What secrets did "The Dying Swan" keep? Great Anna Pavlova

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The name of this ballerina is known all over the world. Posters for her were drawn by Alexander Serov himself, and the grandson of Alexander II, Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich, sought her attention. A tulip variety was bred in her honor and an amazing dessert was created, she was showered with lotus flowers in India and a sombrero thrown at her feet in Mexico. Immortality was presented to her by "The Dying Swan" to the music of Saint-Saens, in which Anna Pavlova was able to convey a huge range of feelings. Including her own love for the only man who managed to completely take possession of her heart.

The mystery of origin

No one, except Anna Pavlova herself, could say what is true in her autobiography and what is fiction. Sources indicate that Matvey Pavlov became the father of the future ballerina, but you can also find mention of the fact that her parent was the famous banker Lazar Polyakov, the mother's beloved. From him, according to unverified data, Lyubov Fedorovna got a small private laundry as compensation, which brought a stable income.

In any case, Anna Pavlova herself adhered to the official version: her father died when she was only two years old, and her life with her mother was hard and hopeless. The only outlet in the gray world of little Anna was, in her own words, a visit to the Mariinsky Theater. Although, in fact, the family did not feel global need.

After the premiere of The Sleeping Beauty directed by Petipa, the girl, who had never before been distinguished by decisiveness and courage, suddenly announced that she would become a ballerina. At the age of 10, she entered the Imperial Theater School and left Ligovo, where she lived.

Lyubov Fedorovna, after the departure of her daughter, sighed with some relief: now Anna was fully supported by the state. She was not at home, because the students of the ballet class were not allowed even on vacation, allegedly because of the precedents with the escaped young ballerinas.

After graduating from college, Anna Pavlova was accepted into the troupe of the Mariinsky Theater, where she very quickly made a splash and came under the patronage of Matilda Kshesinskaya herself. The latter tried to arrange the fate of the talented ballerina and, according to rumors, offered young Anna to become the kept woman of the grandson of Alexander II, Boris Vladimirovich. But Pavlova rejected the "lucrative" offer, because before her eyes there was still an example of a mother who had a relationship without obligations with a wealthy banker. She knew for sure that she would succeed without any patronage.

Only love

Anna Pavlova, to questions about her personal life, answered that she was a nun of art, and only the theater occupied all her thoughts. However, this was not at all true. It is not known for certain where and under what circumstances the ballerina met the young Baron Victor Dandre. One of the legends says that the aristocrat began to look after the ballerina at one of the social events. Either in order to increase his own self-esteem, or to argue with a friend, Dandre began to conquer the heart of the beauty. And Anna herself did not notice how she fell in love.

Victor Dandre contributed a lot to the promotion of Anna Pavlova. Thanks to his participation, she began to dance exclusively leading parties, and he also rented a luxurious apartment for his beloved and began to dress in the latest fashion. But he was not going to marry a ballerina, because a rootless dancer did not at all fit the status of a representative of high society.

But she did not even allow the thought that Dandre might not marry her. And she was completely broken when she found out: Victor is preparing for the wedding, but not with her. Pavlova immediately broke off all relations with her lover, although in fact the preparation for the wedding was only a rumor. The ballerina rescued herself by work, exhausted herself at the machine and it was at that difficult time that she danced The Dying Swan, which made her immortal.

After Anna Pavlova decided to leave for Paris to participate in Sergei Diaghilev's Russian Seasons. She even had an affair, but the ballerina did not have any special feelings. The only thing she wanted was to forget her lover. When Anna heard rumors about the imprisonment of Victor Dandre either because of a bribe or because of the inability to pay the bills, she immediately left Diaghilev's troupe and went to America.

A year later, Victor Dandre was released. The bail for his release was paid by Anna Pavlova. She set herself a goal - to get him out of prison - and throughout the year she used every opportunity to collect the necessary amount. And then she secretly took her lover out of Petersburg.

He was completely discouraged by her nobility. Now he was in love and suffered from the coldness of his Dying Swan. However, Anna Pavlova agreed to become his wife, but on one condition: he will not tell anyone that they are married. And the secret of this marriage was revealed after the death of the ballerina.

A very short time after the wedding, Anna Pavlova created her own troupe, with which she traveled all over the world. The ballerina was applauded in every hall where she danced, she was worshiped, she was idolized. And Victor Dandre, in fact, became a director and producer, voluntarily entrusting himself with all organizational and economic issues.

And he also resignedly endured the endless tantrums of Anna Pavlova, who constantly reproached her husband, smashed dishes and even pounced on him with fists. He, it seemed, had angelic patience and wrote off everything to the other side of his wife's talent. His world collapsed in 1931 when Anna Pavlova passed away. Victor Dandre, who neglected the ballerina in his youth, had absolutely no idea how to live without her in adulthood.

The urn with the ashes of Anna Pavlova rests in the closed columbarium of the Golders Green crematorium, in London, and next to it there was a place for the urn with the ashes of her husband and the only love of the great ballerina.

The whole world applauded Russian ballerinas, they conquered with their grace, grace and incredible skill, and the audience did not even know how dramatic their fates were at times.