Tatiana Dokoudovska

Tatiana Dokoudovska (13 January 1921 – 21 September 2005) was a French ballet dancer, choreographer and ballet master of Russian origin. She founded the Kansas City Ballet in 1957 and was the company's first artistic director.

Biography Tatiana Dokoudovska was born on 13 January 1921 in Beausoleil, France, near Monte Carlo, from Alexis and Nadia Dokoudovskaya. Her father was the son of a Russian nobleman; her mother's Italian father, Leopold Lazzarini, was an opera tenor. Her father's family had fled Russia during the Russian revolution.

Her father, who had lost everything following the revolution, drove a taxi while in Monte Carlo. Her mother had been studying to be a doctor, but had to quit when the family lost their fortune.

The family moved to Paris, joining a community of exiled Russians (nobility and military). The first performance included the Chopin-Fokine "Les Sylphides;" Michael Fokine's "Ruse D'Amour," adapted by Dokoudovska; a set of divertissements; a modern dance piece choreographed by Conservatory colleague Howard Vogel; and an excerpt from Act III of Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty." The performance was repeated at Wyandotte High School in Kansas City, Kansas on May 1, 1957.

In 1977, she stepped down artistic director of KCB so she could concentrate on teaching.

Dokoudovska retired from the UMKC Conservatory of Music in 1989.

She died on 21 September 2005. She is buried at Forest Hill Calvary Cemetery in Kansas City.