FEYA BALABINA

(1910 - 1982)
Mariinsky Ballet

BIOGRAPHY


Feya Balabina was born in Rostov-on-Don in 1910. She studied at the Leningrad Choreographic School (pupil of Maria Romanova and Agrippina Vaganova). She danced with the Kirov Ballet from 1931-56 and made her debut as Tao-Hoa in The Red Poppy. Among her other roles were Masha in The Nutcracker, Kitri in Don Quixote, title role in Esmeralda, Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Zarema in The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, title role in Cinderella, the Tsar-Maiden in The Humpbacked Horse, Nikiya and Gamzatti in La Bayadere, Lise in La Fille mal Gardée, Gulnare in Le Corsaire, Jeanne in Flames of Paris, Paskuala in Laurencia and Nuné in Gayané.

Feya Balabina teached at the Vaganova School from 1953-73 and was a repetiteur with the Kirov Ballet from 1953-64.