Alla Osipenko, a star of the Soviet-era Kirov Ballet and one of the most expressive ballerinas of her generation who was blocked from major international tours at the peak of her career after her free-spirited personal style angered the Kremlin, died May 12 in St. Petersburg. She was 92.

The death was announced in a statement by the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, where Ms. Osipenko helped train dancers for more than a decade.

One of the last pupils of renowned ballet teacher Agrippina Vaganova, Ms. Osipenko joined the Kirov in 1950 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and became a favorite partner of stellar counterparts such as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev and Yuri Soloviev.

— The Washington Post