Rina Nikova, a Jewish dancer, ballet master, and choreographer, was born in Russia around 1898 and died in Israel in 1974. Nikova established her Yemenite Singing Ballet in 1932. She trained her dancers—young Jewish emigrates from Yemen—with classical ballet technique augmented with various local and migrating influences. She gathered firsthand information on folk dances, music, and costumes by visiting Arab towns and villages and communities of Oriental Jews. Nikova combined those influences into an original creation that was to become a cornerstone of nation-building in Israel.