The extent of vaudeville’s power and cultural reach can be attested to by the fact that the greatest names in every performing arts field were booked for its stages: Sarah Bernhardt from the legitimate theatre, Enrico Caruso from the opera, and Pavlova from the ballet.
Born in 1881, Anna Pavlova was a prima ballerina with the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballet Russes (under Diaghilev), before forming her own company in 1910. Her many tours brought her several times to the U.S. , where she performed at the biggest of big time theatres in New York, the Palace and the Hippodrome. She died of pneumonia in 1931.
To find out more about the history of vaudeville, and great stars like Pavlova, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.
(Travalanche) 