Anna Pavlovna Pavlova was born on February 12, 1881 in St. Petersburg. There is still no reliable information about her father. Even in encyclopedias, Anna's patronymic is given either Pavlovna or Matveevna. The ballerina herself did not like to be called by her patronymic, in extreme cases she preferred to be called Anna Pavlovna - by her last name. In the eighties of the last century, a document was found in the theatrical archive of St. Petersburg, confirming that Matvey Pavlovich Pavlov was married to Lyubov Fedorovna, Pavlova's mother. The document was dated 1899. This meant that he was alive at the time when the girl was already 18 years old.
When Anna had already become famous, the son of a wealthy St. Petersburg banker Polyakov said that she was his half-sister. The mentioned document states that Lyubov Fedorovna had a daughter, Anna, from another marriage. But she had never been married before. Then it became known that around 1880 Lyubov Fedorovna was in the service of the Polyakov family. Suddenly she disappeared.
In her autobiography, written in 1912, Anna Pavlova recalled her childhood and her first steps on stage:My first memory is a small house in St. Petersburg, where we lived together with my mother ...We were very, very poor. But my mother always managed to give me some pleasure on big holidays.When I was eight years old, she announced that we would go to the Mariinsky Theatre. "Here you will see the sorceresses." They showed Sleeping Beauty.
From the very first notes of the orchestra, I became silent and trembled all over, for the first time feeling the breath of beauty above me. In the second act, a crowd of boys and girls danced a wonderful waltz. "Would you like to dance like that?" Mom asked me with a smile. "No, I want to dance like that beautiful lady who portrays the sleeping beauty."
I love to remember that first evening at the theater that sealed my fate.
“We cannot accept an eight-year-old child,” said the director of the ballet school, where my mother brought me, exhausted by my persistence. “Bring her back when she is ten years old.”During the two years of waiting, I became nervous, became sad and thoughtful, tormented by the persistent thought of how I could quickly become a ballerina.
Entering the Imperial Ballet School is like entering a monastery, such iron discipline reigns there. I left school at the age of sixteen with the title of the first dancer. Since then, I have been a ballerina. In Russia, apart from me, only four dancers have the official right to this title. The idea to try myself on foreign stages came for the first time when I read the biography of Taglioni. This great Italian danced everywhere: in Paris, and in London, and in Russia. A cast from her leg is still kept with us in St. Petersburg.
Studying at the Imperial Ballet School and the Mariinsky Theater
In 1891, the mother managed to get her daughter into the Imperial Ballet School, where Pavlova spent nine years. The charter of the school was monastically severe, but they taught excellently here. At that time, the St. Petersburg Ballet School was undoubtedly the best in the world. Only here the classical ballet technique was still preserved.
In 1898, Pavlov's student performed in the ballet "Two Stars" staged by Petit-pa. Even then, connoisseurs noted some special, only inherent grace, an amazing ability to capture the poetic essence in the party and give it its own coloring.
After graduating from school in 1899, Pavlova was enrolled in the troupe of the Mariinsky Theater. Her debut took place in 1899 in the ballet "The Pharaoh's Daughter" to the music of Caesar Pugni directed by Saint-Georges and Petipa. Having neither patronage nor a name, she remained on the sidelines for some time. The thin dancer, who was notable for poor health, showed a strong-willed character: she was used to overcoming herself and even the patient did not refuse to perform on stage. In 1900, in The Awakening of Flora, she received the part of Flora (Fokine played the role of Apollo). Then responsible roles began to follow one after another, and Pavlova filled each of them with a special meaning. Remaining entirely within the framework of the classical school, she knew how to be amazingly original and, performing old ordinary dances, turned them into genuine masterpieces. The Petersburg public soon began to distinguish the young talented ballerina. The skill of Anna Pavlova improved from year to year, from performance to performance. The young ballerina attracted attention with her extraordinary musicality and psychological restraint of the dance, emotionality and drama, as well as creative possibilities that had not yet been discovered. In each new performance, the ballerina brought a lot of new, her own.
Soon Anna Pavlova becomes the second, and then the first soloist. In 1902, Pavlova created a completely new image of Nikiya in La Bayadere, interpreting it in terms of a high tragedy of the spirit. This interpretation changed the stage life of the play. The same thing happened with the image of Giselle, where the psychologism of the interpretation led to a poetically enlightened finale. The incendiary, bravura dance of her heroines - Paquita, Kitri - was an example of performing skills and style.
In early 1903, Pavlova danced for the first time on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre. The brilliant but difficult path of Anna Pavlova in ballet begins, her triumphant performances in the cities of the Russian Empire.
The individuality of the ballerina, the style of her dance, the soaring jump prompted her partner, the future famous choreographer M. M. Fokin, to create "Chopiniana" to the music of F. Chopin (1907). These are stylizations in the spirit of the graceful revived engraving of the era of romanticism. In this ballet, she danced the mazurka and the Seventh Waltz with V. F. Nijinsky. Her partner Vaslav Nijinsky, although he danced the entire academic repertoire of the leading soloists, nevertheless, his individuality was revealed primarily in the ballets of M. M. Fokine.
The first foreign tour of Anna Pavlova
Since 1908, Anna Pavlova began touring abroad.Here is how she recalled her first tour: “The first trip was to Riga. From Riga we went to Helsingfors, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Prague and Berlin. Everywhere our tours were hailed as revelations of new art.
Many people imagine the life of a dancer to be frivolous. In vain. If the dancer does not keep herself in tight rein, she will not dance for a long time. She has to sacrifice herself for her art. Her reward is that she manages to make people forget for a moment their sorrows and worries.
I went with the Russian ballet troupe to Leipzig, Prague and Vienna, we danced the lovely "Swan Lake" by Tchaikovsky. Then I joined the Diaghilev troupe, who introduced Paris to Russian art.
Pavlova became the main participant in all of Sergei Diaghilev's Russian Seasons in Paris. Here she gained world fame, dancing in the ballets: "Pavilion of Armida", "Sylphs" and "Cleopatra" - under such names were "Chopiniana" and "Egyptian Nights". Pavlova performed this repertoire in Russia. In the luxurious ensemble of the largest talents presented by Diaghilev in Paris, Anna occupied one of the first places. But in the "Russian Seasons" Pavlova did not perform for long. She wanted creative freedom.
