Mathilda Kschessinska was one of Russia’s most famous ballerinas. She danced lead parts on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater, one of the best theaters in Russia and the world, participated in the Parisian ‘Ballet Russe’ seasons conceived by Sergei Diaghilev, and staged productions on her own. As an ingenious and graceful dancer, she was labeled as the ‘adornment of Russian ballet’ by Alexander III of Russia, while art critic Alexander Benois wrote that at the backdrop of other gifted dancers Kschessinska stood out due to her ultimately special shine and brilliance. In 1896, she obtained the rank of Prima ballerina of the Saint Petersburg Imperial Theatres, reaching the top of the ballet hierarchy.

During World War I, the ballerina took to charity. She danced at fundraising events in favor of wounded soldiers and at frontline concerts. Kschessinska helped set up two state-of-the-art military hospitals and organized a trip to her villa in Strelna near Saint Petersburg for wounded soldiers. She invited doctors and soldiers to the theater, decorated hospital rooms with flowers, or just danced on her toes without pointe shoes for the wounded.

Kschessinska danced in the revived Le Talisman ballet on February 21, 1916 in dedication to her 25th anniversary with the Mariinsky Theater. In that fantasy four-act ballet Kschessinska danced the lead part of Niriti, daughter of the Queen of the Heavens. According to the plot, the young woman descended to the Earth and met her love, a mortal young man, and decided to stay with him forever.