Shelest, Alla (1919—)

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Shelest, Alla (1919—)

Soviet ballerina. Born in Russia in 1919; studied at the Leningrad Ballet.

Alla Shelest began her studies at the Leningrad Ballet in 1927, graduating ten years later. Her first prominent role was that of the Girl-Swan in Agrippina Vaganova 's Swan Lake with the Kirov company in 1938–39. Shelest appeared as Zarema in The Fountain of Bakhchisary, Nikia in La Bayadère, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Myrtha in Giselle, the Lilac Fairy and Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Yekaterina in The Stone Flower, Bird-Girl in Shurale, and the Tsar-Maiden in The Humpbacked Horse. During the 1960s, her appearances at the Kirov became less frequent, and she turned to coaching young dancers in the company.