The first independent productions of Anna Pavlova
It was natural for Pavlova to try to stage it herself. She made such an attempt in 1909 at a performance at the Suvorinsky Theater in honor of the 75th anniversary of the owner, A. Suvorin. For her debut, Pavlova chose "Night" by Rubinstein. She appeared in a white long tunic with flowers in her hands and hair. Her eyes lit up when she held out her bouquet to someone. Flexible hands called out passionately, then timidly pulled away. Everything together turned into a monologue about insane passion. Pathetics was justified by the naive sincerity of feeling. The free movement of the body and arms gave the impression of improvisation, recalling Duncan's influence. But classical dance, including finger technique, was also present, diversifying and complementing expressive gestures. Pavlova's independent work was met with approval. The following numbers were "Dragonfly" by F. Kreisler, "Butterfly" by R. Drigo, "California Poppy".
Here, classical dance coexisted and intertwined with free plastique. The emotional state of the heroine united them.
In 1910, Anna Pavlova left the Mariinsky Theater, creating her own troupe. Pavlova included in her touring repertoire the ballets by Tchaikovsky and Glazunov, The Vain Precaution, Giselle, Coppelia, Paquita, and interesting concert numbers. The ballerina introduced all ballet lovers to Russian art. Russian choreographers and mostly Russian dancers worked in the troupe. With them, she created new choreographic miniatures, the most famous of which are "Night" and "Waltz-Caprice" to the music of A. Rubinstein and "Dragonfly" to the music of Kreisler.
With her troupe, Pavlova toured with triumphant success in many countries of the world. She was the first to open Russian ballet for America, where for the first time ballet performances began to give full fees.
“... From London, I went on tour to America, where I danced at the Metropolitan Theater. Of course, I am delighted with the reception given to me by the Americans. The newspapers published my portraits, articles about me, interviews with me, and - I must tell the truth - a bunch of nonsense stories about my life, my tastes and views. I often laughed, reading this fantastic lie and seeing myself as something I had never been - an eccentric and extraordinary woman. The power of imagination of American journalists is simply amazing.
From New York we went on a tour of the province. It was a real triumphal procession, but terribly tiring. I was invited to America next year, and I myself wanted to go, but I positively do not have enough strength for this jump across the continent - it breaks my nerves so terribly. Her tour routes ran in Asia and the Far East. Hard work was hidden behind brilliant performances. Here, for example, is a list of performances by the Anna Pavlova troupe in the United States in December 1914: 31 performances in different cities - from Cincinnati to Chicago, and not a single day of rest. The same picture in the Netherlands in December 1927: daily performances in different cities - from Rotterdam to Groningen. And only one day of rest - December 31. For 22 years of endless tours, Pavlova traveled more than half a million kilometers by train, according to rough estimates, she gave about 9 thousand performances. It was really hard work.
There was a period when the Italian master Ninolini produced for Anna Pavlova an average of two thousand pairs of ballet shoes a year was barely enough.
In addition to monstrous fatigue, foreign tours had other negative consequences. Pavlova's relationship with the Mariinsky Theater became complicated due to financial disagreements. The artist violated the terms of the contract with the management for the sake of a profitable trip to America and was forced to pay a penalty. The desire of the directorate to conclude a new contract with her ran into a demand to return the penalty. However, the theater was interested in the ballerina's performances. Steps were taken to settle the incident. On the initiative of the directorate, in 1913 Pavlova was awarded the honorary title of Honored Artist of the Imperial Theaters and was awarded a gold medal. The directorate insisted that Anna perform only in Russia.
In the spring of 1914, Pavlova visited home for the last time. The ballerina performed on May 31 at the People's House in St. Petersburg, on June 7 at the Pavlovsky railway station, on June 3 at the Mirror Theater of the Hermitage Garden in Moscow. The repertoire included The Dying Swan, Bacchanalia, and her other miniatures. An enthusiastic reception was addressed to the new Pavlova - an international "star". The small, fragile ballerina, accustomed to overly strenuous work, was 33 years old. It was the fifteenth season, the middle of her stage life.
She never returned to her homeland. But Pavlova was not indifferent to the situation in Russia. In the difficult post-revolutionary years, she sent parcels to students of the St. Petersburg Ballet School, transferred large sums of money to the starving people of the Volga region, and staged charity performances to support the needy at home.
Great friendship and creative cooperation connected two outstanding masters of Russian ballet - Anna Pavlova and Mikhail Fokine. She performed the main roles in many of his ballets: "The Grapevine" by A. Rubinstein, "Chopiniana", "Egyptian Nights". As a result of the creative union of Pavlova and Fokine, works were created where the dance is subordinated to spiritual and expressive tasks. This is how "Chopiniana" and "Swan" appeared to the music of C. Saint-Saens, which became a poetic symbol of Russian choreography.
Especially for Pavlova's troupe, Mikhail Fokin staged "Preludes" to the music of F. Liszt and "The Seven Daughters of the Mountain Tsar" to the music of K. Spendiarov.
The small traveling troupe, of course, could not compete with the Mariinsky Theater either in the performing staff, or in musical culture, or in design. Losses were inevitable and very noticeable, especially when referring to the academic repertoire. Pavlova in such alterations treated music unceremoniously - she changed tempos, timbre colors, stopped numbers and inserted music from other composers. The only criterion was important for her - to awaken her creative imagination. And the ballerina, by virtue of her talent, often managed to overcome the obvious absurdities of the musical material to some extent.
All this was noticed with an experienced eye by the famous dancer of the Diaghilev troupe Sergei Lifar, who visited one of the performances of the ballerina:
“The Paris season of 1924 was especially rich and brilliant in musical and theatrical terms - as far as my poor means allowed me, I did not miss a single interesting concert, not a single interesting performance, and lived this, eagerly absorbing all the impressions. One of the most powerful and significant Parisian impressions was the performance of Anna Pavlova.
During the intermission in the foyer I met Diaghilev - wherever I was this spring, I met him everywhere - and to his question how I liked Anna Pavlova, I could only murmur in rapturous bewilderment: - Divinely! Brilliant! Wonderful!". Yes, Sergei Pavlovich did not even need to ask my opinion - it was written on my face. But neither to Diaghilev nor to anyone else did I dare to speak of my ambivalent impression, that certain places seemed to me cheap and swindling. I was sure that everyone would laugh at me and say that I did not understand anything and that I was blaspheming. Subsequently, I became convinced that I was not the only blasphemer - Diaghilev also blasphemed, who told me a lot about Anna Pavlova.
