Serge Ismailoff, born in Russia in 1912, was educated at the University of Louvain, Belgium. As a member of an athletic group, he decided to become a dancer and studied under Olga Preobrajenska, Bronislava Nijinska, and Lubov Egorova. He made his professional debut in Paris and has performed with Monte Carlo Ballet Russe, Ballet International, and Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. He has also appeared on Broadway and television. By 1960, he and his wife Anna Istomina ran dance studios in Great Neck and White Plains, New York.
From the guide to the Sergei Ismailoff papers, 1929-1947, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.)