Agrippina Vaganova was a ballerina and teacher who created a world-renowned teaching method for classical dance. Born in St. Petersburg, she entered the Imperial Ballet School in 1889, studying under Alexander Oblakov and Ekaterina Vazem. From 1897, she performed with the Mariinsky Theatre troupe. Nicknamed the "Queen of Variations", she received solo roles only toward the end of her stage career (Odette-Odile in “Swan Lake”, the Tsar Maiden in “The Little Humpbacked Horse”). From 1921, she taught at the Leningrad Choreographic School, developing a systematic training method based on anatomical precision, musicality, and expressive movement. Among her students were Galina Ulanova, Marina Semyonova, and Natalia Dudinskaya. From 1931 to 1937, she served as artistic director of the Mariinsky Ballet. Author of the seminal work “Basic Principles of Classical Ballet”, reprinted many times and translated into numerous languages, her method became the basis of the world ballet pedagogy. The Bakhrushin Theatre Museum collection contains a large number of photographs of Agrippina Vaganova in role and in life.