Anna Palova
(1881–1931)
Anna Pavlova was a Russian prima ballerina during the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. Anna Matveyevna Pavlova was born in the Preobrazhensky Regiment hospital, Saint Petersburg where her father Matvey Pavlovich Pavlov served. 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 yet no historical proof has ever been found to support this claim. Anna Matveyevna changed her patronymic to Pavlova when she started performing on stage.
Pavlova was a premature child , regularly felt ill and was soon sent to the Ligovo village where her grandmother looked after her. Pavlova's passion for the art of ballet was ignited when her mother took her to a performance of Marius Petipa's original production of The Sleeping Beauty at the Imperial Maryinsky Theater . The lavish spectacle made an impression on Pavlova. When
she was nine, her mother took her to audition for the renowned Imperial Ballet School . Because of her youth, and what was considered her appearance, she was rejected, but, at age 10, in 1891, she was accepted. She appeared for the first time on stage in Marius Petipa's Un conte de fées (A Fairy Tale), which the ballet master staged for the students of the school.
"No one can arrive from being talented alone. God gives talent, work transforms talent into genius"
Young Pavlova's years of training were difficult. Classical ballet did not come easily to her. 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 as The broom and La petite sauvage. Undeterred, Pavlova trained to improve her technique. She would practice and
practice after learning a step. She said, "No one can arrive from being talented alone. God gives talent, work transforms talent into genius"; She took extra lessons from the noted teachers of the day— Christian Johansson , Pavel Gerdt , Nikolai Legat —and from Enrico Cecchetti , considered the greatest ballet virtuoso of the time and founder of the Cecchetti method , a very influential ballet
technique used to this day. In 1898, she entered the classe de perfection of Ekaterina Vazem , former Prima ballerina of the Saint PetersburgImperial Theatres.
During her final year at the Imperial Ballet School, she performed many roles with the principal company. She graduated in 1899 at age 18, chosen to enter the Imperial Ballet a rank ahead of corps de ballet as a coryphée. She made her
official début at the Mariinsky Theatre in Pavel Gerdt's Les Dryades prétendues (The False Dryads). Her performance drew praise from the critics, particularly the great critic and historian Nikolai Bezobrazov. Pavlova is perhaps most renowned for creating the role of The Dying Swan , a solo choreographed for her by Michel Fokine . The ballet, created in 1905, is danced to Le cygne from The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns .
Pavlova also choreographed several solos herself, one of which is The Dragonfly, a short ballet set to music by Fritz Kreisler. While performing the role,Pavlova wore a gossamer gown with large dragonfly wings fixed to the back. she was nine, her mother took her to audition for the renowned Imperial Ballet School . Because of her youth, and what was considered her appearance, she was rejected, but, at age 10, in 1891, she was accepted. She appeared for the first time on stage in Marius Petipa's Un conte de fées (A Fairy Tale), which the ballet master staged for the students of the school.
Ballet Evolved - Anna Pavlova 1881-1931
By The Royal Opera House
Ursula Hageli and Royal Ballet dancer Romany Pajdak as Anna Pavlova. Piano - Paul Stobart.
​
​
Touring the world
After the first Paris season of Ballets Russes, Pavlova left it to form her own company. It performed throughout the world, with a repertory consisting primarily of abridgements of Petipa's works, and specially choreographed pieces for herself. 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."
