Anna Pavlova. Biography of the Russian lyrical ballerina

“An artist must know everything about love and learn to live without it.”
Anna Pavlova

She was called “Divine” and “Delightful”. They said that she was “ White Swan” and even “Fairy of the Swan Flock”. One girl wrote to her parents: “Remember, you told me: whoever sees a fairy will be happy all his life. I saw a living fairy - her name is Anna Pavlova.”

Brilliant Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova became a legend during her lifetime. Journalists competed with each other to write stories about her. She read myths about herself in newspapers - and laughed. Legends surround her name to this day.

She never talked about her personal life, in which there was one the only man. Her whole life - true, real, known and open to everyone - was in dance. And she managed to die before she left the stage...

The most famous ballerina of the past century, Anna Pavlova (1881–1931), whose life was completely devoted to ballet, about whom there were many rumors and legends, wished to keep everything that did not concern her work secret. Nothing was known about her personal life. And only after her death did the world learn about the beautiful and tragic story love, the secret of which the legendary ballerina kept in her heart for thirty long years.

Anna Pavlova was born on January 31 (February 12), 1881. Her father died very early, and the girl was raised by her mother. Although they lived in constant poverty, Lyubov Fedorovna, working part-time as a laundress, tried to brighten up difficult childhood“beloved Nyura.” On name days and Christmas, gifts were always waiting for the girl, brought by a caring, generous hand, and when Anna turned eight, her mother took her to Mariinsky Theater for the ballet "Sleeping Beauty".

So the future dancer fell in love with this art forever, and two years later the thin and sickly girl was accepted into the ballet department of the St. Petersburg State University. theater school. Eight years later, Pavlova became the leading actress of the Mariinsky Theater, and after the stunning success in the role of Nikia in La Bayadere, she was already called the first soloist of the Mariinsky Theater.

Newspapers wrote with delight about the aspiring ballerina: “Flexible, musical, with facial expressions full of life and fire, she surpasses everyone with her amazing airiness. When Pavlova plays and dances, there is a special mood in the theater.”

She had admirers, men made dates for her, gave her gifts, but Anna rejected everyone, and sent generous gifts back to confused suitors. She was proud, sensual and unpredictable. “I am a nun of art. Personal life? This is theater, theater, theater,” Pavlova never tired of repeating.

However, the girl was lying. It was at that time that an incomprehensible, still unknown feeling flared up in the heart of the young ballerina. Relatives knew that everything free time she spends time with the rich, handsome Victor Dandre (1870–1944). The new acquaintance came from an aristocratic family belonging to an ancient noble family. He held a high post of adviser in the Senate, was well educated, owned several foreign languages and was seriously interested in art. Patronizing an aspiring ballerina, as members of the imperial family did before him, seemed prestigious to Victor.

The young entrepreneur became the patron of the young artist, which, however, was quite fashionable at that time. However, Victor did not even think about marrying her. He rented an apartment for Pavlova and equipped one of the rooms as a dance hall, which was an unaffordable luxury for a young ballerina at that time. Each time, meeting a girl after a performance, Victor presented her with luxurious gifts, took her to expensive restaurants, invited her to the company of wealthy, intelligent and famous people, and in the evening he brought her to the apartment, where he often remained as the owner until the morning.

But the further Pavlova got to know her new acquaintance, the more clearly she understood that Dandre did not need her at all, and an unequal marriage with a modest girl was impossible for him. And she left him, preferring loneliness to the humiliating position of a kept woman. “At first I struggled,” Pavlova recalled, “out of grief I just started to go on a spree, wanting to prove something to him!” And then, once again following her motto, she returned to work.

She trained again, toured with her favorite theater troupe and danced eight to ten times a week. At that time, another meeting took place in her life, which changed a lot in the life of the famous dancer. The great choreographer Fokine staged “The Dying Swan” for her to the music of Camille Saint-Saëns, which forever became the ballerina’s signature number and flew around the world. Much later, when the composer met Pavlova, he, delighted with her performance, exclaimed: “Madam, thanks to you, I realized that I wrote amazing music!”