Personal life of Anna Pavlova
The personal life of the ballerina was not easy, which Anna Pavlova considered it natural:
“Now I want to answer the question that is often asked to me: why do I not get married. The answer is very simple. A true artist, like a nun, is not entitled to lead the life most women desire. She cannot burden herself with worries about the family and the household, and should not demand from life the quiet family happiness that is given to the majority. I see that my life is a single whole. To pursue the same goal unceasingly is the secret of success. What is success? It seems to me that it is not in the applause of the crowd, but rather in the satisfaction that you get from approaching perfection. I used to think that success is happiness. I was wrong. Happiness is a moth that charms for a moment and flies away.
Pavlova connected her life with Victor Dandre. A very contradictory person. Dandre is a mining engineer, in 1910 he was accused by the authorities of St. Petersburg of embezzlement of funds allocated for the construction of the Okhtinsky bridge. Anna Pavlova had to rush to his rescue and pay a considerable sum to release him. Despite a written undertaking not to leave, Dandre fled Russia after that and lived without a passport for many years.
At the same time, Dandre was one of the most capable impresario of his time, who for the first time understood the power of the press. He constantly arranged press conferences, invited photojournalists and newspapermen to Pavlova's speeches, gave numerous interviews related to her life and work. For example, he perfectly played up plots inspired by the romantic image of The Swan. Many photographs have been preserved that captured Anna Pavlova on the shore of the lake, on the mirror surface of which beautiful snow-white birds glide. Such a reservoir was in her estate "Ivy House" in England. Swans really lived there, and one of them, named Jack, was Anna Pavlova's favorite. He did not forget his mistress when she was on long trips. The photograph of Anna with a swan on her lap is widely known, his head resting trustingly on her shoulder. The photo was taken by the famous photographer Lafayette, whom Dandre specially invited to shoot.
But it was Dandre who tried to squeeze everything possible out of the world fame of the ballerina, organizing endless and very intense tours, not sparing her health. Ultimately, the unbearable load apparently led to her untimely death...
The last days of Anna Pavlova's life
On January 17, 1931, the famous ballerina arrived on tour in the Netherlands, where she was well known and loved. In honor of the "Russian Swan", the Dutch, famous for their flowers, bred a special variety of snow-white tulips and called them "Anna Pavlova". Until now, at flower exhibitions, you can admire their exquisite beauty. With a large bouquet of these flowers, Anna was met at the station by the Dutch impresario Ernst Krauss. But the ballerina felt bad and immediately went to the Hotel des Endes, where she was assigned the Japanese Salon with a bedroom, which later became known as the Anna Pavlova Salon. Apparently, the artist caught a bad cold while traveling by train in winter France. Moreover, as it turned out, the night train she was traveling from England to Paris collided with a freight train. The trunk that had fallen hit her hard in the ribs. Only close friends Anna told about this incident, although she complained of pain to many.
A doctor was urgently called to the hotel, who discovered acute pleurisy in the ballerina. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands sent Pavlova de Jong's personal physician. After examining her, he came to the following conclusion: “Madame, you have pleurisy. An operation is required. I would advise removing one rib to make it easier to suck the liquid. In response to this, Dandre exclaimed: “How so! After all, she won’t be able to dance tomorrow!” Indeed, posters were plastered all over The Hague announcing that “on January 19, the last performance in the Netherlands of the greatest ballerina of our time, Anna Pavlova, with her big ballet, will take place.” Then there was a long tour of North and Latin America, the Far East. But this was not destined to come true.
Dandre decided to invite another doctor. By telegram, the doctor Zalevsky, who had previously treated Anna, was urgently summoned from Paris. And the ballerina was getting worse. Apparently, then the legend of the “dying swan” was born, which Victor Dandre cites in his memoirs. Anna Pavlova, the memoirist assures, wanted to go on stage again at any cost. “Bring me my swan costume,” she said. Those were supposedly her last words...
However, the reality was much more prosaic and tragic. This was told by Anna Pavlova's servant Marguerite Letienne, the doctors who were at her bedside. They recall that the ballerina invited some members of her troupe to her place and gave them instructions, believing that, despite her illness, performances should take place, especially in Belgium for the needs of the Red Cross. Then she got worse. Everyone except the maid left the room. Anna, nodding at an expensive dress recently bought in Paris from a famous couturier, said to Marguerite: “I wish I had spent this money on my children.” She meant orphans who had long been living at her expense in one of the mansions. After that, the patient fell into a coma. Zalevsky, who arrived, tried to pump out fluid from the pleura and lungs with the help of a drainage tube, but it was all in vain. Anna never regained consciousness. It is believed that on the night of January 22-23, 1931, she died from acute blood poisoning brought by an insufficiently well-disinfected drainage tube ...
After Pavlova's death
The Russian colony in Paris wanted Pavlova to be buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery, where a beautiful monument could be erected to her. But Dandre spoke in favor of Anna being cremated. While touring in India, she was fascinated by Indian funeral ceremonies, during which the body of the deceased is burned on a funeral pyre. She told loved ones that she would like to be cremated. “So later it will be easier to return my ashes to dear Russia,” she seemed to say. Dandre discussed this issue with the impresario Krauss, and they decided to consult with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in The Hague, priest Rozanov, because according to church canons, only burials in the cemetery are supposed to be. Given the situation, the priest had no objection to the cremation...
Victor Dandre, despite all his assurances, was not the official husband of Anna Pavlova, although this is stated in his will and the urn with his ashes is installed next to Anna's urn. She herself never called him her husband, they did not have a common bank account. After the death of Anna, Dandre declared his claims to Aini House. When the ballerina's mother, rejecting these encroachments, filed a lawsuit against him, Dandre could not produce any marriage certificates or wedding photographs, referring to the fact that the documents were not preserved after the revolution in Russia. The lawyer then recalled that he had previously spoken about marrying Pavlova in America. But even here, Dandre was unable to provide documents and even name the place of the wedding. He lost the process, and he had to leave the Ivy House.
