Timofeeva was born in
Leningrad,
Russian SFSR and graduated from the
Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in 1953. She made her theatrical debut as a student in 1951, as Masha in Tchaikovsky's
The Nutcracker. From 1953 to 1956, she was a soloist with the
Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, and after that became a
soloist with the
Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Her major roles included and from 1989 to 1991 worked as a choreographer for the Bolshoi Theater. In 1991, she moved to
Israel, together with her daughter Nadya, who is also a professional ballet dancer. Two years later, she published her memoirs,
The World of Ballet. Timofeeva was married twice. Her first marriage was to
Gennady Rozhdestvensky. Her second marriage was to the composer
Kirill Molchanov (1922–1982), who wrote music for some of her ballets. Timofeeva and Molchanov remained married until his sudden death in 1982, before the start of one her performances of the ballet
Macbeth. Timofeeva died at the age of 79 on November 3, 2014 in
Jerusalem. On the same day, she was buried in the
Givat Shaul Cemetery. Her daughter from her marriage to Molchanov survives her. ==References==