In 1907, the Mariinsky Theater went on tour to Stockholm. It was after these tours in Europe that they first started talking about the brilliant young ballerina, whose performances were such a rapid success that even Emperor Oscar II, admiring Pavlova’s talent, presented her with the Order of Merit for the Arts at parting. The enthusiastic crowd greeted the ballerina with applause. “I was greeted with a whole storm of applause and enthusiastic shouts. I didn’t know what to do,” recalled Anna Pavlova. It was a real triumph. Anna became famous, she had money, she could already afford a lot. The ballerina tried not to think about Victor.

Meanwhile, things were not going well for Dandre. Having made an unsuccessful deal, the entrepreneur owed a huge amount, which he was unable to repay on time. He went to prison without finding large sum the money needed to post bail and release him during the lengthy trial. Relatives were unable to raise funds, and rich friends turned their backs on their unlucky partner. For Dandre, a difficult period of painful waiting behind bars began in loneliness and doubt.

And Anna shone already in Paris. Sergei Diaghilev, who opened Russian in the French capital ballet theater, inviting Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky there, did not miscalculate. People started talking about the Russian theater, people from high society, people came from all over Europe to see the Russian ballerina, and the theater was invited to Australia and America.

The future seemed so tempting and bright. However, Pavlova unexpectedly left Paris and headed to London. A few months later, Diaghilev learned that his favorite soloist had signed a contract with the famous theatrical agency "Braff", under the terms of which she had to dance twice a day in three countries- England, Scotland, Ireland. For this, the dancer received an advance - an impressive amount for those times.

She immediately sent the collected money to Russia to free Victor from prison. A few days later, in 1911, he left St. Petersburg and headed abroad. “In Paris, I decided that I couldn’t live without Dandre. “I immediately called him to my place,” Pavlova recalled. - We got married in church, in secret. He’s mine, only mine, and I adore him.”

With Victor Dandre

Their marriage remained a secret for many years. Victor kept his promise to Anna on his wedding day. He swore to remain silent about their union. The former patron responded to his generosity with a strong feeling that flared up in his heart so as not to fade away until his last days.

When the contract came to an end, Anna decided to organize her own theater and recruited a troupe of artists. So the former prima of the Mariinsky Theater became the owner of a small theater. That same year she bought luxury mansion near London, on the shores of a clear lake, where white swans swam and exotic plants brought by the ballerina from different parts of the world grew around. It seemed that the fate of the spouses did not depend on anyone else.

Pavlova in her mansion in London

Victor took upon himself all the household chores, the responsibilities of an accountant and manager. He answered correspondence, conducted business and personal negotiations, organized tours, looked after costumes and scenery, hired and fired actors. However, Pavlova increasingly expressed displeasure. She reproached her husband, made a fuss, screamed, broke dishes and cried.

After much hysterics and tears, the ballerina’s spouses reconciled, and it seemed that their family idyll was again not in danger. Once again, Victor solved all his wife’s problems, and Anna ran around the house and theatrically shouted to the maid: “Who dared to clean his shoes? Who in my house dares to make tea for him? This is my business!

However, the emotional and temperamental Pavlova could immediately change her mood and rush at Victor with new grievances. Friends, who often witnessed these quarrels, later asked Dandre how he could endure all this and why he did not leave Anna. He was silent. Apparently, he had his own reasons for this, known only to the two of them.

He idolized her, thanking her for her generosity and generosity. She could not forget the long-standing insult inflicted on him in his youth. Whether she forgave him is unlikely to ever be known. But there was no doubt about the sincerity of Victor’s feelings. When his wife died on January 23, 1931 from pneumonia, just a few days short of her fiftieth birthday, Victor, broken by grief, for a long time could not return to normal life.

He didn’t want to believe that Pavlova was no more. Having created a club of fans of his famous wife, Victor Dandre wanted only one thing - for the great ballerina of the 20th century to be remembered for many years. Unfortunately, the club did not survive for long. Nevertheless, the name of the Russian ballerina, the legendary Anna Pavlova, has forever entered the history of world ballet.

