and the comfort of dolls (dancelines.com.au/Olga Spessivtseva) Note on the name: Spessivtzeva has signed the photogrpah "Olga Spessiva" Find more detailed information about this photograph acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=442191 Search for more great images in the State Library's collections acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/search/SimpleSearch.aspx (http://acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/search/itemDetailPaged.cgi?itemID=442191) From the collection of the State Library of New South Wales www.sl.nsw.gov.au English: Olga Spessivtzeva (Spessiva) in Swan Lake (as Odette) costume, 1934 photographer Sydney Fox Studio, 3rd Floor, 88 King St, Sydney Русский: Ольга Спесивцева в костюме Одетты из балета "Лебединое озеро", 1934, Сидней
context_page_description: This is a list of ballet dancers from the Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and Russian Federation, including both ethnic Russians and people of other ethnicities. This list includes as well those who were born in these three states but later emigrated, and those who were born elsewhere but immigrated to the country and performed there for a significant portion of their careers.
  The original purpose of the ballet in Russia was to entertain the royal court. The first ballet company was the Imperial School of Ballet in St. Petersburg in the 1740s. The Ballets Russes was a ballet company founded in the 1909 by Sergey Diaghilev, an enormously important figure in the Russian ballet scene. Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes' travels abroad profoundly influenced the development of dance worldwide. The headquarters of his ballet company was located in Paris, France. A protégé of Diaghilev, George Balanchine, founded the New York City Ballet Company.
  During the early 20th century, many Russian ballet dancers rose to fame. Soviet ballet preserved the perfected 19th century traditions, and the Soviet Union's choreography schools produced one internationally famous star after another.
caption: Russian Prima ballerina Olga Spessivtseva as Odette in Swan Lake, 1934
exif: {}