Nina Vladimirovna Timofeeva

Born June 11, 1935, in Leningrad. Soviet ballerina. People’s Artist of the USSR (1969).

Timofeeva, a graduate of the Leningrad Choreographic School, made her debut as a student in 1951, as Masha in Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. From 1953 to 1956 she was a soloist with the S. M. Kirov Leningrad Theater of Opera and Ballet, and since 1956 she has been a soloist with the Bolshoi Theater. A consummate technician, she masterfully embodies classical and modern choreography and plastique and dances with remarkable musicality. Her roles have included Odette-Odile in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Kitri in Minkus’ Don Quixote, the Mistress of the Copper Mountain in Prokofiev’s The Stone Flower, Mekhmene-Banu in Melikov’s Legend of Love, Leili in Balasanian’s Leili and Medzhnun, and Aegina in Khachaturian’s Spartacus.

Timofeeva was a deputy to the seventh convocation of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. She has been awarded two orders and one medal.