Podcast » Roger Tully
There is so much in this short interview to love and revere. Roger Tully was a legendary teacher, who was an inspiration to many dancers over many years. He had strong and very definite ideas about...
people » Lydia Kyasht
Lydia Kyasht looking very much the accomplished ballerina she was and teacher she was to become.
Credit: © National Portrait Gallery, London
Lydia Kyasht (1885-1959). Russian dancer, teacher, director and choreographer
Born in St Petersburg in 1885, Lydia Kyasht studied under Pavel Gerdt in a class alongside Anna Pavlova and Tamara Karsavina. Kyasht danced as première danseuse with the Imperial Russian Ballet from 1905 until 1908, and then succeeded Adeline Genée as prima ballerina at the Empire Theatre, London, from 1908 until 1913. Kyasht opened her school in London in 1919, which later closed in 1925. During the 1940s she established her company Ballet de la Jeunesse Anglaise. Kyasht was author of a book, Romantic Recollections, and died in London in 1959.
Timeline Event » 1906 – Phyllis Bedells makes her London debut
Phyllis Bedells (1893-1985) was a British dancer and teacher, and founder of the Royal Academy of Dance. She rose to ballerina level using her own English name at a time when Russian names were...
Timeline Event » 1919 – Lydia Kyasht opens her school
Lydia Kyasht (1885-1959). Russian dancer, teacher, director and choreographer Born in St Petersburg in 1885, Lydia Kyasht studied under Pavel Gerdt in a class alongside Anna Pavlova and Tamara...
Timeline Event » 1939 – Lydia Kyasht opens Ballet de la Jeunesse Anglaise
Opening with performances at the Cambridge Theatre, London, in May 1939, Lydia Kyasht’s company toured Britain intermittently from November 1939. From 1944 to the company’s closure in 1946, the...