Though she is perhaps best known for her affair with the future tsar Nicholas II, Mathilde Kschessinska was actually the first Russian prima ballerina assoluta. She earned the title—the highest possible rank for a ballerina—in 1896, at the age of 24. She was kind to colleagues but was said to be ruthless with her rivals and was known to use her connections with the tsar to her advantage. What was she rumored to have done during a fellow ballerina’s performance that featured live chickens? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary