Karsavina, Tamara (təmä`rə Kərsä`vyĭnə), 1885–1978, Russian prima ballerina. Karsavina was trained in the Imperial Theatre School and the Maryinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, making her debut at the latter in 1902. At its inception in 1909 she joined the Diaghilev Balles Russes in Paris and was considered the greatest ballerina to perform with the company. Partner to Nijinsky, she created principal roles in many works, including Les Sylphides, Petrouchka, Firebird, Le Spectre de la rose, Daphnis and Chloë, and The Three-Cornered Hat. She danced with the company until 1929 and was a leading exponent of Michael Fokine's dance theories. In the 1940s she coached the Sadler's Wells company. Her books include her reminiscences, Theatre Street (1931, 2d ed. 1981), Classical Ballet: The Flow of Movement (1962), and Ballet Technique (1968).

Karsavina, Tamara (Platonovna)

(born March 9/10, 1885, St. Petersburg, Russia—died May 26, 1978, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, Eng.) Russian-born British dancer. She trained at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg and joined the Mariinsky Theatre company in 1902. She joined the Ballets Russes at its formation in 1909; dancing with Vaslav Nijinsky until 1913, she created most of the leading roles in Michel Fokine's neo-Romantic repertoire, including Les Sylphides, Carnaval, Le Spectre de la rose, and The Firebird. She settled in London, where she helped found the Royal Academy of Dancing in 1920 and the Camargo Society in 1930 and later coached Margot Fonteyn.