“Serene, eloquent, and gloriously musical” are the words Clive Barnes of the New York Times used to describe her performance in Les Sylphides with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, at Lewison Satdium in New York (1966).
Anna Aragno: Ballerina, Psychoanalyst and Author. Born in Italy and educated in England, Anna was trained at the Legat School of Russian ballet under the guidance of Madame Nadine Nicolaeva Legat. At the age of thirteen, Anna’s artistic abilities were recognised by the London Times when they acclaimed her a child prodigy for her performance of Giselle.
Early recognition of her talent catapulted her to winning a scholarship to apprentice at the Boslhoi Ballet, in Moscow. Barely 18 years of age, she found herself dancing soloist parts at the Bolshoi Theatre and immense Palace of Congress at the Kremlin, in Giselle and Swan Lake and being coached and praised by such legends as Lavrovsksy and Ulanova.
Brought to the United States, just a year later, as recipient of a Fullbright Scholarship, she soon began a series of guest appearances in the U.S. that led to a flourishing freelance career spanning almost two decades. She was chosen by Rudolph Nureyev to cover for Dame Margot Fonteyn in their performances of Marguerite and Armand in New York.
At the Metropolitan, in New York, she met her husband, international opera singer bass-baritone Justino Diaz, a union from which two daughters were born. Balancing motherhood and travelling, Anna continued to perform as a guest artist partnering Edward Villella, with many major ballet companies, both throughout the U.S. and abroad before a major life change and lengthy period of university studies led to her career as a practicing psychoanalyst and author of theoretical revisions.
In 2015, she had the honour of being invited to become Patron of the Russian Ballet Society, England, thereby bringing together her two professions, reconnecting her with her first great love, Ballet, and the Legat teachings and traditions to which she gratefully attributes most of her life’s achievements.
“We are thrilled and honoured to have her passion and guidance for our ongoing work in representing the Legat System”
