Anna Pavlovna Pavlova[a][b] (bornAnna Matveyevna Pavlova;[c] 12 February [O.S. 31 January] 1881 – 23 January 1931) was a Russianprima ballerina. She was a principal artist of theImperial Russian Ballet and theBallets Russes ofSergei Diaghilev, but is most recognized for creating the role ofThe Dying Swan and, with her own company, being the first ballerina to tour the world, including South America, India, Mexico and Australia.[4]
Anna Matveyevna Pavlova was born in thePreobrazhensky Regiment hospital,Saint Petersburg where her father, Matvey Pavlovich Pavlov, served.[5] Some sources say that her parents married just before her birth, others—years later. Her mother, Lyubov Feodorovna Pavlova, came from peasants and worked as a laundress at the house of a Russian-Jewish banker,Lazar Polyakov, for some time. When Anna rose to fame, Polyakov's son Vladimir claimed that she was an illegitimate daughter of his father; others speculated Matvey came fromCrimean Karaites (there is a monument in one ofYevpatoria'skenesas dedicated to Pavlova), yet both legends find no historical proof.[6][7] Anna Matveyevna changed her patronymic to Pavlovna when she started performing on stage.[8]
Students of the Imperial Ballet School, St. Petersburg, in Marius Petipa'sUn conte de fées. A ten-year-old A Pavlova (kneeling on left, holding birdcage) appeared in her first ever ballet performance. 1891.
Pavlova was apremature child, regularly felt ill and was soon sent to theLigovo village where her grandmother looked after her.[7] Pavlova's passion for the art ofballet took off when her mother took her to a performance ofMarius Petipa's original production ofThe Sleeping Beauty at theImperial Maryinsky Theatre in 1890. The lavish spectacle made an impression on Pavlova. When she was nine, her mother took her to audition for theImperial Ballet School. Because of her youth and sickly appearance, she was rejected, but, at age 10, in 1891, she was accepted. She appeared for the first time on stage in Petipa'sUn conte de fées (A Fairy Tale), which the ballet master staged for the students of the school.[9]
Young Pavlova's years ofclassical ballet training were difficult. Her severely arched feet, thin ankles and long limbs clashed with the small, compact body favoured for the ballerina of the time. Her fellow students taunted her with such nicknames asThe broom andLa petite sauvage. Undeterred, she trained to improve her technique. She practised repeatedly after learning a step. She said: "No one can arrive from being talented alone. God gives talent, work transforms talent into genius."[10] She took extra lessons from the noted teachers of the day—Christian Johansson,Pavel Gerdt,Nikolai Legat—and fromEnrico Cecchetti, considered the greatest ballet virtuoso of the time and founder of theCecchetti method, a very influential ballet technique used to this day. In 1898, she entered theclasse de perfection ofEkaterina Vazem, formerPrima ballerina of the Saint Petersburg Imperial Theatres.
During her final year at the Imperial Ballet School, Pavlova performed many roles with the principal company. She graduated in 1899 at age 18,[11] chosen to enter the Imperial Ballet a rank ahead ofcorps de ballet as acoryphée. She made her official début at the Mariinsky Theatre in Pavel Gerdt'sLes Dryades prétendues (The False Dryads). Her performance drew praise from the critics, particularlyNikolai Bezobrazov.
At the height ofPetipa's strict academicism, the public was taken aback by Pavlova's style, a combination of a gift that paid little heed to academic rules: she frequently performed with bent knees, bad turnout, misplacedport de bras and incorrectly placedtours. Such a style, in many ways, harkened back to the time of theromantic ballet and the great ballerinas of old.
Caricature of Pavlova as Nikiya inLa Bayadère by the brothersNikolai Legat andSergei Legat for their bookThe Russian Ballet In Caricatures. 1903
Pavlova performed in variousclassical variations,pas de deux andpas de trois in such ballets asLa Camargo,Le Roi Candaule,Marcobomba andThe Sleeping Beauty. Her enthusiasm often led her astray: once during a performance as the River Thames in Petipa'sThe Pharaoh's Daughter her energetic doublepique turns led her to lose her balance and fall into theprompter's box. Her weak ankles led to difficulty while performing as the fairy Candide in Petipa'sThe Sleeping Beauty, leading the ballerina to revise the fairy's jumpsen pointe, much to the surprise of the Ballet Master. She tried desperately to imitate the renownedPierina Legnani,Prima ballerina assoluta of the Imperial Theatres. Once, during class, she attempted Legnani's famousfouettés, causing her teacher, Pavel Gerdt, to fly into a rage. He told her,
... leave acrobatics to others. It is positively more than I can bear to see the pressure such steps put on your delicate muscles and the severe arch of your foot. I beg you to never again try to imitate those who are physically stronger than you. You must realize that your daintiness and fragility are your greatest assets. You should always do the kind of dancing which brings out your own rare qualities instead of trying to win praise by mere acrobatic tricks.
