Leyla Vakilova was born in
Baku,
Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic,
Soviet Union (now
Azerbaijan). She took ballet lessons at the
Baku School of Choreography from prominent Azerbaijani ballerina
Gamar Almaszadeh. In 1945, she left for
Moscow to gain experience in the field of ballet at the
Moscow State Academy of Choreography. After returning to Baku in 1946, she made her first ballet performance as Tao Khoa in
The Red Poppy by
Reinhold Glière at the
Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre where she worked for the next 30 years. Her early performances in Azerbaijani ballets by
Afrasiyab Badalbeyli,
Soltan Hajibeyov,
Gara Garayev,
Fikrat Amirov and
Arif Malikov brought her great fame, which was recognized by the awarding of the
Order of Lenin to her. In 1967, Vakilova was granted the title of the
People's Artist of the USSR. She also became head of the
Azerbaijan State Song and Dance Ensemble founded by her teacher Gamar Almaszadeh. From 1953, she taught ballet at the Baku School of Choreography. In 1972, at the age of 45, Leyla Vakilova retired from ballet, even though she continued her teaching career at the School of Choreography until she died in 1999. ==See also==