The
Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet is a school of
classical ballet in
Saint Petersburg,
Russia. Established in 1738 during the reign of
Empress Anna, the academy was known as the
Imperial Ballet School up until
Soviet times, when, after a brief hiatus, the school was re-established as the
Leningrad State Choreographic Institute. In 1957, the school was renamed in honor of the renowned pedagogue
Agrippina Vaganova, who cultivated the method of classical ballet training that has been taught there since the late 1920s. Graduates of the school include some of the most famous ballet dancers, choreographers and teachers in history and many of the world's leading ballet schools have adopted elements of the
Vaganova method into their own training.