Pavlova rose through the ranks quickly, becoming a favourite of the old maestro Petipa. From him she learned the title role inPaquita, Princess Aspicia inThe Pharaoh's Daughter, Queen Nisia inLe Roi Candaule andGiselle. She was nameddanseuse in 1902,première danseuse in 1905 andprima ballerina in 1906 after a resounding performance inGiselle. Petipa revised manygrand pas for her, as well as many supplemental variations. She was much celebrated by the fanatical balletomanes of Tsarist Saint Petersburg, her legions of fans calling themselves thePavlovatzi.
When the ballerinaMathilde Kschessinska was pregnant in 1901, she coached Pavlova in the role of Nikiya inLa Bayadère. Kschessinska, not wanting to be upstaged, was certain Pavlova would fail in the role, as she was considered technically inferior because of her small ankles and lithe legs. Instead, audiences became enchanted with Pavlova and her frail, ethereal look, which fit the role perfectly, particularly in the sceneThe Kingdom of the Shades.
Pavlova is perhaps most renowned for creating the role ofThe Dying Swan, a solo choreographed for her byMichel Fokine. The ballet, created in 1905, is danced toLe cygne fromThe Carnival of the Animals byCamille Saint-Saëns. She also choreographed several solos herself, one of which isThe Dragonfly, a short ballet set to music by Fritz Kreisler. While performing it, she wore a gossamer gown with large dragonfly wings fixed to the back.
Pavlova had a rivalry withTamara Karsavina. According to the filmA Portrait of Giselle, Karsavina recalls awardrobe malfunction during a performance; her shoulder straps fell, exposing her breasts and Pavlova helped embarrass her to tears.
In the first years of theBallets Russes, Pavlova worked briefly forSergei Diaghilev. Originally, she was to dance the lead inMikhail Fokine'sThe Firebird, but refused the part, as she could not come to terms withIgor Stravinsky's avant-garde score, and the role was given toTamara Karsavina. All her life, she preferred the melodious"musique dansante" of the old maestros such asCesare Pugni andLudwig Minkus, caring little for anything else which strayed from the salon-style ballet music of the 19th century.
Photographic postcard of Anna Pavlova as the Princess Aspicia in Alexander Gorsky's version of the Petipa/PugniThe Pharaoh's Daughter for the Bolshoi Theatre. Moscow, 1908
After the first Paris season of Ballets Russes, Pavlova left it to form her own company. It performed throughout the world, with a repertory primarily of abridgements of Petipa's works and pieces choreographed specially for her. Going independent was
"a very enterprising and daring act. She toured on her own... for twenty years until her death. She traveled everywhere in the world that travel was possible, and introduced the ballet to millions who had never seen any form of Western dancing."[12]
Pavlova also performed many 'ethnic' dances, some of which she learned from local teachers during her travels. In addition to the dances of her native Russia, she performed Mexican, Japanese and East Indian dances. Supported by her interest,Uday Shankar, her dance partner in "Krishna Radha" (1923), went on to revive the long-neglected art of the dance in his native India.[13] She also toured China.
In 1916, she produced a 50-minute adaptation ofThe Sleeping Beauty in New York City.[13] Members of her company were largely English girls with Russianized names.[13] In 1918–1919, her company toured throughout South America, during which time Pavlova exerted an influence on the young American ballerinaRuth Page.[14][15][16]
In 1915, she appeared in the filmThe Dumb Girl of Portici, in which she played a mute girl betrayed by an aristocrat.[13]
After leaving Russia, Pavlova moved toLondon, England, settling, in 1912, at the Ivy House onNorth End Road,Golders Green, north ofHampstead Heath, where she lived for the rest of her life.[17] The house had an ornamental lake where she fed her pet swans, and where now stands a statue of her by the Scots sculptorGeorge Henry Paulin. The house was featured in the filmAnna Pavlova. It used to be theLondon Jewish Cultural Centre, but ablue plaque marks it as a site of significant historical interest being Pavlova's home.[18][19] While in London, Pavlova was influential in the development of British ballet, most notably inspiring the career ofAlicia Markova. The Gate public house (https://thegatearkley.co.uk) located on the border ofArkley andTotteridge (London Borough of Barnet), has a story, framed on its walls, describing a visit by Pavlova and her dance company.
