Ninel Aleksandrovna Kurgapkina[a] (13 February 1929 – 10 May 2009, known by the diminutive Ninella)[b] was a Soviet and Russian dance teacher and former prima ballerina for the Kirov Ballet with over 50 years stage experience.
Ninel Kurgapkina was one of the last pupils of Agrippina Vaganova.
She graduated her ballet school and joined the Kirov Ballet in 1947, where she danced such roles as Aurora (The Sleeping Beauty), Myrtha (Giselle), Odette-Odile (Swan Lake), Kitri (Don Quixote), Jeanne (Flames of Paris) and Parasha (The Bronze Horseman).
[1] Despite their age difference, Ninel Kurgapkina was the first female ballet partner to Rudolf Nureyev, and later also to Mikhail Baryshnikov, both of whom were trained at the Kirov.
She was an Associate Ballet Mistress at the Masterpiece Dance Theatre since 1994.