Stage Voices

Nina Alovert (b. 1935) started her photography career in the Kirov Theater, today called the Mariinsky Theater, and which is St. Petersburg’s and Russia’s most famous ballet venue. Nina emigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s, but she kept taking pictures of Russian dancers while they were on tour abroad. She was a photographer for the Emmy-winning TV movie, Wolf Trap Presents The Kirov: Swan Lake (1986). 

Nina has also been trying to build bridges between Russian and American culture, and was also celebrated with several international ballet prizes for her humanitarian mission. Meanwhile, her photos can be found in leading American ballet books, and she has also published several solo albums that feature leading Russian ballet stars from Mikhail Baryshnikov to Nikolay Tsiskaridze. Let’s take a look at some of her brilliant photos..

Natalia Makarova in La Bayadère by the American Ballet Company, 1980

Mikhail Baryshnikov in El Penitente by Martha Graham Dance Company, 1988

Andris Liepa in Boston, 1988