Ballet Dancer, Teacher. Born in Peterhof, Russia, she studied at the Petrograd Theatre School where her teachers included Vaganova and Preobrajenska. She graduated in 1920 and joined GATOB in 1921 becoming a soloist in 1922. She left Russia in 1924 with George Balanchine and a small group of dancers calling themselves “The Soviet State Dancers” and were engaged to dance with Sergei Diaghilev's “Ballet Russes” (1924 to 1929 and became ballerina 1n 1927.) In 1925 and once again in 1929 to 1930 she danced with Monte Carlo Opera Ballet and after which starred in the musical 'Waltzes from Vienna'. She was ballerina of de Basil's “Ballet Russes” from 1933 to 1938 and prima ballerina of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo from 1938 to 1952. She also guested with several other companies including Sadler's Well's in 1949 and London Festival Ballet in 1951. Between 1954 and 1956 she toured with her own group called “Great Moments of Ballet” and gave her farewell performance in 1957 in New York with Ballet “Russe de Monte Carlo” at the Met. She was one of the most popular dancers of the era with enormous charm and technically versatile. Massine said that her Street Dancer performance in his ballet 'Beau Danube' was like "champagne of the stage". She danced all the major ballerina roles and created several title roles in Balanchine ballets including 'The Triumph of Neptune' in 1926, 'Le Bal' in 1928, 'Danses Concertantes' in 1944 and 'La Sonnambula' in 1946. She choreographed and staged ballets for opera as well as for ballet companies including 'Coppelia' for the New York City Ballet in 1974. She was a teacher at the School of American Ballet from 1964 to 1989. In 1986 she was awarded the Handel Medallion, New York, and a Kennedy Centre Award in 1989. Her autobiography, 'Choura', was published in New York in 1986.