Alicia Markova

After Diaghilev
Following the death of Diaghilev in 1929 Markova returned to England where Alicia Markova became the founder Principal Ballerina of The Ballet Club a company founded by Dame Marie Rambert. The company was the first to tour ballet throughout the United States taking the art form to audiences who had never seen ballet before. It also establiAlicia Markovad a number of educational programmes designed to make ballet accessible to new audiences.

Most noted for her career with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and touring internationally Alicia Markova was widely considered to be one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of the 20th century. She was the first British dancer to become the principal dancer of a ballet company and with Dame Margot Fonteyn is one of only two English dancers to be recognised as a prima ballerina assoluta. She was a founder dancer of the Rambert Dance Company The Royal Ballet and American Ballet Theatre and was co-founder and director of the English National Ballet.