The immortal swan of Russian ballet: Anna Pavlova is the prima who gave the world a legendary image

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

Ballet is one of the symbols of Russian art. In the twentieth century, a whole galaxy of outstanding dancers shone on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater, among whom was a real prima - Anna Pavlova … This legendary artist made a real revolution in ballet, received a worldwide calling and lived a very interesting life.

The life of Anna Pavlova has always been shrouded in mystery, historians are still arguing about who the parents of the future outstanding ballerina were, and what is the real date of her birth. Presumably, the girl was born on January 31, 1881, her mother, Lyubov Pavlova, was an ordinary washerwoman, and her father was the largest banker and landowner. Anna was an illegitimate child, but her father took care of her, not skimping on education. Thanks to financial support, the girl attended the Mariinsky Theater from childhood, and took lessons from the best teachers of the Imperial Ballet School. Anna studied the skill of dance for 9 years, but the years of difficult training were not in vain - the dancer honed her skills and developed her own artistic style.

Once in the troupe of the Mariinsky Theater, Anna Pavlova began working with the choreographer Mikhail Fokin, which later largely determined her success. It was Fokine who staged the production of "The Swan" for Anna, it was first shown in 1907 at a charity evening, and, years later, was named "The Dying Swan" and became the hallmark of Russian ballet.

Anna Pavlova's success was so great that in 1908 she went on a tour of Europe as one of the participants in the Russian Seasons program presented abroad by Sergei Diaghilev. The image of Pavlova as a dying swan graced the event posters, and European capitals greeted her performances with applause.

The dizzying success, however, did not bring satisfaction to Anna Pavlova herself. She abhorred the scope and pathos with which the ballet performances of the Russian school were presented. The dancer was sure that the dance is beautiful in itself, like a precious stone, and does not require expensive frames in the form of lush decorations and sophisticated stage design. Perhaps this is what caused the ballerina to stop working with Diaghilev, found her own troupe and went on tour around the world on her own.

In addition to Europe, Anna Pavlova conquered North and South America. Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, Costa Rica and Havana - wherever they did not know about the Russian prima. And everywhere her performances were sold out, and after her tour, a true interest in ballet arose.

Anna Pavlova lived in Russia until 1914, after which she decided to leave for England. Her bold work did not correspond to the canons of the nascent Soviet art. The life of the brilliant ballerina ended tragically in 1931. During one of the journeys as part of a world tour, she got into a train accident and suffered badly from bruises and hypothermia. The ballerina died in The Hague, and her ashes were transported to London.

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