February 12 marked the 130th anniversary of legendary ballet dancer Anna Pavlova’s birth. Known as the Russian swan, Pavlova was the first to perform the famous Dying Swan dance, which became symbolic of Russian ballet.
February 12 marked the 130th anniversary of legendary ballet dancer Anna Pavlova’s birth. Known as the Russian swan, Pavlova was the first to perform the famous Dying Swan dance, which became symbolic of Russian ballet.
My earliest memory is the little house in St. Petersburg I lived in with my mother. We were extremely poor. But my mother always tried to give me a treat on holidays. When I was eight yeas old she said we were going to the Mariinsky Theater. “You will see fairies,” she said.
The experience sparked Pavlova’s passion for ballet. Eight-year-old Anna was so moved by the performance of Sleeping Beauty, that she was desperate to dance like Princess Aurora. Years after Pavlova had the chance to perform that role. Photo: Anna Pavlova as Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty.
Pavlova started learning to dance at the Imperial Ballet School. She had to wait two years until, aged 10, she could enroll. She did not fit the trend of the time: unlike the day’s leading ballerinas who all had strong muscular legs and distinct feminine curves, Pavlova was graceful, delicate and slender.
But it was her graceful demeanor and delicate physique that won her a loyal following among ballet lovers around the world.
She first appeared on stage at the Mariinsky Theater as the Princess Bint-Anta in Cesare Pugni’s The Pharaoh's Daughter, choreographed by Marius Petipa and Jules-Henri de Saint-Georges. Photo: Anna Pavlova as Princess Bint-Anta and Mikhail Mordkin as Englishman in The Pharaoh's Daughter.
She later triumphed in more Mariinsky productions including The Awakening of Flora, The Magic Flute, La Bayadère, Don Quixote, Le Corsaire, and the Sleeping Beauty again. She preformed even old and well-known dances in her own unique manner, turning them into true masterpieces. Photo: Anna Pavlova in Don Quixote.
Her cooperation with choreographer Mikhail Fokin was very productive. He created a new dance, the Dying Swan, especially for her. The dance was based on a piece called The Swan, by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. It made Pavlova famous and itself came to embody Russian ballet.
Dancer Sergei Lifar wrote about Pavlova: “From the first moment I was amazed and fascinated by the simplicity and lightness of her plastique: no turning fouettés or other exquisite tricks, nothing but grace and beauty. She seemed to glide on air as lightly and effortlessly as if she was divinely gifted, like Mozart, and did not need to add anything to that wonderful natural gift.”
Fokin’s famous Chopiniana was also choreographed for Anna. She also danced the main parts in his other ballets, including The Vine and Egyptian Nights. Photo: Anna Pavlova in Chopiniana.
Pavlova won international acclaim in 1907 when she went on a tour of Europe with a small dance company. They started in Stockholm. Swedish King Oscar II did not miss a single performance, and by the end of their stay he awarded Pavlova with an order of merit to the arts. Photo: film still from London Concert. Russian dancer Anna Pavlova.
12/15
© RIA Novosti
Pavlova became famous the world over: in Europe, Asia and America. Her shoes were made especially in Milan, Italy, by the craftsman Romeo Nicolini. She ordered 2,000 ballet shoes on average a year.
In 1910, she set up her own company. She left Russia in 1914, but she would always think of it as home. After the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, Pavlova sent aid to students at the St. Petersburg Ballet School, donated money for people living in the Volga area who were plagued by famine, and gave fund-raising performances. Photo: The great Russian dancer Anna Pavlova with the swan Jack.
Later Pavlova became a symbol of Russian ballet and an icon of her own particular style. Her female fans copied how she dressed, did her hair, and even her costumes. Perfumes and hats were named after her, as was a popular cake in Australia, while in the Netherlands scientists bred a new type of tulip with snow-white petals that they also named after her. Photo: Anna Pavlova and Mikhail Mordkin in the Russian dance.
Anna Pavlova died of pneumonia aged 50, while touring the Hague. Legend has it that she asked for her Swan costume to be laid out for her on her death bed. Photo: Anna Pavlova as the Dying Swan. 1907.