Russian ballerina, teacher, stage director Anna Pavlovna (according to other sources, Matveevna) Pavlova was born on February 12 (January 31, old style) 1881 in St. Petersburg in the family of a soldier and a washerwoman. According to some sources, she was illegitimate daughter Jewish banker.

In 1891 she entered the ballet department of the St. Petersburg Theater School (now the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet), where she studied with Ekaterina Vazem and Pavel Gerdt.

In 1899, after graduating from college, Pavlova was accepted into the corps de ballet of the Imperial Ballet of the Mariinsky Theater.

She made her debut in a small role in the ballet “A Vain Precaution”, then in “La Bayadère” by Ludwig Minkus. In 1903, she was entrusted with the role of Giselle in Adolphe Adam's ballet of the same name, where the young ballerina was able to amaze the audience with the depth of the psychological interpretation of the image and the beauty of the dance. Following this success, Pavlova received leading roles in “The Naiad and the Fisherman” by Cesar Pugni, “Paquita” by Edouard Deldevez, “The Corsair” by Adam, and “Don Quixote” by Ludwig Minkus.

In 1906, Anna Pavlova became a ballerina of the Imperial Stage.

Legends of Anna PavlovaThere is a photograph with two swans, an “immortal” and a living one. The first swan is Anna Pavlova, a regal, sickly, despotic, fragile great ballerina, performer of the “swan” ballet miniature by Mikhail Fokine to the music of Saint-Saëns. The second swan is Pavlova's favorite bird at her estate near London...

The ballerina's individuality, her dancing style, and her soaring jump prompted her partner, the future famous choreographer Mikhail Fokin, to create "Chopinians" (1907) to the music of Fryderyk Chopin - a stylization in the spirit of a revived engraving from the era of romanticism. In this ballet she danced the Mazurka and the Seventh Waltz with Vaslav Nijinsky. Pavlova's flying arabesque was immortalized by artist Valentin Serov on the poster for the first "Russian Seasons" in Paris (1909).

The ballerina's tour with Fokine's troupe in Moscow in 1907 brought all-Russian fame. For her, Fokine staged a concert (later “The Dying Swan”) to the music of Camille Saint-Saëns, which later became a poetic symbol of Russian choreography and the ballerina herself.

Pavlova also danced in Fokine's productions of "Pavilions of Armida" to the music of Nikolai Tcherepnin and "Egyptian Nights" to the music of Anton Arensky in 1907.

On January 23, 1931, Anna Pavlova died in The Hague (Netherlands). Her ashes were buried in Golders Green Cemetery, near her home, Ivy House, London.

For a long time, Anna Pavlova had a personal relationship with mining engineer Victor Dandre, who in 1910 was accused by the authorities of St. Petersburg of embezzlement of funds allocated for the construction of the Okhtinsky Bridge. Anna Pavlova had to pay bail to be released from prison. Despite a written undertaking not to leave, Dandre fled Russia and lived without a passport for many years. Abroad, Dandre became an impresario and administrator of a ballerina troupe. In 1932, Dandre's book "Anna Pavlova. Life and Legend" was published in London.

Artistic and documentaries"Anna Pavlova" (1983 and 1985). French choreographer Roland Petit staged the ballet "My Pavlova".

In the Ivy House estate, which currently houses the London Jewish cultural center, the ground floor hall has been turned into a memorial museum for the ballerina. On the territory of Ivy House there are two monuments to Anna Pavlova - one is located near the lake, the other, representing the ballerina in the guise of a dragonfly, is near the terrace of her house.

The prize of the St. Petersburg International Ballet Dance Open Prize - a crystal pointe shoe, created in 1913 by the artist Boris Fredman-Cluzel from the ballerina Anna Pavlova, is one of the respected awards of ballet art.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Today marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of ballerina Anna Pavlova.

Anna Pavlovna (Matveevna) Pavlova was born on February 12 (January 31), 1881 in St. Petersburg. Her mother Lyubov Fedorovna was a laundress, and retired soldier Matvey Fedorovich Pavlov was recorded as her father. Later, it was suggested that she was in fact an illegitimate child and had a different father.

