Who was the Russian founder of ballet?

Answer 1

Pyotor Illyich Tchaicovsky was technically the russian founder of Ballet music in that he brought the music off the ballroom dance floor and onto the stage by writing intricate, complex masterpieces which thus inspired more intense, complex dances; before he did this, ballet music was seen as something demeaning for a composer to write as the music was second to the dance, as opposed to being valued equally. Typically, before this, ballets were considered "fillers" in operas, interjected into the performance to make room for costume changes and the like.

Tchaicovksy's first ballet was "Swan Lake", which is also considered the first ballet piece to be composed by a symphonic composer.