Ninel Kurgapkina
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Ninel Kurgapkina (b. 1929, Leningrad) is a Russian dance teacher and former prima ballerina for the Kirov Ballet with over 50 years stage experience.
She was one of the last pupils of Agrippina Vaganova's Ballet Academy. She graduated and joined the Kirov Ballet in 1947, where she danced such roles as Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Myrtha (Giselle), Odette-Odile (Swan Lake), Kitri (Don Quixote) and Parasha (Bronze Horseman). She was appointed a director of the Vaganova Academy in 1972.
Despite the difference in age, Kurgapkina was the first female partner to both Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev, who were also trained at the Kirov.
Since 1969 she has been a primary coach at the Kirov and has taught master classes at institutions including the New York City Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, and the La Scala Opera Ballet. She has been an Associate Ballet Mistress at the Masterpiece Dance Theatre since 1994.
