Top 10 Amazing Facts about Anna Pavlova

Anna Pavlova Photo by Unkown-Wikimedia Commons 

Top 10 Amazing  Facts about Anna Pavlova

Anna Pavlova was a Russian prima ballerina of the 19^th and the early 20^th centuries.

She was the head artist of the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev and also the Imperial Russian Ballet.

She was most recognized for her creation of the role of the dying swan.

Through her company, she became the first ballerina to tour around the world including her performances in South America, India, and Australia.

1. Her Early Life

Anna Pavlova photo by Unknown-Wikimedia Commons

Pavlova was born in the Preobrazhensky regiment hospital in St Petersburg.

However, she was a premature child and she regularly felt ill she was soon sent to the Ligovo village where her grandmother looked after her.

Her passion for ballet took off when her mother took her to a performance of Marius Petipa’s original production of the sleeping beauty at the Imperial maryinsky theater.

At the age of nine, she was taken by her mother to audition for the renowned Imperial ballet school but she was rejected because of her sickly appearance.

In the year 1891 when she was 10 years, she was accepted.

2. Anna Pavlova Attended School at the Imperial Ballet School

Anna Pavlova photo by Unknown-Wikimedia Commons

Pavlova’s years of training were difficult, especially in classical ballet.

Her severely arched feet, thin ankles, and long limbs clashed with the small compact body which favored the ballerina of the time.

She never lost hope, either way, she trained and trained, and in the year 1898 she entered the classe de perfection of Ekaterina Vazem who was a former prima ballerina of Saint Petersburg Imperial Theatres.

In the year 1899 when she was 18 years old, she graduated and she was chosen to enter the Imperial ballet rank ahead of corps de ballet as a coryphée.

3. She Worked for Marius Petipa

Anna Pavlova photo by Elpis-Wikimedia Commons

At the height of Petipa’s strict academician, the public was taken back by Pavlova’s style which was a combination of a gift that paid little heed to academic rules where she frequently performed with bent knees, bad turnout, misplaced port de bras, and incorrectly placed tours.

She performed in various classical variations like; pas de duex and pas de trois in ballets such as La Camargo, Le roi canduale, Marcobomba, and sleeping beauty which were all choreographed by Marius Petipa.

4. She Worked for the Ballet Russes

Anna Pavlova photo by Unknown-Wikimedia Commons

Pavlova worked briefly for Sergei Diaghilev in the first years of the Ballet Russes.

Originally she was to dance the lead in Mikhail Fokine’s the firebird but she refused the part because she could not come into terms with Igor Stravinsky’s Avant grade score however the role was given to Tamara Karsavina.

5. Anna Pavlova had Many Pets

During her life, Pavlova had many pets which included a Siamese cat, various dogs, and many kinds of birds including swans.

She loved and took care of her pets. Her husband Victor Dandre indicated that Pavlova was a lifelong lover of animals and this is proven by the photographic portraits she sat for which she often included an animal she loved.

6. She Supported Russian Orphans in the Post World War 1

Dandre wrote of Pavlova’s many charity dance performances and charitable efforts to support Russian orphans in post-world war 1 Paris.

Pavlova purchased a home near Paris at Saint cloud for fifteen girls she adopted.

7. She Changed the Design of the Pointe Shoes

Anna Pavlova’s feet were extremely arched so she strengthened her pointe shoe by adding a piece of hard leather on the soles for support and flattening the box of the shoe.

Many considered this was cheating at the time because a ballerina of that era was taught that it’s not her shoe that must hold her weight in pointe.

In her case, it was extremely difficult because the shape of her feet required her to balance her weight on her big toes.

However, her solution became over time the precursor of the modern pointe shoe and as result, the pointe shoe work became less painful and easier for people who had curved feet.

8. She Traveled Around the World to Introduce the Ballet

Pavlova formed her own company which performed throughout the world with assets consisting of the abridgment of Petipa’s work and specially choreographed pieces of herself.

She performed many ethnic dances some of which she learned from local teachers during her travels.

In addition to the dances, she knew was from her native country Russia she performed Mexican, Japanese, and East Indian dances.

9. Her Death

When Pavlova traveled from Paris to The Hague she became very ill and she worsened on her arrival.

She sent for her personal physician Dr. Zalewski who was in Paris to come and attend to her after the consultation with Dr. Zalewski she was told she had pneumonia and she required an operation.

Pavlova was also told that if went through with the operation she would never be able to dance again and due to that news she refused to have the surgery saying “if she can’t dance then she rather be dead”, she eventually died of pleuritic in her bedroom next to the Japanese salon of the Hotel des Indes in The Hague.

She died twenty days short of her 50^th birthday.

Her husband Victor Dandre wrote that Pavlova died a half hour past midnight on Friday, January 23^rd in the year 1931 with Dr. Zalewski and her maid Marguerite Letienne at her bedside.

He said her last words were “get my swan costume ready”.

10. Anna Pavlova’s Legacy

She inspired the choreographer Frederick Ashton when he was 13 years old he saw her dance in the Municipal theater in Lima Peru.

A cake was named the Pavlova dessert it is believed to have been created in honor of the dancer during her tour in New Zealand and Australia in the year 1920.

However, the nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two nations for many years.

The Jarabe Tapatio known in English as the “Mexican hat dance “gained popularity outside of Mexico when Pavlova created a staged version in pointe shoes and for which she was showered with hats by her adoring Mexican audience.

In the year 1924, Mexico proclaimed the Jarabe Tapatio as its national dance. In the year 1980 Igor Carl Faberge licensed a collection of 8-ich full lead wine glasses in commemoration of the century of Pavlova’s birth.

She also appeared as a character in Rosario Ferre’s novel flight of the swan.

In conclusion, Anna Pavlova was the most celebrated and influential dancer of her time her passion and grace are captured in photographic portraits.

Furthermore, her legacy lives on through dance schools societies and companies established in her honor.