Anna Pavlova: The Dying Swan

Anna Pavlova was one of the greatest ballerinas of her time. Born in Russia, she won worldwide acclaim and people went to theatres only to see Pavlova dancing in ballet pointe shoes. ‘God gives talent. Work transforms talent into genius,’ she said once and proved the words with her dancing.

Anna Pavlova was born in St. Petersburg in 1881. The family were poor but once Anna’s mother decided to make a special present for her eighth birthday daughter and took her to the Maryinsky Theatre. The girl was so impressed by The Sleeping Beauty that she made up her mind to become a famous ballerina one day. When she was ten, Anna was admitted to the Imperial Ballet School.

The young dancer wasn’t considered beautiful and gifted but she worked hard to dance in ballet pointe shoes. Marius Petipa, one of her instructors, was the first to appreciate her dancing skills – he noticed that the girl could bend and move very gracefully. In 1902 Pavlova graduated from the Imperial Ballet School and joined the Maryinski Theatre. She climbed up the career ladder very quickly: having started as the second soloist, she was promoted to the first soloist just in a year and within 5 years she managed to get the prima ballerina title.

In 1907 the troupe went to Moscow and that was Anna’s first tour. Three years later she was already dancing in ballet pointe shoes on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House in the United States of America. In 1914, when going home from another tour, she learnt that World War I began. By that time Anna Pavlova had already founded her own ballet company so she decided to continue touring. She performed in Japan, China, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India, Burma, Egypt and in a number of European countries. Pavlova bought a house in England which became her new home where she stayed during rare breaks between tours. Anna maintained close relationships with Victor D’Andre, a French-Russian aristocrat and businessman, but never commented whether they were married.

Anna Pavlova was so popular she had to give nine performances in ballet pointe shoes each week. Besides the world famous ballet stages, she performed in rural areas, too. The ballerina also appeared on the silver screen in a few silent films among which one can mention The Dumb Girl Of Portici and The Immortal Swan. The latter featured a sequence of her solo performances and her best piece The Dying Swan. It was Pavlova’s early work written for her by her dancing partner Michel Fokine. The piece became a symbol of Anna Pavlova because of its difficulty and the ease with which she performed it. The whole piece had to be danced in ballet pointe shoes on toes but Fokine knew that Anna could do it. The Dying Swan became the favourite piece of Anna’s fans.

Anna Pavlova lived in the world of ballet till her last days. In 1928 Pavlova went for her last tour and in 1931 got very ill but didn’t cancel performances. One day, when the audience came to see The Dying Swan, the music was played but the stage was empty.