Theodore Kosloff was a Russian-born ballet dancer, choreographer, and film and stage actor. He completed his ballet training at Moscow's Imperial Theater in 1901 and while on tour around the United States in 1909, became acquainted with Cecil B. De Mille. De Mille cast Kosloff's first acting role in his 1917 film "The Woman God Forgot" with Geraldine Farrar. Kosloff's acting career spanned the 1920's but was balanced with a steady involvement in ballet. After his acting career, Kosloff opened a ballet school in Los Angeles where he lived the rest of his life. In this portrait, Kosloff is center looking up toward the camera, appearing to emerge from ambiguity into detail. His furrowed brow and pouty lip pronounce his emotion as the central focus of the photograph.