Lydia Kyasht (Lidiya Kyaksht,1885-1959), was significant in Britain as she heralded the 'boom' of Ballet Russe early in the 20th century when she and Adolph Bolm came for a season at the Empire Theatre, Leicester Square, in 1908. She became successor ballerina to Adeline Genée and remained involved with the Empire until 1913, choreographing as well as dancing. Kyasht had been born and trained in St Petersburg, graduating into the Imperial Ballet in 1902. She was drawn to dance in the West by the high fees being paid and made England her home. She choreographed and danced at the London Coliseum during World War I and would periodically dance with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, often filling in for other ballerinas who were unavailable. She continued to dance throughout the 1920s and then began teaching, establishing a touring company of young dancers.

Photographs from this session are held by the National Portrait Gallery and appear in several periodicals. The Reaper's Dream was a short ballet choreographed by Kyasht to music by Delibes and Tchaikovsky. It was premiered on 11 February 1913. Kyasht played the Spirit of the Wheatsheaf, the Reaper was Flo Martell and Phyllis Bedells danced as the Sun Ray.