Ballerina, born in St Petersburg. She trained at the Imperial Ballet School there, and became world famous, creating roles in work by Fokine, in particular The Dying Swan (1907). After a period with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, she began touring Europe with her own company (1909). She choreographed over a dozen works, of which the best known are Snowflakes (1915) and Autumn Leaves (1918). She did much to create the stereotyped image of the ballerina which persists today.