Velta Einovna Vilcina

Born Dec. 13, 1928, in Upesgrīva, Talsy Raion. Soviet ballerina. People’s Artist of the Latvian SSR (1959) and People’s Artist of the USSR (1965).

Vilciņa graduated from the ballet school at the Theater of Opera and Ballet of the Latvian SSR in Riga in 1948 and in 1949 became a soloist at that theater. Her roles include Skaidrite in Kalninš’ Staburag, Giselle in Adam’s ballet of the same name, Odette-Odile in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Juliet in Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, the Baroness in A. Skulte’s Sakta of Freedom, and Nelima in R. S. Grinblat’s Rigonda. In 1956 and 1958 she was a member of the troupe of the Bol’shoi Theater of the USSR during its tours in London and Brussels. Vilcina was a deputy to the seventh convocation of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR and the sixth convocation of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. She received the State Prize of the Latvian SSR in 1958 and has been awarded the Order of Lenin, two other orders, and various medals.