In 1891 Anna Pavlova entered the Imperial College ballet school in St. Petersburg. After graduating from ballet school in 1899, she was accepted into the Mariinsky Theater and made her debut in the ballet “The Pharaoh’s Daughter” to the music of Cesar Pugni, staged by Saint-Georges and Petipa.

Her collaboration with choreographers Alexander Gorsky and Mikhail Fokin had a great influence on her work.

In 1906, Anna Pavlova became the leading dancer of the troupe. She was the first and main performer of roles in Fokine's ballets Chopiniana, Armida's Pavilion, Egyptian Nights and others.

In 1907, at a charity evening at the Mariinsky Theater, Anna Pavlova first performed the choreographic miniature “The Swan” (later “The Dying Swan”) staged for her by Mikhail Fokin, which later became one of the symbols of Russian ballet of the 20th century.

Since 1908, she began touring abroad, participating in the famous “Russian Seasons” of Sergei Diaghilev in Paris, which marked the beginning of her world fame. A poster by Valentin Serov with a silhouette of Anna Pavlova became the emblem of the “Russian Seasons”. During a tour in Sweden, King Oscar II awarded her the Order of Merit for the Arts.

In 1909, Pavlova first performed with her own production at the Suvorinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.

In 1910, she created her own troupe, with which she toured in many countries around the world. Especially for Pavlova's troupe, Mikhail Fokin staged "Preludes" to the music of Franz Liszt and "Seven Daughters of the Mountain King" to the music of Alexander Spendiarov.

Her performances in the USA were very popular. However, in connection with her tour in America, a conflict began between the ballerina and the management of the Mariinsky Theater, since the trip was a violation of the contract. However, on the initiative of the theater management in 1913, Pavlova was awarded the honorary title of Honored Artist of the Imperial Theaters and was awarded a gold medal.

The ballerina's last performance at the Mariinsky Theater took place in 1913. In 1914, she performed in Russia for the last time - on May 31 in St. Petersburg People's House, June 7 at Pavlovsky Station, June 3 at the Mirror Theater of the Moscow Hermitage Garden. After this, the ballerina left for England.

In 1915 in the USA, Pavlova starred in feature film"The Mute from Portici" In 1924, miniatures performed by Pavlova were filmed in Hollywood, which were later included in the film “The Immortal Swan” (1956).

After the revolution of 1917, Anna Pavlova sent parcels to students of the St. Petersburg Ballet School, translated large cash to the starving people of the Volga region, organized charity performances.

On January 17, 1931, the ballerina arrived on tour in The Hague (Netherlands). However, on January 20, the planned performance did not take place due to her illness. On January 23, Anna Pavlova died of pleurisy. Her body was cremated and her ashes are in London.

For a long time, Anna Pavlova had a personal relationship with Baron Victor Dandre, a representative of an old French family. In 1910, the authorities of St. Petersburg accused the Senate official Dandre of embezzlement of funds allocated for the construction of the Okhtinsky Bridge. Pavlova posted bail in order to release him from prison. Since 1912, Victor Dandre lived in London, acting as Pavlova's impresario and director of the troupe.

The biography of Pavlova, written by Victor Dandre and published in London in 1932, contains the most extensive summary biographical information about the legendary actress, whose art shocked the world at the beginning of the 20th century.

International prizes and awards are named after Anna Pavlova. Numbers from her repertoire are danced by the world's leading ballerinas. French choreographer Roland Petit staged the ballet "My Pavlova".

A variety of white tulips was named in honor of the great ballerina in Holland. A five-part film directed by Emil Loteanu, filmed in 1983, is dedicated to Anna Pavlova.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources.

Name: Anna Pavlova

Age: 49 years old

Place of birth: Ligovo village, Russia

Place of death: The Hague, Netherlands

Activity: great Russian ballerina

Marital status: was married

Anna Pavlova ballerina - biography

February 1906, Mariinsky Theater. A huge basket of flowers was brought onto the stage from an unknown admirer and placed at the feet of the bowing prima... Thus began the dizzying romance of the ballerina Anna Pavlova and Baron Dandre, which gave rise to a lot of rumors and gossip.

