Anisimova, Nina (1909—)

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Anisimova, Nina (1909—)

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

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