There are at least five memorials to Pavlova in London, England: a contemporary sculpture by Tom Merrifield of Pavlova as the Dragonfly in the grounds of Ivy House, a sculpture by ScotGeorge Henry Paulin in the middle of the Ivy House pond, a blue plaque on the front of Ivy House, a statuette sitting with the urn that holds her ashes in Golders Green Crematorium and the gilded statue atop the Victoria Palace Theatre.[20][21] When theVictoria Palace Theatre in London, England, opened in 1911, a gilded statue of Pavlova had been installed above the cupola of the theatre. This was taken down for its safety duringWorld War II and was lost. In 2006, a replica of the original statue was restored in its place.[22]
In 1928, Anna Pavlova engaged St. Petersburg conductor Efrem Kurtz to accompany her dancing, which he did until her death in 1931. During the last five years of her life, one of her soloists,Cleo Nordi, another St Petersburg ballerina, became her dedicated assistant, having left theParis Opera Ballet in 1926 to join her company and accompanied her on her second Australian tour toAdelaide,Brisbane andSydney in 1929.[23] On the way back on board ship, Nordi married Pavlova's British musical director, Walford Hyden.[24] Nordi kept Pavlova's flame burning in London, well into the 1970s, where she tutored hundreds of pupils including many ballet stars.
Between 1912 and 1926, Pavlova made almost annual tours of the United States, traveling from coast to coast.
"A generation of dancers turned to the art because of her. She roused America as no one had done sinceElssler. ... America became Pavlova-conscious and therefore ballet-conscious. Dance and passion, dance and drama were fused."[25]
Boston
Pavlova was introduced to audiences in theUnited States byMax Rabinoff during his time as managing director of the Boston Grand Opera Company from 1914 to 1917 and was featured there with her Russian Ballet Company during that period.[26]
St. Louis
In 1914, Pavlova performed in St. Louis, Missouri, after being engaged at the last minute byHattie B. Gooding, responsible for a series of worthy musical attractions presented to the St. Louis public during the season of 1913–14. Gooding went to New York to arrange with the musical managers for the attractions offered. Out of a long list, she selected those who represent the highest in their own special field and which she felt sure St. Louisans would enjoy. The list began with MadameLouise Homer, prima donna contralto of the Metropolitan Grand Opera Co., followed byJosef Hofmann, pianist, Pavlova with the Russian ballet. For the last, the expenses were $5,500.00 ($174,981 in 2024 dollars) for two nights, and the receipts $7,500.00 ($238,611 in 2024 dollars), netting a clear gain of $2,000.00 ($63,630 in 2024 dollars); her other evenings were proportionately successful financially. The advance sales were greater than any other city in the United States. At the Pavlova concert, when Gooding engaged, at the last hour, the Russian dancer for two nights, the New York managers became dubious and anxiously rushed four special advance agents to assist her. On seeing the bookings for both nights, they quietly slipped back to New York fully convinced of her ability to attract audiences in St. Louis, which had always, heretofore, been called "the worst show town" in the country.[27]
Victor Dandré, her manager and companion, said he was her husband in his biography of the dancer in 1932,Anna Pavlova: In Art and Life.(Dandré 1932, author's foreword)[page needed] They had secretly married in 1914 after first meeting in 1904 (some sources say 1900[28]). He died on 5 February 1944 and was cremated atGolders Green Crematorium and his ashes placed below those of Anna.
Dandré wrote of Pavlova's many charity dance performances and charitable efforts to support Russian orphans in post-World War I Paris
...who were in danger of finding themselves literally in the street. They were already suffering terrible privations and it seemed as though there would soon be no means whatever to carry on their education.[29]
Fifteen girls were adopted into a home Pavlova purchased near Paris at Saint-Cloud, overseen by the Comtesse de Guerne and supported by her performances and funds solicited by Pavlova, including many small donations from members of theCamp Fire Girls of America, who made her an honorary member.[30]
During her life, she had many pets, including aSiamese cat, various dogs and many birds, including swans.[31] Dandré indicated she was a lifelong animal lover, corroborated by photographic portraits for which she sat, often with an animal she loved. A formal studio portrait was taken of her with Jack, her favourite swan.[31]
While travelling from Paris toThe Hague, Pavlova became very ill and more ill upon arrival. She sent to Paris for her personal physician, Zalewski, to attend her.[32] She died ofpleurisy in the bedroom next to the Japanese Salon of theHotel Des Indes in The Hague twenty days short of her 50th birthday.
Victor Dandré wrote that Pavlova died a half hour past midnight on Friday, 23 January 1931, with her maid Marguerite Létienne, Zalevsky and himself at her bedside. Her last words were, "Get my 'Swan' costume ready."[33] Dandré and Létienne dressed her body in her favourite beige lace dress and placed her in a coffin with a sprig of lilac. At 7 am, a Russian Orthodox priest arrived to say prayers over her body. At 7:30 am, her coffin was taken to the mortuary chapel attaching the Catholic hospital in The Hague.[32]
In accordance with old ballet tradition, on the day she was to have next performed, the show went on, as scheduled, with a single spotlight circling an empty stage where Pavlova would have been. Memorial services were held in theRussian Orthodox Church in London. She was cremated and her ashes placed in acolumbarium atGolders Green Crematorium, where her urn was adorned with her ballet shoes (which have since been stolen).
