LONDON.- A new display of rarely seen photographs at the National Portrait Gallery celebrates key ballet dancers from the start of the 20th Century. Studio portraits by Bassano including photographs of Adeline Genée, Anna Pavlova, and Ninette de Valois are shown alongside a newly acquired portfolio from 1913 by E.O.Hoppé and Bert of Diaghilev’s star performers from Russia. Ballet in Focus, a case display of nearly 40 portraits will run from 14 December 2010 to 24 July 2011. Ballets were a popular form of entertainment before the First World War and attracted large audiences. The home of British ballet at this time was in London’s Covent Garden and Leicester Square, where the Alhambra and Empire Theatres offered nightly performances. Adeline Genée was one of the best known classical dancers of the period and Phyllis Bedells and Ninette de Valois, founder of The Royal Ballet, among its emerging stars. In the years immed