A UNIQUE travelling exhibition, celebrating the life and work of one of the great figures of Russian ballet, opens in Bermuda next month.

The Legat Exhibition, , which examines Nicholas Legat's role as performer, choreographer and teacher, will be going on show at the Masterworks Gallery on Front Street for the entire month of June.

The collection of rare photographs, dance caricatures and family showcase memorabilia explores a very rich and important dance heritage.

The exhibition, arranged under the auspices of the Legat Foundation (president is Moira Shearer of movie fame) which has already been seen in the UK, US and Moscow, has been flown in, courtesy of British Airways.

It contains a fascinating list of frames of sculptures featuring such aspects of Legat's career as his leading roles (including pas de deux with Anna Pavlova), historical documents from the Central Archives in Moscow, a collection of family letters to and from members of this gifted family, and a wonderful set of caricatures penned by the versatile Legat.

In addition, there will be an exhibition of sculptures by Nathan David, FRBS, of such dance luminaries as Dame Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova, and Vaslav Nijinksy (in ).

The name Legat is already well known in Bermuda: Patricia Gray, who founded Bermuda's School of Russian Ballet, follows his method of teaching which was passed on to her by the late prima ballerina and teacher Ana Roje who spent many summers teaching here.

Roje was Nicholas Legat's last prot?g? - one of a long line of teachers who have left an indelible mark on the international world of classical ballet.

Often referred to as the "grandfather" of Russian ballet, Legat was, at one time, the favourite partner of Anna Pavlova and, as a teacher, he was Nijinsky's principal teacher. He joined Diaghilev on the triumphant tours of Europe just before World War One and later became the famed company's. Other pupils of Legat included Fokine, Karsavina, Preobrajenska, and the choreographer who was to change the face of American ballet, George Balanchine.

Legat, along with many other dancers and artists were uprooted from their homeland as a result of the Russian Revolution which established Lenin and the Bolsheviks in power.

After spending some years in Paris, Legat settled, during the 1930s, in London, establishing his well-known studio in Colet Gardens, where he taught many of Britain's emerging young talents - including Margot Fonteyn, Anton Dolin, Serge Lifar and founder of the Royal Ballet, Ninette de Valois, until his death in 1937.

One of his last pupils was Moira Shearer who studied with him for one year. She recalls that when she was only 11 years old, he taught her the Pas de Ruban from which he had previously danced with Pavlova: "After class one day, he partnered me in the complete pas de deux and I remember looking in the large mirror and seeing a fleeting image of a thin child and a small, bald man who looked happy and rejuvenated."

The island has established yet another strong tie with the legendary Legat family: in 2000, Nicholas' granddaughter Tatiana Legat also came to Bermuda to teach for the School of Russian Ballet.

This former ballerina of the Kirov who, at the peak of her career, was partnered by Nureyev and Baryshnikov, went on - literally in her grandfather's footsteps - by becoming one of Russia's great exponents of the Russian (Legat) technique, which she passed on to students at the Kirov and Bolshoi Ballets.

Sadly, Tatiana's life never coincided physically with that of Ana Roje. As Patricia Gray recalls: "I first met Tatiana Legat at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, and as she did not speak English very well, I went to her classes where I tried to interpret the steps for her students.

"I told her that Mme. Roje (who died in 1991) had been looking for her all her life. At least I was able to give her a little book which had been written by her grandfather and which he had given to Ana. It's so sad," reflected Mrs. Gray, "that they never met.

"This was because, for a long time, the communist countries were more or less closed off to the outside world and then, of course, that was followed by around a decade of war in Yugoslavia."

Patricia Gray, who acts as the International Co-ordinator for the Legat Foundation, is thrilled that Bermuda has been able to secure this major exhibition: "It really is unique and I would urge anyone who has the remotest interest in dance to make the effort to see this show - it is certainly one-of-a-kind!

The Legat Exhibition, which opens with a private reception on Monday, June 3 at the Masterworks Gallery off Front Street, opens to the public on June 4 and runs through the month. The Legat Foundation would like to thank British Airways for bringing the exhibition from the UK and Masterworks for the loan of its gallery.