Anna Pavlova

Every fortnight I arrive at Victoria station for my football visit, to be greeted by this spotlit, gilded statue of Anna Pavlova, atop the Victoria Palace theatre.

Pavlova is best known for dancing The Dying Swan to the beautiful cello music of Saint-Saëns - though I confess I associate her mainly with delicious meringue-based desserts.

She wasn't perfect - critics complained of bent knees, bad turnout, misplaced port de bras and incorrectly placed tours - but the public adored her, and she became the first international superstar ballerina and one of the finest classical ballet dancers in history.

You have to admire her passion - when told she had pneumodia and could only be cured by an operation which would end her dancing career, she refused, saying "if I can't dance then I'd rather be dead".

Sure enough, shortly afterwards she died of pleurisy. Her final words: "Get my 'Swan' costume ready".