Tamara Karsavina collection
Tamara Karsavina (1885-1978), was born in St. Petersburg and danced with the Imperial Ballet alongside Anna Pavlova. She joined the Diaghilev ballet in 1909 and developed a close working relationship with Michel Fokine who created many roles for her. In 1920 she joined the founding committee of The Association of Teachers of Operatic Dancing of Great Britain (later the RAD). Karsavina was a great teacher who wrote many articles and books on ballet technique. The ‘Karsavina Syllabus’ was devised for the RAD’s teacher training course in 1954 and is still taught today.
The Karsavina collection includes photographs from 1910 onwards, some press cuttings, programmes, magazines and articles. There are also documents relating to the ‘Thanksgiving Committee’ and organisation of the memorial service following her death in 1978. Additional material relating to the Karsavina syllabus and other RAD-related activities may be found in the RAD archives.