Biography

Tamara Platonovna Karsavina was born on March 10, 1885, in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her father, named Platon Karsavin, was the ballet dancer with the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. She graduated from the Imperial Ballet School, where her classmate was Anna Pavlova. The two ballerinas became rivals. Karsavina prevailed and Pavlova eventually left the Mariinsky Theatre and the Diaghilev's company and formed her own troupe. From 1909-1922 Karsavina was the prima-ballerina with the "Ballets Russes" of the legendary impresario Sergei Diaghilev. Her best roles were choreographed by Michel Fokine and George Balanchine. Karsavina's longtime stage partner was Vaslav Nijinsky. Designs for Karsavina were created by Pablo Picasso, Leon Bakst, Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, Alexander Golovin, Natalia Goncharova, and other notable artists. In 1917 Karsavina married British diplomat Henry James Bruce and they settled in London, England. There she helped found the Royal Academy of Dancing in 1920, and also coached ballet dancers. Karsavina wrote several books on dancing and published informative memoirs. She died on May 26, 1978, in London.