Pavlova, Anna Pavlovna

Pavlova, Anna Pavlovna (1881-1931), Russian ballerina, who played a significant role in popularizing classical ballet worldwide. She was the best-known ballerina of the first three decades of the 20th century and her name became synonymous with the art form. Slim and ideally proportioned, with her small head on its slender neck and hair drawn smoothly back, Pavlova’s physical appearance came to typify what the public expected of a ballerina. She was a graceful, interpretative rather than virtuoso dancer and could be poetic, dramatic, or comic as required. In addition, she performed lively character dances and became fascinated by oriental dances, which she also performed. Pavlova introduced the work of Marius Petipa and Russia’s rich choreographic heritage to new audiences. Much has been made of her alleged artistic conservatism but, while she was not at home with scores by Igor Stravinsky, she helped Michel Fokine establish his programme of choreographic reforms. She catered to the tastes of her popular audience and was equally at home in opera houses and on variety bills.

Pavlova was born Anna Matveyevna (which was later changed to Pavlovna) on February 12 (January 31, according to the old style), 1881, in St Petersburg, Russia. In 1890 she was taken to see the newly created ballet, The Sleeping Beauty, an experience that fuelled her determination to become a ballerina. She attended the Imperial Ballet School, graduating in 1899, and her rise through the Imperial Ballet was meteoric—she made her debut as a soloist in the same year and became prima ballerina in 1906. Within four years of her joining the company she was dancing both Nikiya (the temple dancer heroine of La Bayadère) and the title role of Giselle. Both ballets used her dramatic ability and her outstanding ethereal lightness. Giselle remained in her repertory throughout her career.

Pavlova caught the attention of the elderly Petipa, who added a new solo for her to Paquita. She also worked with the next generation of choreographers, particularly the reformers Aleksandr Gorsky and Fokine, both of whom welcomed her plasticity and ability to act through dance. Fokine choreographed several roles for Pavlova, including Armida in Le Pavillon d’Armide and the Waltz in Chopiniana (a forerunner of Les Sylphides). His solo, The Dying Swan, became her signature work from the time she first danced it in December 1907.

Pavlova surrounded herself with influential supporters, including the aristocratic balletomane (devotee of ballet) Victor Dandré, who became her manager. (It has been suggested that the pair also married, but there is no official evidence to support this theory.) Dandré set up Pavlova’s tours and encouraged her to dance easily accessible ballets for new audiences. Pavlova embarked on her international career in 1908, performing in Riga, Latvia, and on tour in Scandinavia. This was followed in 1909 by a Central European tour, leaving her only available to join a season by Sergei Diaghilev in Paris when it was well underway. In spite of her success dancing with Vaslav Nijinsky in Les Sylphides and Fokine in Cléopâtre she had her own plans. From Paris Pavlova travelled to London where, partnered by Mikhail Mordkin, she danced for Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. The following year, 1910, she made her American debut in Coppélia at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York. Until cut off from Russia by World War I and the subsequent Russian Revolution, Pavlova frequently returned to St Petersburg to dance at the Mariinsky Theatre, although on her final visit in 1914 she performed in other popular theatres in St Petersburg and in Moscow. From 1912 she made London her base, living at Ivy House, Golders Green, which she purchased in 1914.

Pavlova was a modern ballerina who took advantage of the media, endorsed advertisements, promoted charity work, and was immaculately turned out at all times. She was one of the first great theatre-artists to appreciate the value of film. The feature-length narrative film, The Dumb Girl of Portici (1916), remains one of the best records of her artistry in dance and mime. She also recorded dances in Hollywood for newsreels and toured in the 1920s with a cine-camera, which preserved glimpses of her company’s repertoire and travels in Australia, Asia, and Egypt. A compilation of this material was released in 1935 as The Immortal Swan.

Pavlova toured ceaselessly for 20 years, undertaking long tours in Europe, North and South America, Australia, the Far East, Egypt, and South Africa. Throughout her life she was totally dedicated to the art of dance—her dancers were her family and she reportedly spoke of how she could never have been happy without performing. Her final appearance was to be in performances of Amarilla, Gavotte, The Dying Swan, and Paquita at Golders Green Hippodrome in 1930. She became ill while embarking on a new tour early the following year and died of pneumonia in The Hague, Netherlands, on January 23, 1931, at the age of 49.