| Anna Pavlova (1881 - 1931) was a Russian super star | | | | her variations never seems to cost her the slightest |
| who put her life and soul into the interpretation of | | | | effort... Not only does she dance, but dancing she |
| classical ballet. She is remembered still for the | | | | conjures up images which pass one by one before |
| emotions she was able to communicate through her | | | | the eyes of the public. She not only executes her |
| dancing. | | | | dances, she creates them." |
| Anna danced virtually all of her life. As a small child, she | | | | The use of her hands was one of Pavlova's most |
| danced in the fields near her home with the butterflies, | | | | remarkable accomplishments. She could express any |
| able to feel as she thought a butterfly might feel. | | | | emotion through the tiniest flits of her fingers. Also, she |
| When Anna was eight years old, her mother took her | | | | could do the "arabesque" pose, with one leg raised and |
| to see Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty" at the | | | | pointed behind her, extremely well. |
| Mariansky Theatre in St. Petersburg. The dance | | | | Anna Pavlova strove to dance fantastically to please |
| moved Anna so much, she decided to devote her | | | | her audience. "Her versatility was amazing," said |
| own life to ballet and was, two years later, enrolled in | | | | Hyden. "She could change from the tragedy of 'Giselle' |
| the Imperial School of Ballet in the Czars' Court in St. | | | | or the poignant characterization of 'Amarilla,' to play a |
| Petersburg. | | | | few minutes later the part of the skittish and |
| Pavlova the ballerina emerged at the age of 22. At | | | | mischievous daughter in 'La Fille Mal Gardee,' |
| this time she began the ritual of performing, always | | | | enrapturing the audience and the ballet company alike |
| performing; something she would continue to do until | | | | with her delicious pranks and coquettish ways. When |
| she died. Quite simply, her life was the dance, the | | | | one considers that she would be Greek in 'Dionysius,' |
| dance her life. When she was not actually on the | | | | Egyptian in 'The Egyptian Mummy,' a Hindu Goddess in |
| stage dancing, she would be mentally dancing and | | | | 'Krishna and Rada,' the Spirit of Life in 'Les Preludes,' a |
| preparing herself for the physical dance. Even while | | | | Perisan Princess in 'The Three Palms,' a classical |
| talking to people her fingers would be flitting like | | | | ballet-dancer in 'Chopiniana,' the magic bird in 'Russian |
| butterflies. | | | | Folk Lore,' a fairy doll in 'The Fairy Doll,' a debutante in |
| It was not unusual for Pavlova to give nine or ten | | | | 'Invitation to the Valse,' - to name at random but a few |
| performances each week, and to practice for each | | | | of her many ballets - one realizes to what extent she |
| performance at every " spare" moment. She was a | | | | had schooled herself in adaptability. No other dancer |
| perfectionist, almost fanatical in her dancing. "Art is not | | | | could hope to portray so many dramatic characters in |
| a flower of leisure, or a relaxation. Art means work. It | | | | one repertoire, actually living the parts as she did." |
| is useless to dabble in beauty. One must be utterly | | | | Pavlova never failed in the twenty years she danced |
| devoted to beauty, with every nerve of the body." | | | | to please an audience through her ballet. |
| Pavlova truly lived these, her own words. | | | | Dance historian and critic, Cyril Beaumont once wrote, |
| If her critics are to be believed, Pavlova was a ballet | | | | "She was first and last a great individual artist, a |
| genius. Walford Hyden, her former musical director, | | | | complete unity in herself, who had the supreme power |
| said, "In her profession she was as technically perfect | | | | of not only being able to breathe into a dance her own |
| as it is possible for a human being to become." | | | | flame-like spirit, but no matter how many times she |
| Pavlova's technique and philosophy were one. "She | | | | had danced it before, to invest it with an air of |
| was not a theoretical thinker. She philosophized with | | | | spontaneity, novelty and freshness, as though it had |
| her feet; and with every line and curve of her body | | | | but just been born. She was something more than a |
| she showed beauty to the world in a practical, physical | | | | great dancer. She made her features speak and her |
| demonstration," Hyden noted. Valerian Svetloff, a ballet | | | | body sing." |
| critic, on seeing Pavlova dance had this to say: "Her | | | | She died of pneumonia in 1931, three weeks prior to |
| 'pirhouettes' are absolutely 'clear' and her 'pizzicati sur | | | | her 50th birthday. About a month earlier she had been |
| les pointes' irreprovably elegant... Her 'fermatas sur | | | | onboard a train that had a minor derailment. She |
| pointe' are completely clear; they astonish and charm | | | | walked the length of the train in only pajamas and a |
| at the same time. The same can be said of her | | | | light scarf to investigate the situation; many believe this |
| balance which reaches the almost impossible. This | | | | compromised her health and caused the pneumonia. |
| perfect technique does not in any way detract from | | | | On her death bed, she reportedly said, "If I can't dance |
| the lightness and ethereality of her dancing, even when | | | | then I'd rather be dead." On the day of what would |
| she executes the most complicated movements... With | | | | have been her next performance, the show went on |
| her all seems natural, and easy; no shadow of an | | | | as scheduled with a single spotlight trained on the |
| effort anywhere. Never does she lose her elegance, | | | | empty space on the stage where she would have |
| her simplicity or her lightness... Even the most difficult of | | | | been. |