Tamara Karsavina - Diaghilevs Ballerina

Featuring over 200 stunning photographs from museums and private collections around the world, Tamara Diaghilev's Ballerina traces the life and career of one of the 20th century's greatest dance artists.

This deeply-researched book details her rise through the ranks of St Petersburg's legendary Imperial Ballet where, alongside Pavlova and Nijinsky, she excelled in the classics and emerged as the supreme interpreter of Fokine's new choreography.

Her spectacular debut in the West, as a star of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, put her at the forefront of all his historic seasons and confirmed her place among the greatest dancers in ballet history. Karsavina's major performances up to 1918, in each year of the Maryinsky and Diaghilev seasons, are clearly outlined and illustrated with exquisite photographs, many never before seen outside Russia. 

Individual chapters highlight her seminal role in the creation of such masterpieces as The Firebird, Le Spectre de la Rose and Carnaval.

A legendary beauty in her day, and the subject of widespread adulation, Karsavina's formal portraits are simply breathtaking. Numerous candid photographs of her personal life also offer us a fascinating glimpse into the fashions and lifestyles in the great capitals of Europe one hundred years ago. With its comprehensive scope and meticulous research, Tamara Diaghilev's Ballerina is a long-overdue and indispensable resource for ballet historians and dance lovers everywhere.