Pavlova's ashes have been a source of much controversy, following attempts by Valentina Zhilenkova andMoscow mayorYury Luzhkov to have them flown to Moscow for interment in theNovodevichy Cemetery. These attempts were based on claims that it was Pavlova's dying wish that her ashes be returned to Russia following thefall of theSoviet Union. These claims were later found to be false, as there is no evidence to suggest that this was her wish at all. The only documentary evidence that suggests that such a move would be possible is in the will of Pavlova's husband, who stipulated that, if Russian authorities agreed to such a move and treated her remains with proper reverence, then the crematorium caretakers should agree to it. Despite this clause, the will does not contain a formal request or plans for a posthumous journey to Russia.
The most recent attempt to move Pavlova's remains to Russia came in 2001. Golders Green Crematorium had made arrangements for them to be flown to Russia for interment on 14 March 2001 in a ceremony to be attended by various Russian dignitaries. This plan was later abandoned after Russian authorities withdrew permission for the move. It was later revealed that neither Pavlova's family nor theRussian Government had sanctioned the move and that they had agreed the remains should stay in London.[34][35]
Pavlova's dances inspired many artworks of theIrish painterJohn Lavery. The critic ofThe Observer wrote on 16 April 1911: "Mr. Lavery's portrait of the Russian dancer Anna Pavlova, caught in a moment of graceful, weightless movement ... Her miraculous, feather-like flight, which seems to defy the law of gravitation".[39][40]
TheJarabe Tapatío, known in English as the "Mexican Hat Dance", gained popularity outside ofMexico when Pavlova created a staged version inpointe shoes, for which she was showered with hats by her adoring Mexican audiences. Afterward, in 1924, the Jarabe Tapatío was proclaimed Mexico's national dance.[citation needed]
In 1980, Igor Carl Faberge licensed a collection of 8-inch full-lead crystal wine glasses to commemorate the centenary of Pavlova's birth. The glasses were crafted in Japan under the supervision ofThe Franklin Mint. A frosted image of Pavlova appears in the stem of each glass. Originally each set contained 12 glasses.
Pavlova's life was depicted in the 1983 filmAnna Pavlova.
Pavlova's feet were extremely arched, so she strengthened herpointe shoe by adding a piece of hard leather on the soles for support and flattening the box of the shoe. At the time, many considered this "cheating", for a ballerina of the era was taught that she, not her shoes, must hold her weighten pointe. In Pavlova's case, this was extremely difficult, as the shape of her feet required her to balance her weight on her big toes. Her solution became, over time, the precursor of the modern pointe shoe, as pointe work became less painful and easier for curved feet. According toMargot Fonteyn's biography, Pavlova did not like the way her invention looked in photographs, so she would remove it or have the photographs altered so that it appeared she was using a normal pointe shoe.[44]
At the turn of the 20th century, the Imperial Ballet began a project that notated much of its repertory in theStepanov method of choreographic notation. Most of the notated choreographies were recorded while dancers were being taken through rehearsals. After therevolution of 1917, this collection of notation was taken out of Russia by the Imperial Ballet's formerrégisseurNicholas Sergeyev, who utilized these documents to stage such works asThe Nutcracker,The Sleeping Beauty andSwan Lake, as well as Marius Petipa's definitive versions ofGiselle and ofCoppélia for theParis Opéra Ballet and the Vic-Wells Ballet of London (precursor of theRoyal Ballet). The productions of these works formed the foundation from which all subsequent versions would be based to one extent or another. Eventually, these notations were acquired byHarvard University and are now part of the cache of materials relating to the Imperial Ballet known as theSergeyev Collection that includes not only the notated ballets but rehearsal scores as used by the company at the turn of the 20th century.
^Vera Krasovskaya (1972). Russian Ballet Theatre at the Beginning of the XX Century. Dancers // A. P. Pavlova, birth certificate. – Leningrad: Iskusstvo, p. 229
^Oleg Kerensky quotes Vladmir Polyakov—the son of Lazar Polyakov who claims that Anna was an illegitimate daughter of his father (Oleg Kerensky. Anna Pavlova. N-Y., Dutton Publ., 1973.ISBN0-525-17658-6)
^abVictor Dandré (2016).My Wife – Anna Pavlova. – Moscow: Algorithm, pp. 5, 36ISBN978-5-906880-01-7.
^Michel Fokine (1981). Against the Current. Memoirs of Ballet Master. – Leningrad: Iskusstvo, pp. 384–385
