Natalia Dudinskaya (1912--2003)

Natalia Mikhailovna Dudinskaya was a Russian prima ballerina who dominated the Kirov Ballet in the 1930s and 1940s .

Dudinskaya's mother was Natalia Tagliori, a ballerina coached by Enrico Cecchetti . Trained by Agrippina Vaganova , Dudinskaya matriculated from her school in 1931 . She danced all the classical leads at the Kirov Theatre before her frail health forced her to retire in 1951 . During her career, she received the total of four Stalin Prizes . In 1957 , she was named a People's Artist of the USSR .

Upon her retirement, Dudinskaya became the ballet mistress of the Vaganova School and Kirov Ballet. After Rudolf Nureyev , their disciple, defected to the West, she and her husband, Konstantin Sergeyev , were subjected to reprimands from Soviet officials. Anastasia Volochkova and Uliana Lopatkina were among the last ballerinas coached by her.

Natalia Dudinskaya as Söyembikä
in the Jakobson/Yarullin Shuraleh,
Leningrad, circa 1935