Whether Dandre was Anna Pavlova's husband or not, but in his will the text of which is given in the book, it says: “I instruct my attorneys to buy niches 5791 and 3797 in the Goulders Green crematorium as a place for urns containing my ashes and the ashes of my beloved wife Anna, known as Anna Pavlova. I authorize my attorneys to consent to the transfer of my wife's ashes and, if they consider it possible, also my ashes to Russia, if at any time the Russian government or the government of any major Russian province will seek the transfer and give my attorneys satisfactory assurances that that the ashes of Anna Pavlova will receive due honor and respect.
Anna Pavlova is unique. She did not have high-profile titles, did not leave any followers or school. After her death, her troupe was dissolved, property was sold. Only the legend of the great Russian ballerina Pavlova remained, after whom prizes and international awards are named. Feature and documentary films are dedicated to her (Anna Pavlova, 1983 and 1985). The French choreographer R. Petit staged the ballet "My Pavlova" to team music. The numbers of her repertoire are danced by the leading ballerinas of the world.
http://www.biografii.ru/index.php name=Meeting&file=anketa&login=pavlova_a_p
Portrait of Anna Pavlova in the ballet Sylphs
Artist Sorin Savely Abramovich (1887-1953)
The future ballerina was born on February 12, 1881 in the village of Ligovo near St. Petersburg in the family of a seamstress (who had to earn extra money as a laundress) Lyubov Pavlova. She was born prematurely and miraculously survived. Anya did not remember her official father, a retired soldier of the Preobrazhensky Regiment Matvey Pavlov.
Poor girl's rich childhood
Rumors considered her the real father of Lazar Polyakov, a banker and younger brother of the Russian "railway king" Samuil Polyakov. Perhaps it's just a legend. But she, in any case, explains some of the inconsistencies between the poor childhood of the soldier’s daughter and the two-story dacha rented for Anya’s grandmother in Ligov, an aristocratic suburb of the Northern capital, where theatrical bohemia and the then nouveaux riches gathered for the summer. Yes, and frequent visits to the Mariinsky Theater and training at the Imperial Ballet School in the capital also cost money. And a lot.
In ballet from the second time
However, the sickly girl was admitted to the ballet school only from the second entry. Anya knew from the age of eight that she would become a dancer, having barely visited the ballet at the Mariinsky Theater with her mother. Then she declared: "I will dance the Sleeping Beauty in this theater!" However, the first attempt to enter the school ended in failure. The second attempt also nearly failed. The fate of Anya was decided by the chairman of the selection committee, the famous choreographer Marius Petipa. After watching Anya Pavlova's dance number, the grey-whiskered master issued a verdict: "Fluff in the wind - it will fly on stage."
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Clumsy Pavlova, nicknamed Mop
The school maintained a discipline that even the barracks would envy! Getting up at eight, dousing with cold water, praying, breakfast, and then eight hours of exhausting training at the ballet barre, interrupted only by a second breakfast (coffee with crackers), a lunch that did not satisfy hunger, and a daily hour-long walk in the fresh air. At half past nine in the evening, the students were required to be in their beds. Plus competition, jealousy, intrigue.
Anna, with her strange posture and poor health, was pretty hard on her flexible, curvy girlfriends - one nickname Mop was worth something!
In the technique of dance, Anna was inferior to many ballerinas, including former graduates of the same school - the stars of Russian ballet Matilda Kshesinskaya, Tamara Karsavina and Olga Preobrazhenskaya. She could not “scroll” all 32 fouettes, as Kshesinskaya did. But on the other hand, the fragile and airy Pavlova had no competition in terms of artistry and ballet improvisation. She did not work, but danced - selflessly and with inspiration.
This impressed the strict examiners during the graduation performance. It took place in the spring of 1899 and became Pavlova's debut at the same time as a "luminary" - as the dancers enrolled in the troupe of the imperial theater were then called.
Triumph of the coryphee
Anna's career developed rapidly. She quickly moved from the corps de ballet to the role of the second soloist, and starting from the anxious and vague 1905, she began to be called a ballerina. The prophecy of the experienced Petipa came true - now all the capital's newspapers did not spare excellent epithets addressed to the rising star, noting that with the appearance of Pavlova on the stage, Russian ballet gained a new breath.
The only love of Anna Pavlova
Fortunately for Anna, her first patron turned out to be the first and only love of her life. The son of a Russified French emigrant, Victor Dandre, was handsome, rich, distinguished by refined manners. At first, he patronized the novice ballerina out of sports passion. He rented a luxurious apartment for Anna and set up a dance class in it, which at that time no aspiring actress could boast of. He did not show any serious intentions towards Pavlova, but insisted that she should become a star of the first magnitude. And then a non-binding relationship turned into real love for Dandre. And at the same time the main business of life! Because if there was then, at the very dawn of "show business", a super-successful international art project called Anna Pavlova, then it was promoted by none other than the permanent impresario of the ballerina Victor Dandre.
Sergei Diaghilev and his seasons
In 1909, the ballerina's patron introduced his protege and lover to the famous theater entrepreneur Sergei Diaghilev, the organizer of the triumphal Russian seasons in Paris. Diaghilev immediately invited Anna to dance in his productions, and Dandre undertook to buy stunning outfits for the future prima of the now Parisian stage. He did not back down from his word, but as a result of these and other expenses, he got into debt, which led the unlucky sponsor to a debtor's prison. There were rumors that, in addition to spending, Viktor was also responsible for embezzlement of state funds ...
“A proper husband is to a wife what music is to a dance”
Be that as it may, yesterday's prosperous official, dandy and philanthropist did not have money at hand to make a deposit. And while the exhausting process lasted, which took a whole year, Anna left for Paris alone ...
Anna Pavlova saves her beloved
Evil tongues, of course, did not fail to comment on her departure: everything is clear, love for the patron disappeared along with his money! Anna didn't make excuses. But immediately after the triumph in Paris, she signed a very profitable, enslaving contract with a well-known London theater agency, and immediately sent the advance payment received for future tours to Victor. In Paris, Anna and Victor secretly got married.
