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Life
of Anna |
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According
to Pavlova, she cared to be nothing else but a dancer from the age of
eight, when she attended a performance of The Sleeping Beauty at the Maryinsky
Theater. Two years later, Anna entered the Imperial Ballet School at ten.
Pavlova worked very hard there and upon her graduation began to perform
at the Maryinsky Theatre in 1899.
Mikhail Fokine choreographed the "Dying Swan" for her with music from Saint-Saen's "Carnival of the Animals." It became her trademark. In 1907, she began her first tour, to Moscow, and by 1910 was appearing at the Metropolitan Opera House in America. Anna Pavlova created her own company with eight dancers from St. Petersburg in 1910. Touring around the world, Pavlova extended her dance company with English dancers and in 1913 she toured in the United States. In 1914, she was traveling through Germany on her way to England when Germany declared war on Russia, her connection to Russia was for all intents broken. For the rest of her life, she toured the world with her own company-a total of 4000 performances and 300,000 miles. Pavlova kept a home in London, where her exotic pets were constant company when she was there. Victor Dandré, her manager, was also her companion, and may have been her husband (she kept this a mystery). Her last world tour was in 1928-29 and her last performance in England in 1930. She appeared in a few silent films: one, The Immortal Swan, she shot in 1924 but was not released until 1956. In 1931 she contracted pneumonia, and on her death bed made the request: "Prepare my swan costume." The next night the company performed as usual, and when it came time for "The Dying Swan," the curtain opened on an empty stage. Unlike Isadora Duncan who introduced revolutionary innovations to dance, Pavlova remained largely committed to the classic style. She was known for her daintiness, frailness and lightness. |