Lepeshinskaya, Olga (1916–)

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Lepeshinskaya, Olga (1916–)

Soviet ballerina. Born Sept 28, 1916, in Kiev; graduate of Bolshoi Ballet School (1933).

At 10, danced the part of Cupid in Don Quixote; before graduating from Bolshoi School, also danced the principal part of Masha in The Nutcracker; created role of Suok the Circus Dancer for Three Fat Men (1935) and played title role in Svetlana (1939); performed with the Bolshoi (1933–63), appearing as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Lise in La Fille Mal Gardée, Jeanne in Flames of Paris, Kitri in Don Quixote, and Tao Hoa in The Red Poppy, among others; taught extensively in USSR and East Germany, and graced the stages of Paris, Japan, China, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Mexico.