Secret marriage and family tours
In 1912, Anna and Dandre organized their own troupe, which traveled around countries and continents for two decades, increasing the army of the ballerina's fans. The secret couple rented the Ivy House estate in London with a small park, once owned by the famous artist, the English forerunner of impressionism, William Turner. Anna's heart entirely belonged to the ballet and Dandra. She loved him alone all her life and repeatedly repeated: "A suitable husband for a wife is the same as music for a dance."
Ballet in the barn, in the rain and in the circus arena
Pavlova's natural talent was not to be occupied, and her efficiency, which reached the point of self-torture, amazed everyone. Fulfilling the same onerous contract, the ballerina traveled over twenty countries in less than ten years, sometimes performing in the most unsuitable places for ballet - on an open stage in the pouring rain, in a circus arena, in a barn on hastily knocked together boards, in a variety show after tap dancers and trained monkeys . The Russian star performed with equal dedication on the best theatrical stages and in front of schoolchildren from the American backwoods, in front of Mexican shepherds and Australian miners.
Tulips and dessert in honor of the great ballerina
Mexican machos threw sombreros at her feet, Indians showered them with lotus flowers, and the Nordic restrained Swedes during the first foreign tour in 1907, silently, so as not to disturb the peace of the actress, escorted her carriage to the hotel itself. The Spanish king over the years sent flowers to her every performance - regardless of where she performed at that moment. In Holland, a special variety of tulips, Anna Pavlova, was bred in her honor. And in Australia, they came up with an exquisite delicacy - an airy dessert of meringue, whipped cream and wild berries, called Pavlova (with an emphasis on the letter “o”).
“If I don’t have time to live, then I must die on my feet”
She was no stranger to going on stage with a fever, sprained ligaments, and once during a tour in the United States, the ballerina performed her part even with a broken leg! The newspapers wrote that Pavlova wears out two thousand pairs of ballet shoes a year.
The dying swan who did not spare himself
The crowning achievement of Anna Pavlova's career was the same "Dying Swan", created in St. Petersburg by choreographer Mikhail Fokin to the music of Saint-Saens. The name of the dance number, alas, turned out to be prophetic. Anna was persuaded many times to take a vacation, to rest. The ballerina only sluggishly fought back. “If I don’t have time to live, then I must die on the go, on my feet,” she somehow dropped.
This was said in the autumn of 1930. In January, a tour in The Hague awaited her, but on the way to Holland, the ballerina slipped through the train, she fell ill. The doctors diagnosed him with the flu. In those days, when there were no affordable and effective antibiotics, such a sentence should have prepared for any outcome ... In addition, Pavlova refused to take the medicines prescribed by the doctor. As a result, pneumonia began, which turned into pleurisy. After 3 days, the ballerina died, not having lived 8 days before her 50th birthday.
“She does not dance, but flies through the air,” wrote the St. Petersburg newspaper Slovo about the greatest ballerina of the last century, Anna Pavlova. Having become a legend during her lifetime, she did an extraordinary amount to spread the fame of Russian ballet around the world.
Pavlova rethought the danced roles, retained the charm of romanticism. Her manner of performance gave a new stage in the history of Russian ballet. Classical ballet, which almost perished, acquires modernity, and therefore eternal value. Her interpretation of Giselle, Nikiya, Odette, different from other dancers, was adopted by subsequent generations. Therefore, it was on the Russian stage that the undying, eternal that was inherent in Anna Pavlovna Pavlova was preserved. On her birthday, we propose to consider some unusual facts from the biography of the great ballerina.
Ballet charm
It seems that Anna Pavlova has always danced. She seemed to be born, already fascinated by ballet. But real love for ballet came only after seeing the morning performance of Sleeping Beauty at the age of nine. Interestingly, this was the premiere of a performance staged by Petipa. The ballet made such a strong impression on Pavlova that, naturally shy and gentle, for the first time she expressed her firm will to choose a career as a ballet dancer. You can imagine how many girls who also came to the performance said: “When I grow up, I will dance like Princess Aurora!” And only one will keep her word.
Anna Pavlova's shoes
It was difficult for Anna Pavlovna to pick up ordinary shoes. Therefore, she always carried with her a suitcase for 36 pairs, which was periodically replenished with new ones. Old shoes were given away.
The same problem was with ballet shoes. Anna Pavlova preferred to order it from the famous Italian master Romeo Nicolini. The ballerina was very attentive to ballet shoes, because the quality and comfort of her shoes depended on how successful this or that pirouette would be. Therefore, shoes often had to be redone. Once Nicolini even said: “Yes, it is a great honor that Anna Pavlova is my customer. But if I had two Pavlovs, I would have perished.”
Surprisingly, at the time of Anna Pavlova, pointe shoes did not exist as such. This was due to the fact that the dance technique was somewhat simpler than it is now. Therefore, the form of dance shoes was closer to the ballroom, but, of course, without a heel. They were softer than modern shoes, fine workmanship, distinguished by grace. But this does not mean at all that earlier ballerinas danced on tiptoe. They learned how to hang and balance on their fingertips. To do this, sometimes the toe of a ballet shoe could be stitched for greater stability of the ballerina.
Pavlova and Diaghilev
Many are sure that it was Diaghilev who opened Pavlova to the world. But it's not. Anna Pavlova had already danced in Sweden, Denmark and Germany a year before the appearance of the Russian Seasons. Moreover, it was Pavlova who suggested that Diaghilev include ballet in the opera season (the first Russian Seasons were exclusively operatic). Diaghilev initially did not believe that Europeans, and even more so Parisians, would like Russian ballet. Diaghilev did not agree for a long time, but after the approval of a certain committee, he nevertheless decided to try to include the ballet in the Seasons. It is worth noting that at that time the condition for showing Russian ballet in Paris was the arrival of Anna Pavlova as part of the Diaghilev troupe.
Pavlova and Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin was a big fan of Anna Pavlova. “We are like you, Anna! Chaplin once said. - I am a vagabond, you are a sylph. Who needs us? Here we are being chased ... ".
They first met at a banquet in honor of Anna Pavlova. Chaplin, addressing the dancer, said that the English language cannot convey the feelings that he feels for her, and express the greatness that Pavlova is. So he intends to speak Chinese. With these words, Chaplin, imitating Chinese speech, went into a rage, kissed Pavlova's hand. And so their friendship began. Later, Charlie Chaplin acted as a consultant to Anna Pavlova when recording her numbers on film.
