Nicolaeva-Legat, Nadine ., 1895-1971

Nadine Nicolaeva-Legat was a Russian ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer who settled in the UK in the 1920s. She was married to Nicolas (Nikolai) Legat. Nicolas Legat (1869-1937) and his brother Sergei (1875-1905) were dancers, teachers, choreographers and caricaturists. Both worked for the Russian Imperial Ballet, St Petersburg. The brothers worked together to produce caricatures of fellow artists associated with the Imperial Ballet, circa 1900 until Sergei's death in 1905. The brothers often signed jointly, in Russian, 'by N. and S. Legat'. Some caricatures were eventually sold as individual prints or in albums. Nicolas became an important ballet teacher, particularly associated with his 'Class of Perfection' for the graduate class of the Imperial Ballet School. Sergei, regarded as the greater dancer, and a natural successor to Pavel Gerdt as the Premier Danseur noble of the Imperial Ballet, committed suicide at the age of 30.

After leaving Russia with his wife in 1923 Nicolas Legat went on to teach classical ballet in Paris and London, where he eventually settled until his death in 1937. He succeeded Enrico Cecchetti as ballet master to the Diaghilev Ballets Russes, before establishing his renowned studio at Colet Gardens, West Kensington, in 1929-30.

Nicolas Legat introduced his 'Class of Perfection' to the west and continued creating sketches and caricatures throughout his life. His students (and subjects) included Pavlova, Preobrajenska, Vaganova, de Valois and Dolin. His wife, Nadine Nicolaeva-Legat, continued the Legat legacy, teaching the 'Russian School' of classical ballet. In 1939, at the outbreak of WWII, she moved to a small village in Buckinghamshire where she opened a vocational boarding school. In 1945 the school had developed to such an extent that it moved to larger premises in Tunbridge Wells; the Legat School is now incorporated at Bede's School, East Sussex.

The grand-daughter of Nicolas Legat, Mimi Nicolaeva-Legat was a graduate of the Legat School of Russian Ballet, then directed by Legat’s widow, Nadine Nicolaeva. Mimi Legat subsequently danced with the Norwegian Ballet and the Hamburg Ballet before becoming a member of the Ballet Royal de Wallonie from 1971-82, where she performed many Soloist roles. She then moved to the USA, where she currently teaches, drawing directly on the principles of her grandfather’s work. Married to a law Professor, Dan Freeman, who teaches at Washington University, she continues to dance with the Washington National Opera and the Baltimore Opera and choreographs for both these companies (2013).

From the guide to the The Mimi Legat Collection, 1900-1970, (The Royal Ballet School, White Lodge Museum)