I connection with my research for a biography of Vera Volkova I am also very interested to know more about Akim Volynsky and his School of Russian Ballet.

Can anyone on the board suggest somebody knowledgable in Russia with an interest in historical matters that I could get in touch with?

Again, all help will be much appreciated! Thanks!

historian Elizabeth Souritz, who speaks excellent English, recently visited NYC and presented her hostess w/ a copy of a recently published collection of Volinsky's writings, in Russian, alas, for those of who don't speak that language.
so she'd likely know someone who would know more about this key figure in Russian ballet's academic and theoretical realms.
there was a somewhat lengthy article in the British publication DANCE RESEARCH by I think an American, perhaps Charles Joseph the author of the recent Balanchine/Stravinsky study.
NYC's Lynn Garafola might have some connections to related sources.
Souritz has some students who worked under her that might be of help. One, Masha Ratanova, speaks some English and was recently in the States to help the Lib. of Congress catalogue its Nijinska holdings.
I don't know if the person responsible for the collection of Volinsky's writings speaks English, nor if this person is in St. Petersburg or Moscow.

Two books by Akim Volynsky were published recently in Russia: the collection of his ballet reviews (very nice to read) and his "Book of Exultations" ("Kniga likovanij").

Thanks for all the good information and suggestions. There is much that indicates that Volynsky and his importance was suppressed by later times. His school and his criticism and aesthetic stand is all very fascinating and I think we shall hear more about him.
A

In "Dance Encyclopedia' by Anatole Chujoy (pub. 1949) there is the following notation on Volynsky:

(real name Flekser) (1863-1926), Russian critic and balletologist whose work Kniga Likovanii (The Book of Exultations), published in Leningrad, was an attempt to formulate a philosophy of the ballet dance. The book has not been translated into English except for one chapter, Verticality and the Dance on Toe, which appeared in "Dance News" (Oct. 1943) in a translation by Anatole Chujoy.

I would guess that this could be found at the Performing Arts Library.