Charity of Anna Pavlova
During the First World War, wherever Anna Pavlova came, performances were staged in favor of the Red Cross. At the end of the war, she gave concerts at the Metropolitan Opera and sent parcels with food to the St. Petersburg and Moscow schools with all the proceeds. Later, she began to send money to Russia to distribute to the more needy artists of the St. Petersburg and Moscow troupes.
In Paris, Anna Pavlova decided to arrange an orphanage for Russian children. As a result, she organized a women's shelter in Saint-Cloud. Now most of the money from the performances went to the orphanage. Anna Pavlova was concerned not only with the fact that the girls had a shelter, but also received an education, practical preparation for life, and after leaving the orphanage, a job. All the girls studied either in a Russian gymnasium or in French colleges. Each Pavlova provided the freedom to choose a specialty.
Portrait of Anna Pavlova
Many mistakenly think that Anna Pavlova, in her famous Dying Swan number, was inspired by the grace of her swan. This is not so, because the number was set long before the appearance of her pet. And initially the dance was simply called “Swan”, and only a few years later the epithet “dying” appeared.
An unusually deserted scene. No corps de ballet, scenery. There is no orchestra. There are no opening variation chords. Mercilessly sharp, concert light flashes. The dancer stands in the far corner of the stage, her head bowed, her arms crossed. After one measure of the introduction of the harp, with the first sound of the cello, she rises on her fingers and silently and sadly floats across the stage.
Fokin put the theme of lyrical peace into the number. The dance itself was the music. It was a monologue. And let the Swan still die at the end, but his death was peaceful.
But the appearance of the Swan changes with the advent of war and revolutions. Anna Pavlova, penetrating into souls with her dance, as if absorbing their response. Gradually, Lebed's lyricism was stained with tragedy. The meaning of the movements changed. The tread of the legs became more tense, the turns of the head and body became more pronounced. The wing-arms rose, fell, and suddenly clung to the chest, where a ruby was now burning bloody in white plumage. The face was bowed to the chest.
Ksenia Timoshkina
A fragile girl who was not wanted to be taken to a ballet school, Anna Pavlova in her time - and, perhaps, today - is the most famous ballerina in the world. Pavlova was the first dancer to organize world ballet tours. Her image has become synonymous with Russian ballet of the 20th century. And the most famous role in the prima's repertoire was the sensual 130-second miniature "The Dying Swan" to the music of Camille Saint-Saens.
was born on February 12, 1881 in the village of Ligovo near St. Petersburg. Despite the fact that the mother of the future ballerina, Lyubov Fedorovna, raised Anna on her own and did not have sufficient funds, she still tried to please her daughter as much as possible. And then one day, when Anna was 8 years old, her mother took her to the Mariinsky Theater for the ballet Sleeping Beauty. The girl, who had an innate subtle sense of beauty, instantly fell in love with the art of ballet and realized that she wanted to become a ballerina.
Lyubov Fedorovna supported her daughter's desire, but Anna was too young to enter the ballet department of the St. Petersburg Theater School, so she was accepted there only two years later. And at first, she did not inspire much hope for many teachers, as she was too fragile, which gave her a sickly look. But she lived in ballet and did everything possible to achieve perfection.
During her studies, Anna differed from other students with her slender body and long legs. Today, such a figure would only play into the hands of a modern ballerina, but in Pavlova's time, classical dancers were small and had a more compact body. Despite her innate talent, classical ballet was difficult for Pavlova, as she had weak ankles and very inflexible legs. In the end, she solved this problem by adding a piece of hard wood to the sole for durability. This helped her get on pointe shoes, as it reduced pain.
Nikolay Legat and Anna Pavlova
At the age of 18 she graduated from a ballet school, and was accepted into the corps de ballet of the Mariinsky Theater. Soon more responsible parties began to trust her. Pavlova danced in such classical ballets as The Nutcracker, The Little Humpbacked Horse, Raymonda, La Bayadère and Giselle. And after 7 years of work at the Mariinsky in 1906, she became the leading ballerina of the theater.
Had a huge impact on Anna Pavlova founder of the romantic ballet Mikhail Fokin. She danced in his ballets "Chopiniana", "Pavilion of Armida" and "Egyptian Nights". But their main joint work was the choreographic miniature The Dying Swan, first presented in 1907 at a charity evening at the Mariinsky Theatre.
This image was born from Fokine and Pavlova literally out of thin air. Mikhail Fokin invented for Anna a concert number to the music of Saint-Saens in just a few minutes, improvising with her. Thus was born the image of a swan floating smoothly on the water. Subsequently, this role became a symbol of the Russian ballet of the twentieth century.
« Pavlova is a cloud hovering above the earth, Pavlova- this is a flame, flashing and fading, this is an autumn leaf, driven by a gust of icy wind ... ", - wrote one of the critics.
Choreography by Mikhail Fokin, music by Saint-Saens and performance Anna Pavlova created a role filled with the agony of the last flight of a swan. The audience was captivated by gentle movements Pavlova and a tense expression on her face when the ballerina tried to convey in the dance all the fragility of life. It was the role of "The Dying Swan" that became the crown in the repertoire Pavlova and made her famous all over the world.
Anna Pavlova's only entry
Glory Pavlova grew. In 1909, the ballerina took part in the Russian Season campaign by Sergei Diaghilev in Paris, after which she became his symbol, and about Anna Pavlova known to the whole world. A year later, the ballerina created her own troupe and went on a tour of the main cities of Europe, including Berlin, Copenhagen and Prague. For 20 years she toured all over the world, also covering the UK and the USA. She especially loved Australia, which she visited quite often, influencing the Australian dance culture in many ways. Exactly Pavlova inspired Frederic Ashton, who later became a dancer and principal choreographer at the Royal Ballet School in London.
“Flexible, graceful, musical, with a full of life and fire facial expressions, she surpasses everyone with her amazing airiness. How quickly and magnificently this bright, versatile talent flourished, ”the press spoke of the ballerina in this way.
In 1912, she bought the Ivy House in London, where she spent her few vacations. She was very fond of animals and birds, so there were many of them in her estate. Two beautiful white swans were especially pleasing to the eye of the ballerina. Last performance Anna Pavlova Petersburg took place in 1913, after which the ballerina never returned to Russia.
