Serafina Astafieva

Serafina Astafieva (Russian: Серафима Александровна Астафьева; 1876 – 13 September 1934) was a Russian dancer and ballet teacher.[1]

Serafina Astafieva, c. 1890s

Astafieva was a pupil at the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre School and in 1895 graduated from the Mariinsky Ballet School. In 1896 she married Jozef Kshessinsky a famous character dancer. From 1909-1911 Astafieva performed with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. After retiring from performing she opened the Russian Dancing Academy at The Pheasantry on King's Road in Chelsea, London. Her pupils included Anton Dolin, Margot Fonteyn,[1] Alicia Markova[2], Hermione Darnborough,[3] Madeleine Vyner,[4] and Joan Lawson.[5]

A blue plaque unveiled in 1968 commemorates Astafieva at 152 King's Road in Chelsea.[6]

She is referenced as "Grishkin" in T. S. Eliot's poem Whispers of Immortality.

See also

References
  1. Oxford Dictionary of Dance (2004) Oxford University Press
  2. Alicia Markova, Ballerina Known for Giselle, Dies at 94 The New York Times
  3. Dancing Times, July 2009
  4. Carroll, Mark (2011). The Ballets Russes in Australia and Beyond. Wakefield. p. 261. ISBN 9781862548848.
  5. http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100055831
  6. "ASTAFIEVA, PRINCESS SERAPHINE (1876-1934)". English Heritage. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
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