The Vaganova Academy of Russia Ballet , the ballet school of the Mariinksy Theatre , started the careers of Mathilde Kschessinskaya , Olga Preobrajenskaya , Anna Pavlova , Tamara Karsavina , Vaslav Nijinsky , Marina Semenova , George Balanchine , Galina Ulanova , Rudolf Nureyev , Natalia Makarova , Mikhail Baryshnikov , Irina Kolpakova , Galina Mezentseva , Altynai Asylmuratova , and in more recent times famous dancers like Ulyana Lopatkina , Diana Vishneva , and Svetlana Zakharova . Ballet : The Vaganova Academy of Russia Ballet , the ballet school of the Mariinksy Theatre , spawned careers of Mathilde Kschessinskaya , Olga Preobrajenskaya , Anna Pavlova , Tamara Karsavina , Vaslav Nijinsky , Marina Semenova , George Balanchine , Galina Ulanova , Rudolf Nureyev , Natalia Makarova , Mikhail Baryshnikov , Irina Kolpakova , Galina Mezentseva , Altynai Asylmuratova , and in more recent times dancers of renown like Ulyana Lopatkina , Diana Vishneva , and Svetlana Zakharova .