Talent is a gift, and hard work is a choice. she knew this very well, and if one half of her life was spent under the bright lights of the stage, then the other half was behind the stage, in daily training near the barre. She knew that without self-cultivation, she would never become a great ballerina. “I owe my success to continuous work and my worthy teachers,” she wrote in the book “Pages of My Life”. Thanks to relentless exhausting workouts, a great ballerina was born, eclipsing the entire dance world.
In 1983 about life Anna Pavlova A five-part TV movie directed by Emil Loteanu was filmed. The plot of this picture covers the life of a ballerina from the moment she first met ballet until the last day of her life.
Galina Belyaeva as Anna Pavlova
Exhausted by tours and the constant stress of performances, she died on January 23, 1931 in The Hague from pneumonia. The ballerina was 49 years old. According to the legend, her last words before her death were addressed to her dresser: “Prepare my swan costume!”.
Unlike many other ballerinas, she did not leave behind an heiress. And this is not because the prima did not want to share her skills with anyone, on the contrary, she even had her own ballet school in England, and she always devoted all her free time and love to her students. Simply, as critic Andrei Levinson said: "Her art was born and died with her - to dance like Pavlova, you had to be Pavlova."
1881 in St. Petersburg. The girl was illegitimate, her mother worked as a maid for the famous banker Lazar Polyakov, and he is considered the father of the child. The financier himself did not admit his involvement in her birth, but did not object to the girl being recorded as Anna Lazarevna.
Anya's mother left Polyakov's house with a child in her arms and settled in the suburbs of St. Petersburg. The girl grew and developed under the supervision of her mother, who did her best to instill in her daughter a love of art.
Creative biography of Anna Pavlova
One day, her mother took Anya to the Mariinsky Theater. They gave "Sleeping Beauty" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. With the first sounds of the orchestra, Anya fell silent. Then, without looking up, she watched the ballet, holding her breath, her heart fluttered with delight, as if touching the beautiful.
In the second act, the boys and girls danced the waltz on the stage.
Would you like to dance like this? - Mother Anya asked during the intermission, referring to the dance of the corps de ballet.
No... I want to dance like the sleeping beauty did... - the girl answered.
After visiting a fabulous place called the Mariinsky Theater, Anya began to dream of ballet. From now on, all the conversations in the house were only on the topic of choreographic art, the girl danced in front of the mirror from morning to night, went to bed and got up with the thought of ballet. The hobby did not look childish at all, dancing became a part of her life.
Mother, seeing this, took Anya to a ballet school. At that time, the girl was barely eight years old. The teachers advised to come back in two years, while noting Anya's undoubted abilities. In 1891, the future ballerina was admitted to the St. Petersburg School of Theater Arts in the ballet department.
The study was Spartan in nature, everything was subject to the strictest discipline, classes lasted eight hours a day. But in 1898 Anna graduated from college with honors. The graduation performance was called "Imaginary Dryads", in which the girl danced the part of the butler's daughter.
Anna was immediately accepted into the Mariinsky Theater. Her debut took place in the ballet "Vain Precaution" in the pas de trois (three-way dance). Two years later, Anna Pavlova danced the main part in a production of "The Pharaoh's Daughter" to the music of Caesar Pugni. Then the aspiring ballerina performed as Nikiya in La Bayadère, staged by Marius Petipa himself, the patriarch of Russian ballet. In 1903, Pavlova had already performed in the title role in the ballet Giselle.
Development
In 1906, Anna was appointed the leading dancer of the ballet troupe of the Mariinsky Theatre. A truly creative work on the search for new forms began. Russian ballet needed updating, and Pavlova managed to create several images in the spirit of modernity, collaborating with the innovative choreographer Alexander Gorsky, who strove to dramatize the plot and was a staunch supporter of some tragedy in dance.
Anna Pavlova and Mikhail Fokin
At the beginning of the 20th century, Russian ballet was influenced by reformist movements. One of the most ardent supporters of radical changes in the art of ballet was the choreographer Mikhail Fokin. He abandoned the traditional separation of dance from pantomime. The next goal of the reformer Fokine was the abolition of the use of ready-made forms, movements and combinations in ballet. He proposed improvisation in dance as the basis of all ballet art.
Anna Pavlova was the first performer of the main roles in productions. These were Egyptian Nights, Berenice, Chopiniana, Vine, Evnika, Armida's Pavilion. But the main result of the collaboration was the ballet "The Dying Swan" to the music of Saint-Saens, which was destined to become one of the symbols of Russian ballet of the 20th century. The history of the ballerina Pavlova is inextricably linked with this masterpiece of choreography. The ballet scene about the dying swan shocked the whole world.
In December 1907, at one of the charity concerts, Anna Pavlova performed The Dying Swan. Composer Camille Saint-Saens, who was present, was shocked by the interpretation of his music and expressed deep admiration for the talented performance of the miniature. He personally thanked the ballerina for the pleasure, kneeling down with the words: "Thanks to you, I realized that I managed to write beautiful music."
The best ballerinas on all continents tried to perform the famous ballet miniature. After Anna Pavlova, Maya Plisetskaya succeeded in full.
Foreign tours
In 1907 the Imperial Mariinsky Theater went abroad. Performances were held in Stockholm. Shortly after returning to Russia, Anna Pavlova, a world-famous ballerina, left her native theater, having suffered significantly financially, as she had to pay a huge penalty for breaking the contract. However, this did not stop the dancer.
Personal life
Anna Pavlova, a ballerina with extensive creative plans, left for Paris, where she began to participate in the "Russian Seasons" and soon became the star of the project. At the same time, she met with Victor Dandre, a great connoisseur of ballet art, who immediately took Anna under patronage, rented her an apartment in the Parisian suburbs, and equipped a dance class. However, all this was quite expensive, and Dandre squandered public money, for which he was arrested and put on trial.
Then Pavlova Anna Pavlovna concluded a very expensive, but enslaving contract with the London agency "Bruff", under the terms of which she had to perform daily, and twice a day. The money received helped to rescue Victor Dandre from prison, as his debts were paid off. The lovers got married in one of the Parisian Orthodox churches.