Anna tried to find among the chrysanthemums a card with at least the initials of her admirer, but in vain. From that day on, the young woman began to receive similar nameless gifts after each performance. This was intriguing and gave me hope that the mysterious stranger had serious intentions.

The personal life of the star of the imperial stage did not work out precisely because she was surrounded by men looking for easy relationships. She regularly sent notes from annoying suitors inviting her on a date to the trash can, and then her heart began to flutter. And from everything it turned out that the donor was a noble and wealthy person. For the illegitimate daughter of a maid, this also mattered.

Anna Pavlova: “I will only be a ballerina!”

The greatest Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova was born on February 12, 1881 in St. Petersburg. Her mother, Lyubov Fedorovna Pavlova, served in the house of banker Lazar Polyakov. According to one version, he became Anya’s father. However, there is another assumption. Lyuba Pavlova carried the banker’s underwear to the laundry owned by the handsome Karaite Matvey Shamash.

It was he who seduced the girl. It was so easy to explain Anna’s sophisticated appearance and her craving for oriental melodies and dances with Karaite blood, supposedly flowing in the veins of the ballerina. However, when the girl grew up and told her mother that she dreamed of dancing on stage, with a request to pay for her daughter’s studies at the ballet school, Lyubov Fedorovna went not to Shamash, but to Polyakov. And he didn’t refuse.

By the way, Anna declared that she would only be a ballerina and no one else in her early childhood, after watching the ballet “The Sleeping Beauty” at the Mariinsky Theater. And Anna Pavlova appeared on the stage of this theater for the first time in her dance biography, as a ballerina - came out in 1899 as a student.

After graduating from ballet school, she danced small parts until Giselle was entrusted to her in 1903. Then the young ballerina amazed everyone with the depth of her interpretation of the image and the beauty of her performance. Then the main female roles awaited her in “The Naiad and the Fisherman”, “The Corsair”, “Don Quixote”... But only in 1906 Pavlova was awarded the title of ballerina of the Imperial Stage, awarded only to leading dancers. Fate would have it that main novel in the biography, her personal life began precisely in this year.

The veil of secrecy is lifted...

The more than strange courtship lasted almost four years. In 1910 Russian star returned to St. Petersburg from London, where she was on tour. The capital's public, yearning for their favorite, filled the hall of the Mariinsky Theater to capacity. They performed “The Sleeping Beauty”, Pavlova danced Aurora. After the final chords and the first applause, place such a large basket at Anna’s feet scarlet roses that the audience fell silent.

This time, the passionate fan left a business card on which was written in gold letters: “Victor Dandre.” A note was attached to the business card - with the same banal invitation to a date! - and a case containing a luxurious pearl clasp with diamonds. For the first time, the note was not crumpled and thrown away by Anna...

The disgraced lover of a ballerina

Baron Victor Dandre, State Councilor, Chairman of the Audit Commission of the St. Petersburg City Duma, a descendant of an ancient French family that settled in Russia, was 35 years old at this time. He was handsome, rich and talented. True, his talent had nothing to do with art. The Baron was a businessman. But - with a tender heart. Pavlova and Dandre’s romance was discussed no less than at one time the connection between Tsarevich Nika, the future Emperor Nicholas II. It was even rumored that the lovers got married.

In fact, the aristocrat Dandre had no intention of getting married. He didn’t skimp on gifts, he rented them for Pavlova luxury apartments, but I intended to limit myself to this. When Anna realized this, she moved out of her rented apartment and broke off relations with Victor. She suffered and cried into her pillow at night. To quickly forget Dandre, she went abroad again. She was invited by Sergei Diaghilev, who decided that a better partner could not be found for the premiere of his troupe, the brilliant Vaslav Nijinsky. Pavlova and Nijinsky, indeed, became the stars of the legendary “Russian Seasons” in Paris.

