Born prematurely in 1881 to a working class mother with a passion for the arts, Anna Pavlova rose to the position of one of history's most famous prima ballerinas. There is a touch of mystery regarding who Anna's father may have been. When her mother remarried, she was adopted by her step-father, Matvey Pavlov, taking his last name as hers when she was three years old. Her mother introduced her to her first ballet production by Marius Petipa, Sleeping Beauty. Anna passion for ballet was ignited.
At the age of eight, her mother took her to auditions at the Russian Imperial Ballet School where she was initially rejected . Two years later, she was finally accepted and portrayed the role of "Cupid" in Petipa's Fairy Tale. Ballet training at the Imperial School was difficult for Anna. Her physique was considered frail, with a small torso, set off by long, painfully thin limbs and highly arched feet. Her flawless skin, large dark eyes and dark hair gracing her oval-shaped face created the image of classic Russian beauty. Yet, she was often ridiculed by her classmates. She pushed herself all the harder, studying with rigorous teachers like Nicolai Legat and others of renown.
Pavlova's Career Begins
Having performed small solos in her early days at the Imperial Ballet School, at the age of 18 she was allowed to join the Imperial Ballet as a coryphee, a position higher than the rank of corp de ballet, but below that of soloist. She performed at the Maryinsky Theater in St. Petersburg where she debuted. By 1906, her talents were acclaimed by ballet audiences and she was given the highest honor in Ballet, that of prima ballerina. Soon after, she married Baron Victor Emilovitch Dandre.
She began touring with the Imperial Ballet in 1907 and danced throughout Europe. She became a performing member of the Diaghilev Ballets Russes in Paris and London in 1909. She established her own ballet group in 1910 and made her first appearance in the United States at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York that year.
Anna Pavlova undertook a series of international tours in 1912 with her own company and musical director Theodore Stier, giving more than 3,600 performances, traveling over 300,000 miles on tour. Balletomanes in Europe, North and South America, India, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Indonesia and the Orient thrilled to her performances. She was instrumental in broadening the scope and interests in the art of Ballet world-wide.
The Dying Swan
In her performing career, Anna Pavlova brought to ballet a remarkable acting talent. She demonstrated extensive dramatic talents in the ballet Giselle. In her performances of The Dragonfly and "The California Poppy", she displayed lyrical lightness, grace and delicacy. But, her role of the "Dying Swan" in Swan Lake, would forever remain the hallmark of the greatest combination of Pavlova's acting and ballet skill. The ballet, Swan Lake was created and choreographed by Petipa to the music of Tchaikovsky and produced for the first time in St. Petersburg in 1877.
Though Swan Lake was first produced in 1877, several reproductions with added choreography followed in later years with the four-act version presented by Sadler Wells Ballet (now the Royal Ballet) produced in 1934. However, the solo, "The Dying Swan", created for Pavlova by Michel Fokine, famous Russian dancer and choreographer, became the highlight of the this ballet and remains so today.
Pavlova was purported to have studied the movements of swans in depth before attempting her performance. So entralling was her role, she received greatest acclaim for her intricate virtuosity and portrayal. Ballet dancers have always held Anna Pavlova in highest esteem and claimed her performances inspired their dance careers.
Sources
- Selma Jeanne Cohen, Colliers Encyclopedia
- Walter Terry, Ballet, Dell Publishing Co., 1959.
- Wikipedia
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