| Variations of Name | Harcourt Algernon Leighton Essex |
| Biography | Harcourt Algeranoff was a dancer, ballet master and teacher. He joined Anna Pavlova's company in 1921 and, as the adoption of a Russianized name was a condition of his engagement, was thenceforward known as Algeranoff.
With Pavlova, he toured North America, the Far East and Europe: the repertoire was based on short ballets and divertissements which offered scope for his developing talent. While in Asia, Algeranoff was encouraged to study the dances of Japan and India. Well read in English, with some colloquial Japanese and facility in five European languages, he carried out research for Pavlova in the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert museum.
During their visit to Australia in 1926, his partnering of Pavlova in Russian Dance received favourable notice and the young Robert Helpmann sought Algeranoff's assistance. He returned to Australia with the Dandré-Levitoff Company in 1934. In the following year he became a member of the Markova-Dolin Ballet. It was with De Basil's Ballets Russes, however, that his gifts as a character dancer flowered: on that company's tours in 1938-39 and 1939-40 he enchanted Australian audiences in such roles as the astrologer (Le Coq d'Or) and Pierrot (Carnaval).
In 1955-56 Algeranoff and Claudie, with New Zealand dancer Ronald Reay, took ballet to Central and Northern Australia under the auspices of the Australian Children's Theatre; they performed excerpts from the classical repertoire and traditional Japanese dances. |