And soon it broke out in St. Petersburg loud scandal, in the center of which was Victor. He was accused of major scams and accepting bribes. Evil tongues they also dragged Pavlova into it: they say that she went abroad so as not to be responsible for the affairs or secret husband, or a lover. Dandre was put on trial, after which he paid a fine of 30 thousand rubles (huge money at that time) and gave a written undertaking not to leave the place. But a few weeks later, with someone else’s documents in his pocket, he entered the lobby of the London hotel where Pavlova was staying...

Family project of Pavlova and Dandre

Paris did not cure Anna of love. The ballerina realized that the frivolous baron was the only man with whom she could be happy. Therefore, having learned about his troubles, I decided to act.

By the time Victor appeared in London, Anna had already left Diaghilev and, having signed a contract with the Braffle agency, performed in the British capital. There is information that she accepted the difficult conditions of the British - to give several concerts a week, to dance at any venue for the sake of fantastic fees. She needed the money in order to pay for the services of Dandre’s lawyer, pay a fine for him, and then help him secretly leave Russia.

The baron's return to his homeland was blocked; he had no capital left. This is where his talent as an entrepreneur came in handy. When the contract with Braff expired, Dandre became an impresario ballet troupe!, which was organized by his wife.

For the sake of her beloved, Anna gave up the idea of ​​returning to St. Petersburg. Last time she came to Russia briefly in 1914 - of course, alone, without the disgraced Dandre. But the ballerina always thought about her homeland. I was worried when I learned about October Revolution. Sent to Soviet Russia monetary donations for the hungry in the Volga region and street children. distressed artists...

The last tour of ballerina Anna Pavlova

With their dancers and musicians, the couple traveled all over the world. Anna Pavlova was applauded in Europe, South and North America, Japan, the Philippines... In India, at the end of the performance, the audience knelt and raised their hands, worshiping the ballerina as a deity.

IN short breaks Between trips, Pavlova and Dandre returned home - to the Ivy House estate on the outskirts of London, with a large garden and a pond in which Jack the swan, Anna's favorite, swam. A week of rest - and again on the road.

The ballerina died during another trip. In January 1931, she caught a cold and suffered from severe pleurisy, but did not cancel her tour in Holland. Anna Pavlova left this world in The Hague at one in the morning on January 23, just shy of her 50th birthday.

It was a terrible blow for everyone who knew and loved her. At the funeral service, people cried, some lost consciousness. It is difficult to imagine what feelings Victor experienced while taking the white marble urn with his wife’s ashes to London. In this city, beloved by her, the great Russian ballerina found her last refuge.

The husband did everything to prevent the troupe from falling apart. He organized new tours in South Africa. Singapore and Australia, bringing the glory of Anna Pavlova to these remote corners. Victor Dandre bequeathed to bury himself next to his wife, which was done in 1944.

Ballerina, posters for which were drawn by Valentin Serov himself. The main person of the Russian Seasons in Paris. The most mysterious dancer of the twentieth century.

A biography, the authenticity of which was known only to the ballerina herself. Matveevna or Pavlovna? The daughter of a retired soldier of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, Matvey Pavlov, or a major Moscow banker, Lazar Polyakov? The great dancer wrote an autobiography, but more and more not about the fact that she was born in the dacha village of Ligovo near St. Petersburg, and her childhood, the main impression of which was trips to the Mariinsky Theater. Anna Pavlova wrote about the main thing in her life - a revived inspiration, whose name is ballet.

Nine-year-old Anya seemed to wake up after the premiere of The Sleeping Beauty staged by Petipa. Shy and soft by nature, the girl almost for the first time expressed a firm decision - to devote her life to dance.

Hunched back, anemia, fragile health. The Imperial Ballet School could not have imagined that this “delicate flower” would survive the harsh ballet school. “Fluff, lightness, wind,” said the famous Marius Petipa at the screening. The commission enrolled the girl, and she became a favorite student of teachers Ekaterina Vazem and Alexander Oblakov. Ekaterina Ottovna gave her fish oil and achieved strong legs and “talking” hands.

“One is born a dancer. No teacher can create a miracle, no years of training can make a good dancer out of a mediocre student. One can acquire certain technical skills, but no one can ever “acquire exceptional talent.” I never consoled myself with the fact that I had an unusually gifted student. Pavlova has one teacher - God."

