About Marina Semyonova
Marina Timofeyevna Semyonova (Russian: Марина Тимофеевна Семёнова, 30 May [O.S. 17 May] 1908 – 9 June 2010) was the first Soviet-trained prima ballerina. She was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1975, and a Hero of Socialist Labour in 1988. == Early life == The first great dancer formed by Agrippina Vaganova, she graduated from the Vaganova School in 1925, which "is registered in the annals of Soviet ballet as the year of the unprecedented triumph of Marina Semyonova". She worked in the Kirov Ballet until 1930 when Joseph Stalin had her and her husband Viktor Semyonov (they were namesakes) transferred to the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. There she married Lev Karakhan (the civil marriage), an Old Bolshevik and Deputy Foreign Minister, best known as an advisor to the Republic of China founder Sun Yat-sen. Karakhan was purged in 1937. == Career == The Soviet dancer Maya Plisetskaya wrote of her that "what she demonstrated in her time was unusual, brand new, breathtaking. Now it is widely believed it has always been that way." The writer Stefan Zweig wrote of her dancing that "when she steps onto the stage with her nature-given gait, which her training only polished, and suddenly soars up in a wild leap, the impression is that of a storm suddenly splitting the quiet of a humdrum existence." Semyonova was guest with the Paris Opera Ballet in 1935 where she danced Giselle with Serge Lifar. She received the Stalin Prize for 1941 and retired in 1952. After that, she became one of the most important teachers and répétiteurs of the Bolshoi Theatre.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.