About the Author

Agrippina Yakovlena Vaganova was born in St. Petersburg in 1879. She graduated from the Imperial Ballet School in 1897 and joined the Maryinsky Theater Ballet that same year. She was promoted to soloist in 1905 and to Prima Ballerina in 1915. She began teaching at the State Theater School in Leningrad in 1921 and at the State Theater Ballet (later known as the Kirov Ballet) in 1922. She was Director of that company from 1931-37 and of the education department at the State School from 1934-41. She died in her hometown in 1951. Flavia Pappacena, is an Italian classical ballet teacher who teaches Dance Theory and Dance Aesthetics at the National Academy of Dance in Rome, Italy, and at the "La Sapienza" University of Rome. She is the director of the dance books for Gremese and is author of numerous esseys and technical manuals on dance that have been translated in various languages. She lives in Rome, Italy. Authoritative, american ballet teacher, he is Professor at Italy's National Academy of Dance. He develops professional skills for dancers of all ages. Former dancer Nederlands Dans Theater, Geneva Ballet, Ballet Rambert, Hamburg Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Balletmaster Zurich Ballet, Ballet Gulbenkian Founder and director of The Magic Light Company, which provides expertise, consulting and services to Theatre, Dance, Television and Film productions.