Anna Pavlova's scintillating and meteoric rise was circled by such luminaries as Michel Fokine, Diaghilev, Cecchetti, Karsavina, and Bakst. Vividly portrayed, they are all here—working, striving, creating. In their midst, a compelling and vital figure lives and dances—that strangely contradictory character, that uncompromising idealist that was Pavlova.

It is a story of untiring effort and thrilling achievement; the story of Pavlova the child and Pavlova the woman, forever forging upward to a high and splendid goal.

We see Pavlova at the Imperial School in St. Petersburg; we are with her during her debut, her moments of triumph and despair, her travels to the remote corners of the world. We stand in the wings with her, we watch her during rehearsals; we are present from the very rising of the curtain to its last fall.

Self-consecrated from childhood to the expression of beauty, to the attainment of ever-increasing artistry, Pavlova flung her dynamic challenge to Fate: "Nothing shall stop me from dancing!" And nothing did. In her far-flung orbit, "Dancing Star" flashes, always in the ascendant.

This is a story that should be read with keen enjoyment by those who love the dance; it is also a story of perseverance to inspire all who are bold enough to dream of great accomplishment in any line of endeavor.

From the dust jacket