The history of the Mariinsky Ballet is closely linked with the history of European choreographic art. An important role in the establishment and evolution of Russian ballet was played by foreign dance masters. The history of St Petersburg ballet in the 19^th century was associated with the activities of Charles Didelot, Jules Perrot, and Arthur Saint-Léon. In 1869, the position of principal ballet master was entrusted to Marius Petipa who markedly raised the professional standards of the company. He developed the form of grand ballet – a multi-act production, the plot combining fully developed scenes of classical ensembles, colourful character dances, genre spectacle scenes and pantomime. Even today the ballets The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake (together with choreographer Lev Ivanov) and Raymonda created with the symphonist composers Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Alexander Glazunov form part of the "gold reserves" of the classical legacy and adorn the theatre's repertoire.

At the turn of the 19^th century, the Mariinsky Ballet produced such great dancers as Mathilde Kschessinska, Olga Preobrazhenskaya, Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, Vaslav Nijinsky. Many of them brought glory to Russian ballet during the legendary Saisons russes in Paris thanks to which Europe discovered the St Petersburg choreographers Michel Fokine and George Balanchine who had set out at the Mariinsky Theatre launched their international careers. In 1920’s when Fyodor Lopukhov, a daring innovator and a brilliant connoisseur of the past, became head of the company, its repertoire was enriched with new productions and retained classical masterpieces. Marina Semenova, Galina Ulanova, Natalia Dudinskaya, Konstantin Sergeyev and Vakhtang Chabukiani danced at the theatre during that period. At that time drama theatre exerted a huge influence on ballet. The success of works based on literary materials - Rostislav Zakharov's The Fountain of Bakhchisarai and Leonid Lavrovsky's Romeo and Juliet - defined the rule of the drama-ballet on the Soviet stage in the mid 20^th century. The late 1950s and 1960s at the Kirov Ballet stood out for Leonid Yakobson's searches for plastique imagery in the form of the multi-act production and miniatures, the revival of the traditions of symphonic dance in the ballets by Yuri Grigorovich and Igor Belsky. The success of these new productions was also ensured by the skill and expressiveness of the dancers Irina Kolpakova, Natalia Makarova, Alla Osipenko, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev and Yuri Soloviev. In the 1970s and 1980s following a lengthy period of isolation the company revived contacts with international choreographers; the Leningrad dancers worked with Roland Petit, Maurice Béjart and Jerome Robbins. In 1989 productions by George Balanchine were included in the repertoire for the first time. Altynai Asylmuratova, Galina Mezentseva, Igor Zelensky and Farukh Ruzimatov defined the face of the ballet company in the late 20^th century. Since then the Mariinsky Theatre has actively collaborated with leaders in the field of world choreography. The company has worked with John Neumeier, William Forsythe, Angelin Preljoçaj, Alexei Ratmansky, Wayne McGregor and Hans van Manen. Their ballets, alongside works from the classical legacy, 20^th century masterpieces and productions by young choreographers, comprise the ballet company's repertoire today.