A Time to Dance Trivia Quiz

Answer: Anna Pavlova

Born January 31, 1881, Anna Pavlova was initially rejected by the Imperial Ballet School in St Peterburg, but finally gained admission at the age of 10. Ballet was difficult for Pavlova, as she was thin with over-arched feet. Despite her physical shortcomings, Pavlova dedicated herself to studying her art, practicing to exhaustion and taking additional classes. This dedication paid off and she graduated the academy to enter the Markiinsky ranks as a coryphee (one step up from the corps de ballet where most new dancers begin).

She quickly became the favorite of famed ballet master, Marius Petipa, who would make several roles especially for Pavlova, most notably the aforementioned "The Dying Swan."

Die she eventually did, from complications of pneumonia on January 23, 1931.

Answer: George Balanchine

Born on January 22, 1904, George Balanchine begin his life's work at the age of nine when he was accepted to the Imperial Ballet School in St Petersburg. His education lasted until the Russian revolution in 1917 when the ballet school was closed and he was forced to perform for food. Eventually the school reopened and Balanchine graduated to a position with the corps de ballet at what would become the Mariinsky Ballet.

In 1924, Balanchine fled Communist rule with a gaggle of other dancers while on tour in Germany. This led to him collaborating with Sergei Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes dance troupe, setting ballets, and acting as ballet master.

Balanchine loved slender, young women and is partly responsible for the change in body style between modern dancers and those of the past. Traditional ballerinas were more stocky, strong, and womanly (in the sense of being adult in build and appearance). Balanchine dancers were ethereal, sylph-like and pre-pubescent in appearance. His preference in dancers led to a string of muses all bearing the same characteristics, several of which he married.

Balanchine's contribution to American ballet began when he toured the States, culminating in his creation of the now famous, New York City Ballet in 1948.

The lifetime of art eventually came to an end when Balanchine died on April 30, 1983, from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Answer: Isadora Duncan

Born May 27, 1877, Isadora Duncan began teaching dance at a young age. Her early lessons flowed freely from whatever she fancied or considered pretty. She rejected the structure of ballet, taking a natural approach to movement in unrestrictive clothing, performing barefoot.

Disappointed with the American dance community, Isadora moved to Europe where she performed for money in the drawing rooms of the wealthy. Her fame rapidly spread bringing with it students of her art, who affectionately become known as the "Isadorables." Eventually, her first talented group of Isadorables legally took her last name and continued her teachings as modern dance grew.

As most flowing things sometimes stop, so did Duncan, when a scarf she was wearing became tangled in the spokes of a moving automobile wheel, causing death by strangulation on September 14, 1927.

Answer: Bill Robinson

Born May 25, 1878, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was an African American actor of the stage and screen during a time when the social and political rules of segregation did not make such integration easy. Despite this, Bojangles Robinson was extremely popular, at one time earing $3,500 per week.

Robinson was best known for his tap dancing skills, his talents showcased alongside America's sweetheart, Shirley Temple. The duo of Robinson and Temple were the highlight of a half dozen films in the 1930s, increasing Robinson's popularity.

Despite his success, Robinson died of heart failure and in poverty on November 25, 1949. His funeral was financed and arranged by his personal friend, Ed Sullivan.

Answer: Maria Tallchief

Born January 24, 1925 into the Osage tribe, Maria Tallchief began dancing ballet at the age of three. Her family moved several years later to Los Angeles, CA, to allow Tallchief access to better training.

This decision paid off and young Maria blossomed as both a fierce performer and brilliant technician on stage. She was considered to be very tall for a dancer, but this height made her stand out, catching the eye of the famed choreographer, George Balanchine, while she was on tour with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Eventually, she became George's wife, traveling the world to grace stages from New York to the Bolshoi.

Maria's time on stage eventually came to an end, dying from complications of a broken hip on April 11, 2013.

Answer: Fred Astaire

Born May 10, 1899, Fred Astaire's career spanned a stunning 76 years, from his early days dancing with Adele, to his latter performances in film without dancing. Astaire was paired with many leading ladies, from Judy Garland to Rita Hayworth, to his possibly best known partnership with Ginger Rogers. Astaire's on stage persona and style have been much admired by dance experts through the years, earning Astaire many professional awards and nominations, including a honorary Academy Award for his contributions to film.