Swans in the life of a ballerina
After Pavlova partially worked under a contract with the Braff agency, she created her own ballet troupe and began performing triumphantly in France and Great Britain. Having fully settled with the agency, Anna Pavlova, whose personal life had already been established, settled with Dandre in London. Their home was the Ivy House mansion with a pond nearby, where beautiful white swans lived. From now on, the life of Anna Pavlova was inextricably linked with this wonderful house, and with noble birds. The ballerina found solace by talking with swans.
Further creativity
Pavlova Anna Pavlovna, an active nature, hatched plans for her creative development. Her husband, fortunately, suddenly discovered the ability to produce and began to promote his wife's career. He became the official impresario of Anna Pavlova, and the great ballerina could no longer worry about her future, it was in good hands.
In 1913 and 1914, the dancer performed in Moscow and St. Petersburg, including the Mariinsky Theater, where she danced the part of Nikiya for the last time. In Moscow, Anna Pavlova took to the stage of the Mirror Theater in the Hermitage Garden. After this performance, she left for a lengthy tour of Europe. This was followed by months-long tours in the USA, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. Then, after a short break, Dandre organized a tour of Australia and Asian countries.
Commitment to reform
Even in the first years of her work at the Mariinsky Theatre, after graduating from college, Anna Pavlova felt the potential for changing the established canons in ballet art. The young ballerina was in dire need of change. It seemed to her that the choreography could be expanded and enriched through new forms. The classics of the genre seemed to be something outdated, requiring a radical update.
While rehearsing her part in Vain Precaution, Pavlova suggested that Marius Petipa take a revolutionary step and replace the short crinoline skirt with a long, tight-fitting tunic, referring to the famous Marie Taglioni, a representative of the ballet of the Romantic era, who introduced the ballet tutu and pointe shoes, and then she abandoned the short skirt in favor of flowing clothes.
The choreographer Petipa listened to Anna's opinion, they changed her clothes, and Marius watched the dance from beginning to end. After that, it became an attribute of performances such as "Swan Lake", where a short skirt is appropriate for the style of the production. Many considered the introduction of the tunic as the main type of ballet clothing a violation of the canons, but nevertheless, the ballerina's long flowing robe was later noted in the art of ballet costume as a necessary part of the performance.
Creativity and controversy
Anna Pavlova herself called herself a pioneer and reformer. She was proud of the fact that she managed to abandon the "tyu-tyu" (crinoline skirt) and dress more appropriately. She had to argue with connoisseurs of traditional ballet for a long time and prove that a tutu is not suitable for all performances. And that theatrical costumes should be selected in accordance with what is happening on the stage, and not to please the classical canons.
Pavlova's opponents argued that open legs are primarily a demonstration of dance technique. Anna agreed, but at the same time spoke out for greater freedom in choosing a costume. She believed that the crinoline had long become an academic attribute and did not at all encourage creativity. Formally, both sides were right, but they decided to leave the final word to the public.
Anna Pavlova regretted only one drawback of long clothes - the tunic deprived the ballerina of "fluffiness". She came up with this word herself, the term meant that the folds fettered the flying movements of the body, or rather, they hid the flight itself. But then Anna learned to use this disadvantage. The ballerina suggested that her partner throw her a little higher than usual, and everything fell into place. The required freedom of movement and grace appeared in the dance.
Serge Lifar: impressions
"I have never met such divine lightness, weightless airiness and such graceful movements." So wrote the largest French choreographer Serge Lifar about his meeting with the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova.
"From the first minute I was captivated by the nature of her plasticity, she danced as if she were breathing, easily and naturally. No desire for the correct ballet, fouette, virtuoso tricks. Only the natural beauty of natural movements and airiness, airiness ..."
"I saw in Pavlova not a ballerina, but a dance genius. She lifted me up from the earth, I could neither reason nor evaluate. There were no shortcomings, just as a deity cannot have them."
Touring and statistics
Anna Pavlova led an active touring life for 22 years. During this period, she took part in nine thousand performances, two thirds of which took place with the performance of the main roles. Moving from city to city, the ballerina covered at least 500 thousand kilometers by train. The Italian ballet shoe maker sewed 2,000 pairs of pointe shoes for Anna Pavlova a year.
In between tours, the ballerina rested with her husband in her house, among tame swans, in the shade of trees, near the still clean pond. On one of these visits, Dandre invited the famous photographer Lafayette, who took a series of pictures of Anna Pavlova with her beloved swan. Today, these photographs are perceived as a memory of the great ballerina of the 20th century.
In Australia, in honor of the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, they came up with exotic fruits with the addition of meringue. By the way, the New Zealanders claim that they created the fruit treat.
Once Anna Pavlova danced on the theater stage the popular Mexican folk dance "jarabe tapatio", which means "dance with a hat", in her own interpretation. Enthusiastic Mexicans threw their hats on the ballerina and the whole stage. And in 1924 this dance was declared the national dance of the Mexican Republic.
In China, Anna Pavlova surprised the audience by dancing non-stop 37 fouettes on a small platform mounted on the back of an elephant walking across the field.
Dutch flower growers have grown a special variety of snow-white tulips, which was named after the great ballerina Anna Pavlova. Graceful flowers on thin stems, as it were, symbolize grace.
Several different monuments dedicated to the ballerina were erected in London. Each of them refers to a certain period of her life. Three monuments were erected near the Ivy House, where Pavlova lived most of her life.
Anna was distinguished by a rare philanthropy, she was engaged in charity work, opened several orphanages and shelters for homeless children. Girls and boys from the guests of these institutions, who had the ability to dance, were selected and sent to the school of children's choreography, opened in the Ivy House house.
A separate charity action of Anna Pavlova was her help to the starving people of the Volga region. In addition, on her behalf, parcels were regularly sent to the St. Petersburg Ballet School.
The death of a great dancer
Anna Pavlova died of pneumonia on January 23, 1931 in The Hague, during a tour. The ballerina caught a cold at a rehearsal in a cold hall. Her ashes are in the Golders Green columbarium in London. The urn is located next to the remains of her husband Victor Dandre.
A film created in memory of Anna Pavlova
The life and fate of the world-famous ballerina was reflected in a five-episode TV movie staged according to the script by Emil Loteanu.
The film story tells about the short but eventful life of a great ballerina and a wonderful person according to Pavlov. 1983, the time the series was released on the screen, was the year of the 102nd anniversary of the birth of the dancer. The film involves many characters, and the role of Pavlova was played by an actress
