Nicolai Legat (1869-1937) and his brother Sergei (1875-1905) were dancers, choreographers, teachers of ballet and caricaturists. Both worked for the Russian Imperial Ballet. Nicolai became an important teacher and after leaving the Imperial Ballet in 1914 went on to teach dance in Russia, Paris and London, where he eventually settled. Sergei, regarded as the greater choreographer and perceived as the natural successor to Pavel Gerdt as the Imperial Ballet's Premier danseur noble, committed suicide, aged 30.

The brothers worked together to produce caricatures of fellow dancers, choreographers and musicians at the Russian Imperial Ballet.

Christian Johansson (1817-1903) was a Swedish dancer and dance teacher of great importance. He trained at the Royal Theatre Ballet School in Stockholm and with August Bournonville in Copenhagen. As a dancer he would partner Marie Taglioni on her tours and from 1838 his career focused on Russia. After a significant career as a performer he began teaching at the Imperial Ballet School from 1860 becoming the princial teacher nine years later. His classes were varied and stimulating and he had the ability to include original enchainment which sometimes found their ways into ballets. As a teacher he continued the tradition of accompanying his own teaching on the violin, hence its inclusion in this cartoon drawn at the very end of Johansson's life.