Lydia Sokolova (1896-1974), Ballet dancer

Sitter in 3 portraits
Sokolova (born Hilda Munnings) was the first British ballerina of Diaghilev's company. She studied at the Stedman Ballet Academy and with Anna Pavlova and Enrico Cecchetti. A member of the Ballets Russes, 1913-22 and 1923-9, she also appeared in music halls, 1922-3. She created roles in Léonide Massine's Boutique Fantasque (1919) and Les Matelots (1925) and in Bronislava Nijinska's Les Biches and Le Train bleu (1924). After Diaghilev's company disbanded she appeared in the London season of Woizikovsky's company in 1935.