Anisimova, Nina (1909–)

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Anisimova, Nina (1909–)

Soviet dancer and choreographer. Born Jan 27, 1909, in St. Petersburg, Russia; studied under Maria Romanova, Agrippina Vaganova, and Alexander Shiryayev at the Leningrad ballet school, 1919–26.

Created many notable roles in the dramatic ballets of the 1930s, including Therese in Vassily Vainonen's Flames of Paris; one of the 1st Soviet women choreographers, worked on Gayané for the Leningrad Kirov Theater (1945); for her long association with the Maly Opera Theater in Leningrad, created The Magic Veil (1947), Coppélia (new version, 1949), Schéhérazade (new version, 1950), and Willow Tree (1957); retired as a dancer (1957), when she began to focus solely on choreography.