The imperial and Soviet theater was the home of many great impresarios, conductors, and musicians. 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.