George Balanchine

The first appearance on the Mariinsky stage was already in the second year of study in divertissements and small variations. Anna Pavlova was inferior in technique to Matilda Kshesinskaya, Olga Preobrazhenskaya, and Tamara Karsavina. But in jumps and arabesques with unpredictable improvisation, the fragile ballerina had no equal.

The graduation performance became a pass to big stage. Almost immediately, Pavlova received solo parts in The Sleeping Beauty, Esmeralda, and Giselle. The young ballerina worked with Marius Petipa, who so favorably accepted her first public performance - in front of the selection committee.

Anna Pavlova. Photo: marieclaire.ru

Anna Pavlova in the ballet La Sylphide. Photo: radikal.ru

Anna Pavlova. Photo: images.aif.ru

The aspiring artist was not afraid to argue with the master. In the ballet “Vain Precaution”, Pavlova suggested that Petipa replace the usual crinoline skirt with a tunic below the ankle and received consent. “This was courage on my part: custom has not allowed any liberties with a skirt since the time of the most famous Camargo - Voltaire’s favorite!” - the ballerina later recalled.

“Pavlova is a cloud hovering above the earth,” the press wrote. And the dancer just amazed me again and again. She seemed to float across the stage in her most poignant role. Swan. The image that gave the ballerina immortality. Choreographer Nikolai Fokin staged the miniature to the music of Saint-Saëns. Literally impromptu. Anna turned serenity into tragedy. The untimely death of a graceful creature, and like a wound - a ruby ​​brooch.

“The charm of her personality was so great that no matter what dance Pavlova appeared in, she made an indelible impression on the audience. This, to a certain extent, explains the fact that her repertoire consisted of performances in which there was nothing innovative. Pavlova did not set out to create something sensational - she herself was a sensation, although she was hardly aware of it.”

Lavrenty Novikov, scene partner

“Madam, thanks to you, I realized that I wrote wonderful music!” - Saint-Saëns exclaimed when he saw the Dying Swan. The dance became a symbol of the Russian seasons, and Anna Pavlova in the image of the Swan by Valentin Serov became the emblem of a world-famous enterprise. It took the artist 11 sessions to create the famous poster. The ballerina froze almost every minute in an arabesque so that the painter would catch the fleeting movement and convey it on paper.

The European public was able to appreciate the similarities thanks, again, to Pavlova. It was at the suggestion of the already recognized ballerina that Diaghilev added ballet to opera performances in the Russian Seasons. The impresario doubted that the French would like Russian ballet art. Nose light hand Pavlova, whose participation in tour separately stipulated in the contract, ballet nevertheless became an integral part of the Seasons.

The last time the public at the Mariinsky Theater saw Pavlova perform was in 1913; a year later she settled in England. During the First World War, the ballerina gave performances in favor of the Red Cross, and in post-war years The proceeds from performances at the Metropolitan Opera were sent to Russia for needy artists in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

“How I always regretted that I could not sketch her dancing! It was something unique. She simply lived in it, there is no other way to say it. She was the very soul of the dance. But it’s unlikely that the soul can be expressed in words!”

Natalia Trukhanova, ballerina

The world accepted great ballerina not only as part of the Russian seasons. Anna Pavlova and her troupe brought classical ballet to the most remote corners of the world: Egypt, China, Japan, Burma, the Philippines, proving with his whole life that love for art knows no boundaries.

The Dutch developed a variety of tulips in honor of Anna Pavlova, the Mexicans threw sombreros at their feet as a sign of admiration, the Indians showered them with lotus flowers, in Australia they named a cake after the amazing dancer, in the Netherlands - one of the planes. The sophisticated Russian ballerina dictated style to European fashionistas. A la Pavlova: exquisite satin and Manila shawls with tassels. But there is a unique image...

“Get my Swan costume ready!” - according to legend, last words the great Anna Pavlova. The ballerina died in The Hague, although all her life she wanted to live “somewhere in Russia.”