Biography
Tamara Karsavina — dancer with roots in the Russian Empire
Tamara Karsavina was a Russian-British ballerina born in St. Petersburg who became one of the principal dancers of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes — creating the title roles in The Firebird and Petrushka alongside Nijinsky. She spent the last decades of her life in London and became vice-president of the Royal Academy of Dance.
Russian Connection
Tracing the roots — St. Petersburg
Born in St. Petersburg in 1885, daughter of dancer Platon Karsavin, Karsavina trained at the Imperial Ballet School and became one of the Ballets Russes' most celebrated artists. She fled Russia after the Revolution and settled in Britain, carrying the Russian classical tradition into British ballet.
Family Tree
Subject
Tamara Karsavina🇬🇧 UK
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Self (Born there)
Platon Karsavin
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Origin
St. Petersburg🇷🇺 Russian Empire
Historical context
Russian Empire · c. 1721–1917
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St. Petersburg. At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.
Map: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA)
Key Achievements
A career defined by ambition
01
Created title role in The Firebird (1910) and Petrushka (1911) — Ballets Russes
02
Partnered Nijinsky in defining performances of the Ballets Russes era
03
Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Dance
04
Theatre Street (1930) — celebrated memoir of Imperial Russian ballet
05
CBE — Commander of the British Empire
Sources