Queen Of Sweden Visits Russian Ballet Academy

Her Majesty Silvia Queen of Sweden visited the Agrippina Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg to attend Marina Vassilieva's and Vadim Desnitsky's classes for senior students and school-leavers. Her Majesty saw an exposition illustrating 300 years-long contacts of Russian and Swedish ballets at the academy museum. Jean Lander, first Russian ballet school teacher and St. Petersburg school founder, led a dancing company which was performing with the Swedish Royal Ballet for three years before going to St. Petersburg, then Russian capital. Major Swedish balletmaster Christian Johansson found an adoptive home in Russia toward the 19th century's end. Renowned Anna Pavlova, Matilde Kszessinska, Tamara Karsavina, the Legate brothers, and Agrippina Vaganova (1879-1951), inventor of contemporary classical dance teaching methods, were his pupils. Queen Silvia received a memorial medal, signed the Visitors' Book, and gave the academy an art album, "Stockholm Horizons".