2-548-225 - © Fine Art Images/Heritage Images

Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina, 1910s. Pavlova (1881-1931) was the most famous classical ballerina of her era. She trained at the school of the Imperial Ballet, made her debut as soloist in 1899, and became prima ballerina of the company in 1906. Pavlova toured Europe in 1907, appeared briefly with the Ballets Russes of the Russian impresario Sergey Diaghilev and, in 1910 made her American debut with the Russian dancer Mikhail Mordkin at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. She founded her own company in 1911, and until 1931, when she died of pneumonia while on tour, she danced extensively in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia, often bringing ballet for the first time to remote areas. Her most famous classical roles were in 'Giselle', 'Swan Lake', 'Les Sylphides', 'Don Quixote', 'Coppélia', and in the solo dance 'The Dying Swan', created for her in 1905 by the Russian choreographer Michel Fokine. From a private collection.