The Famous Russian Dancer

Anna Pavlova was born on January 31, 1881, in St. Petersburg, Russia, the daughter of Lyubov Feodorovna, a washerwoman. Her father's identity is not known. When Anna was very small, her mother married reserve soldier Matvey Pavlov, who died when Anna was two years old. She and her mother were very poor, and they spent the summers with Anna's grandmother. According to Pavlova, she wanted to be a dancer from the age of eight, when she attended a performance of The Sleeping Beauty at the Maryinsky Theatre. Two years later she was accepted as a student at St. Petersburg's Imperial Ballet School. This school is for classical dancers who offer their students lifelong material protection; the czar (the ruler of Russia).

In February 1910 Pavlova performed with the brawny Moscow dancer Mikhail Mordkin. This dance made her first appearance in America, at the Metropolitan Opera House. Most of the American audiences had never before seen classical ballet, and critics did not know how to describe what Pavlova did on stage, although all agreed that it was wonderful. From this point until her death, Pavlova continued to make long, exhausting tours, always with her own company—whose members came from different countries and were not always as talented as her—to support. She returned to America several times; she went to South America in 1917; in 1919 she visited Bahia and Salvador. A 1920–21 American tour represented Pavlova's fifth major tour of the United States in ten years, and in 1923 the company traveled to Japan, China, India, Burma, and Egypt. South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand were given a glimpse of Pavlova in 1926.

Her company continued to perform several of the great ballet classics, such as Giselle and The Sleeping Beauty; her own popular signature pieces were the Bacchanal, a duet created by her former fellow-student Mikhail Fokine, and her eerily beautiful The Swan. She was willing to perform in different venues, from the most famous theaters of Europe to London's music halls or even New York's gigantic Hippodrome. Pavlova's private days were spent at Ivy House in London, where she kept a large collection of birds and animals, including a pair of pet swans. Her companion, manager, and perhaps husband was Victor Dandré, a fellow native of St. Petersburg.

Pavlova died in The Hague, Netherlands, on January 22, She had performed constantly until her death; her final words were to ask for her Swan costume to be prepared and, finally, "Play that last measure softly."

Video clip

 When a small child, I thought that success spelled happiness. I was wrong, happiness is like a butterfly which appears and delights us for one brief moment, but soon, flits away.  What exactly is success? For me, it is to be found not in applause, but in the satisfaction of feeling that one is realizing one’s idea.  Although one may fail to find happiness in theatrical life, one never wishes to  (Last words of Anna Pavlova) “Get my swan costume ready. Then play that last measure softly.”

THE END By: Tessa Cawley