Anna Pavlova: biography and personal life of a ballerina

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Anna Pavlova became the founder of classical Russian ballet, she changed the concept of dancing in the 20th century. The world famous dancer performed ballet where such creativity was not even known.

Biography of the ballerina Anna Pavlova

Anechka was born on February 12 (zodiac – Aquarius), 1881 in the village of Ligovo near St. Petersburg. The girl was born prematurely, seven months old. Thanks to Anna’s grandmother, who nursed her for a year, gave her goat milk – the girl survived. Her immunity was weak, she was often sick, and had an unhealthy appearance.

Mystery of origin

Who and who her parents were is still not clearly known. One of the versions tells that the mother was a laundress and served the wealthy banker Lazar Polyakov. It was he who became the father of Anna.

The second version is that Lyubov Pavlova’s mother met the soldier Matvey Shamash. Karaim seduced Love. In the future, she gave birth to a child from him.

Contemporaries said that Anna looked like Matvey. Her light oriental features were popular during the Art Nouveau era. From an early age she was fond of oriental melodies and dances.

But at the same time, when young Anna expressed a desire to take dance classes, it was Polyakov who paid for her studies at the ballet institution.

Anna Pavlova, at the age of 8, firmly decided that she would be a ballerina. This desire came to the girl while watching the ballet The Sleeping Beauty. And already at the age of 10 she entered the St. Petersburg Theater School.

It was extremely difficult to study, the lessons lasted 8 hours a day. Strict diet and discipline, offensive insults to classmates because of her unusual appearance for a ballerina.

The girl had long legs and arms, weak ankles. She did not pay all attention to it, she knew her calling in life. She knew that she was a real ballerina. And without dancing, it makes no sense to live. She worked fanatically, putting all of herself into her favorite work.

On June 1, 1899, Anna Pavlova was assigned to serve in the directorate of the imperial theaters. The Mariinsky Theater gave her the joy of the first premiere. But already in the theater it became clear that Anna’s movements are not virtuoso, there is no “steel toe”.

Purposeful Pavlova did not stop because of her shortcomings. She began taking ballet lessons from Russian and Spanish teachers. Thanks to her perseverance, in 1906 Anna became a real ballerina. She was appointed as the main performer of parts in the Spanish and classical repertoire.

For about 10 years, Pavlova served at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, having danced practically the entire repertoire.

The last concert

Mikhail Fokin created a performance especially for Pavlova, which became the hallmark of the ballerina. The Dying Swan is a dance about the impermanence of happiness. From 1908 she began giving concerts abroad.

Paris gave her worldwide recognition, where she participated in the production of “Russian Seasons” by Sergei Diaghilev. In 1909 she staged a personal performance.

Many believe that thanks to Diaghilev, the world learned about Pavlova. But this is not so. Pavlova already danced in Germany, Denmark and Sweden before the appearance of “Russian Seasons”.

In 1910 the famous dancer left the Mariinsky Theater and created her own troupe. Fokine staged a couple more ballets for Anna’s troupe. The production of “The Seven Daughters of the Mountain King” was a huge success.

In 1914, the unsurpassed dancer gave her last concert in Russia and moved to England. She never returned to her homeland. For 22 years of touring, she danced in almost 9000 performances.

Interesting fact: Isadora Duncan adored Pavlova and tried not to miss her performances in St. Petersburg, Paris, and New York. They knew each other. Charlie Chaplin was a big fan and friend of Anna Pavlova.

Anna Pavlova: personal life

For a ballerina, personal life has always been in the background. She began a relationship with the financially independent, handsome and educated Victor Dandre. He pampered her with gifts, gave her care. But they could not formally approve the union, tk. were from different social backgrounds.

Anna left him for Paris, and only when trouble struck Dandre did they meet again. Victor was arrested for a scam and deprived of his entire fortune. Pavlova released him by paying the required amount. Dandre became her husband and impresario. He loved his wife to the depths of his soul, and in the future, after her death, he will write a book about her.

The last dance

The planned concert in The Hague (Netherlands) never took place. Anna Pavlovna (Matveevna) Pavlova died in 1931 from pneumonia. She was 49 years old.

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