by Claudia Bauer | Jun 18, 2026 | News, Profiles, The Latest
Certain words come up a lot in conversations about Irina Kolpakova: Passion. Wisdom. Treasure. Legend. And rightly so. The epitome of the 20th-century Russian ballerina, Kolpakova was a top student in the last graduating class of Agrippina Vaganova at the Leningrad...
by Marina Harss | May 12, 2020 | Career, Instagram, Profiles
In November, American Ballet Theatre principal Christine Shevchenko traveled to St. Petersburg to work with one of the coaches at the Mariinsky Ballet, Margarita Kullik. It was her fourth time working with Kullik, who in the 1980s and ’90s was a leading dancer...
by Madeline Schrock For Dance Magazine | Jun 20, 2019 | Profiles
Being coached by a treasure like former Kirov prima Irina Kolpakova is an experience most dancers only dream of. But company members at American Ballet Theatre have been the lucky beneficiaries of her wisdom since 1990. Thanks to Instagram, where pros like Gillian...
by Julia Rosica | Jan 23, 2019 | Profiles, TBT
Irina Kolpakova, currently a ballet mistress at American Ballet Theatre at age 85, is a living dance legend. She studied under Agrippina Vaganova and went on to dance as prima ballerina at the Kirov Ballet (now the Mariinsky). In the ’60s, she astonished...
by Amy Brandt | Sep 11, 2018 | Career, Profiles
With a large exhale, Katherine Williams steps into a series of arabesque chugs, as if the force of her breath is propelling her forward. “Big step out, big,” coaxes ballet mistress Irina Kolpakova, watching from the front of a small studio at American...
by Marissa DeSantis | Jun 14, 2018 | Profiles, Trending
In the middle of American Ballet Theatre’s spring season, principal dancer Christine Shevchenko takes a break from her comedic role of Pierrette in Harlequinade to (briefly) transform into a swan. During the half hour rehearsal, Shevchenko seamlessly transitions...
by Amy Brandt | Nov 24, 2015 | Profiles
This story originally appeared in the December 2015/January 2016 issue of Pointe. Maria Kochetkova has a voracious appetite for inspiration. A principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet since 2007, she spent the last few years guesting with American Ballet Theatre...
by Hannah Chang Foster | Oct 21, 2015 | Company Life
In English, Le Papillon translates to “the butterfly.” Airy, elegant and frolicsome, Russian ballerina Irina Kolpakova effectively evokes the winged creature in this 1983 clip. Marie Taglioni originally choreographed Le Papillon in 1860 for her...