Alla Shelest 1919 - 1998 Mariinsky Ballet Photo: Photo: Photo: Photo: Photo: Photo: Photo: Photo: Photo: All photos copyright by their respective owners. Alla Shelest was born in Smolensk in 1919. She graduated from Leningrad Choreographic School 1937, where she was a pupil of Elizaveta Gerdt and Agrippina Vaganova. Dancer with the Kirov Ballet 1937-63. Repertoire includes: Spartacus (Aegina), Stone Flower (Katerina and Mistress of the Copper Mountain), The Fountain of Bakhchisarai (Zarema), La Bayadere (Nikia), Laurencia, Shurave (Suimbike), Giselle (Giselle and Myrtha). She coached Tatiana Terekhova, Olga Chenchikova and Uliana Lopatkina. Awards: People's Artist of the USSR. Read more: Alla Shelest by Geoff Whitlock on For Ballet Lovers Only.