Olga Preobrajenska, Russian ballerina and choreographer

Feb. 29 Madame Preobrajanska gives a demonstration to her pupils. Ballet's grand old lady still teaches the young. 85-year-old Russian ballerina runs a dancing school in Paris. To the sound of a piano, in a Paris studio, youngsters with aspirations to be ballerinas learn the rudiments, and some of the advanced points, of the dance. Teaching them, and giving them the benefit of her vast experience and talent, is a little old lady of eighty-six. In the days before the revolution, Preobrajenska was at the height of her fame as a ballerina in Imperial Russia. She partnered Nijinsky, was a guest of the Tsar at the Palace, and made to him a remark that has gone down in history. Then the Tsar invited her to play cards with him; the demure ballerina replied as she pushed a pile of gold coins over to him, that she only gambled with her own money. When the Communists came to power, Preo left. Today, she is the only dancer of her day who still has her name and story printed - twenty lines of it - in the Russian Dictionary of Biography. In Paris, where Preobrajenska made her home, after she finished dancing, the grand little old lady has carried on teaching dancing at her own school. She taught Ulanova's mother and many other famous ballet stars. In Montmartre, where she has her apartment, Preo is a well-known and beloved character. Daily she travels on the metro and lightly steps across the boulevards to the studio, greeted by all who know her. In the school, she sits and watches as the classes go through their lessons, making comments, criticism and praise, and frequently gets up and demonstrates herself. Seldom can she keep her tiny feet still, nor her arms by her side. Her apartment is filled with treasures of the past. Her sole companions are her birds and a cat

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