"At the Bolshoi Theatre she starred as a prima ballerina and then was the wisest and most necessary teacher," he added.
After her training with Agrippina Vaganova, Semyonova began her career at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg where she immediately landed the top roles in classic ballets like the Sleeping Beauty and La Bayadere.
She then moved to the Bolshoi in 1930 -- reportedly on the personal invitation of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin -- where she danced until 1952 and wowed the public with her strength and flexibility.
In a highly unusual move for the time, she made guest appearances at the Paris Opera in France in 1935-1936 after being invited by the chief of its ballet troupe Serge Lifar.
At the time such trips abroad were unimaginable without approval from the highest level.
Tributes to her were led by current Russian ballet star Nikolai Tsikaridze, who was her final pupil.
"In many ways it is thanks to Semyonova that there is still universal acknowledgement of the school of Russian ballet," he said according to the ITAR-TASS news agency.
Other dance legends who were taught by Semyonova were the great Soviet ballerinas Maya Plisetskaya and Natalya Bessmertnova as well as modern-day star Galina Stepanenko.
"A great ballet dancer has passed away, the epitome of the concept of the classical dancer," the legendary dancer and teacher Mikhail Lavrovsky said according to the RIA Novosti news agency.
"Her loss is irreplaceable as she was not just a great dancer but a rare person, the quintessence of true Russian ballet," he added.
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