Astaire's proficiency in ballroom dancing became the standard of training in American ballroom even today.

Astaire eventually succumbed to advanced age and illness, dying of pneumonia on January 22, 1987.

Answer: Mikhail Baryshnikov

Born in January 27, 1948, Baryshnikov began his ballet studies in 1960 in his native city of Riga, Latvia. By 1964, he was accepted by the famed Vaganova School in St. Petersburg, quickly accelerating through the ranks with his clean technique and charisma. His skill earned him a gold medal at the Varna International Ballet Competition, considered the oldest and most prestigious of the international dance competitions.

Baryshnikov's defection in 1974 eventually led him to the United States where he was given the ability to develop his talents under a wide range of innovative teachers and choreographers, from George Balanchine to Jerome Robbins.

Extremely popular even among non-dance fans, Baryshnikov has exhibited his exceptional skill on the silver screen in such movies as "White Nights" (co-starring with famed tap-dancer/actor Gregory Hines) and "Turning Point" (with Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft).

Answer: Alvin Ailey

Born January 5, 1931, Alvin Ailey began cultivating his talents in 1949 under the tutelage of Lester Horton. Horton became Ailey's greatest influence, exposing the young man to modern, jazz, and ballet technique. Upon Horton's death, young Ailey became the artistic director and choreographer of Horton's dance company, despite being only 22 years of age.

This experience parlayed into invitations to dance on Broadway, and in 1954, Ailey moved to New York City. Here Ailey made the greatest mark on the world of dance as he founded the Alvin Ailey Dance Company and choreographed some of his most famous pieces. The style Ailey popularized included both modern and ballet influences.

Most importantly, Ailey's contributions to dance inspired generations of African American youth, earning Ailey awards from the NAACP and the Kennedy Center.

Ailey's contributions to African American culture and danced ended too soon, dying on December 1, 1989 from complications from AIDS.

Answer: Vaslav Nijinsky

Born March 12, 1889 to Polish parents in Kiev in the Russian Empire, Nijinsky was influenced by the art of dance early on as both his parents were touring dancers and his sister, Bronislava, was a renowned ballerina and choreographer.

Nijinsky's dance virtuosity was so great that upon completion of his studies at the Imperial Ballet, he joined the ranks of the company as a coryphee (this is step up from where most dancers enter a company, allowing the dancer featured roles as a soloist). Nijinsky's time with the Imperial Ballet was short, as he joined the Ballets Russes in 1909 as the company's featured male dancer.

Most ballet critics consider Nijinsky to have been the greatest male dancer of his time, although his career was not without controversy, from his relations with Sergei Diaghilev, his eventual marriage to his stalker, Romola de Pulszky, and his sexually charged choreography in a time when such themes were taboo.

Having suffered from lifelong mental illness, Nijinsky died estranged from the world of dance in a clinic on April 8, 1950. His body was moved to a cemetery in Paris where a life-size statue of the dancer in character as one of his most famous roles, the puppet Petrushka, adorns his grave.

Answer: Margot Fonteyn

Born May 18, 1919, Dame Margot Fonteyn began her ballet training at the age of four. Shortly thereafter, she moved with her family to Shanghai where she continued her training under Russian emigré, George Goncharov.

Fonteyn's talent, being apparent to her parents, was fostered, bringing about her return to England where young Fonteyn was enrolled in the Vic-Wells Ballet School (which later became the Royal Ballet School). She soon found a place in the affiliated company, rising through the ranks to become a star in strong female dancer roles.

Fonteyn is often remembered for her famous partners, inclusive of Russian great, Rudolf Nureyev. Despite a 19 year age difference, the two shared one of the greatest partnerships known to the world of ballet, burning up the stage in classics like Romeo and Juliet, Les Sylphides, and Swan Lake.

Upon her retirement from the stage, Fonteyn moved to Panama where she spent the rest of her life, dying on February 21, 1991 from cancer.