Anna Pavlova: biography and photo. Great Russian ballerina

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The great Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova was born on February 12, 1881 in St. Petersburg. The girl was illegitimate, her mother worked as a maid for the famous banker Lazar Polyakov, and he is considered the father of the child. The financier himself did not admit his involvement in her birth, but did not object to the girl being recorded as Anna Lazarevna.

Ani's mother left Polyakov's house with a child in her arms and settled in the suburbs of St. Petersburg. The girl grew and developed under the supervision of her mother, who did her best to instill in her daughter a love of art.

The creative biography of Anna Pavlova

Once my mother took Anya to the Mariinsky Theatre. They gave "Sleeping Beauty" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. With the first sounds of the orchestra, Anya fell silent. Then, without stopping, she watched the ballet, holding her breath, her heart fluttered with delight, as if touching the beautiful.

In the second act, the boys and girls danced the w altz on stage.

- Would you like to dance like this? - Mother Anya asked during the intermission, referring to the dance of the corps de ballet.

- No… I want to dance like the sleeping beauty did… - the girl replied.

After visiting a fabulous place called the Mariinsky Theater, Anya began to dream of ballet. From now on, all the conversations in the house were only on the topic of choreographic art, the girl danced in front of the mirror from morning to night, went to bed and got up with the thought of ballet. The hobby did not look childish at all, dancing became a part of her life.

Mother, seeing this, took Anya to a ballet school. At that time, the girl was barely eight years old. The teachers advised to come back in two years, while noting Anya's undoubted abilities. In 1891, the future ballerina was admitted to the St. Petersburg School of Theater Arts in the ballet department.

Study was Spartan in nature, everything was subject to the strictest discipline, classes lasted eight hours a day. But in 1898 Anna graduated from college with honors. The graduation performance was called "Imaginary Dryads", in which the girl danced the part of the butler's daughter.

Anna was immediately accepted into the Mariinsky Theater. Her debut took place in the ballet "Vain Precaution" in the pas de trois (three-way dance). Two years later, Anna Pavlova danced the main part in a production of "The Pharaoh's Daughter" to the music of Caesar Pugni. Then the aspiring ballerina performed as Nikiya in La Bayadère, staged by Marius Petipa himself, the patriarch of Russian ballet. In 1903, Pavlova had already performed in the title role in the ballet Giselle.

Development

In 1906, Anna was appointed the leading dancer of the ballet troupe of the Mariinsky Theatre. A truly creative work on the search for new forms began. Russian balletrequired updating, and Pavlova managed to create several images in the spirit of modernity, collaborating with the innovative choreographer Alexander Gorsky, who strove to dramatize the plot and was a staunch supporter of some tragedy in the dance.

Anna Pavlova and Mikhail Fokin

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russian ballet was influenced by reformist movements. One of the most ardent supporters of radical changes in the art of ballet was the choreographer Mikhail Fokin. He abandoned the traditional separation of dance from pantomime. The next goal of the reformer Fokine was the abolition of the use of ready-made forms, movements and combinations in ballet. He proposed improvisation in dance as the basis of all ballet art.

Anna Pavlova was the first performer of the main roles in the productions of Mikhail Fokin. These were "Egyptian Nights", "Berenice", "Chopiniana", "Vine", "Evnika", "Pavilion of Armida". But the main result of the collaboration was the ballet "The Dying Swan" to the music of Saint-Saens, which was destined to become one of the symbols of Russian ballet of the 20th century. The history of the ballerina Pavlova is inextricably linked with this masterpiece of choreography. The ballet scene about the dying swan shocked the whole world.

In December 1907, at one of the charity concerts, Anna Pavlova performed "The Dying Swan". Composer Camille Saint-Saens, who was present, was shocked by the interpretation of his music and expressed deep admiration for the talented performance of the miniature. Hepersonally thanked the ballerina for the pleasure, kneeling down with the words: "Thanks to you, I realized that I managed to write beautiful music."

The best ballerinas on all continents tried to perform the famous ballet miniature. After Anna Pavlova, Maya Plisetskaya succeeded in full.

Foreign Tours

In 1907 the Imperial Mariinsky Theater went abroad. Performances were held in Stockholm. Shortly after returning to Russia, Anna Pavlova, a world-famous ballerina, left her native theater, having suffered significantly financially, as she had to pay a huge pen alty for breaking the contract. However, this did not stop the dancer.

Private life

Anna Pavlova, a ballerina with extensive creative plans, left for Paris, where she began to participate in the "Russian Seasons" and soon became the star of the project. At the same time, she met with Victor Dandre, a great connoisseur of ballet art, who immediately took Anna under patronage, rented her an apartment in the Parisian suburbs, and equipped a dance class. However, all this was quite expensive, and Dandre squandered public money, for which he was arrested and put on trial.

Then Pavlova Anna Pavlovna signed a very expensive, but enslaving contract with the London agency "Bruff", under the terms of which she had to perform daily, and twice a day. The money received helped to rescue Victor Dandre from prison, as his debts were paid off. The lovers got married in one of the ParisianOrthodox churches.

Swans in the life of a ballerina

After Pavlova partially worked under a contract with the Braff agency, she created her own ballet troupe and began performing triumphantly in France and Great Britain. Having fully settled with the agency, Anna Pavlova, whose personal life had already been established, settled with Dandre in London. Their home was the Ivy House mansion with a pond nearby, where beautiful white swans lived. From now on, the life of Anna Pavlova was inextricably linked with this wonderful house, and with noble birds. The ballerina found solace by talking with swans.

Further creativity

Pavlova Anna Pavlovna, an active nature, hatched plans for her creative development. Her husband, fortunately, suddenly discovered the ability to produce and began to promote his wife's career. He became the official impresario of Anna Pavlova, and the great ballerina could no longer worry about her future, it was in good hands.

In 1913 and 1914 the dancer performed in Moscow and St. Petersburg, including the Mariinsky Theater, where she danced the part of Nikiya for the last time. In Moscow, Anna Pavlova took to the stage of the Mirror Theater in the Hermitage Garden. After this performance, she left for a lengthy tour of Europe. This was followed by months-long tours in the USA, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. Then, after a short break, Dandre organized a tour of Australia and Asian countries.

Desire for reform

Even in the first years of work at the Mariinsky Theater, after graduating from college, Anna Pavlovafelt the potential for changing the established canons in the art of ballet. The young ballerina was in dire need of change. It seemed to her that the choreography could be expanded and enriched through new forms. The classics of the genre seemed to be something outdated, requiring a radical update.

Rehearsing her part in "Vain Precaution", Pavlova suggested that Marius Petipa take a revolutionary step and replace the short crinoline skirt with a long, tight-fitting tunic, referring to the famous Marie Taglioni, a representative of the ballet of the era of romanticism, who introduced ballet tutu and pointe shoes, and then ditched the short skirt in favor of flowing clothes.

The choreographer Petipa listened to Anna's opinion, she was dressed, and Marius watched the dance from beginning to end. After that, the tutu became an attribute of performances such as "Swan Lake", where a short skirt is appropriate for the style of the production. Many considered the introduction of the tunic as the main type of ballet clothing a violation of the canons, but nevertheless, the ballerina's long flowing robe was later noted in the art of ballet costume as a necessary part of the performance.

Creativity and controversy

Anna Pavlova herself called herself a pioneer and reformer. She was proud of the fact that she managed to abandon the "tyu-tyu" (crinoline skirt) and dress more appropriately. She had to argue with connoisseurs of traditional ballet for a long time and prove that a tutu is not suitable for everyone.performances. And that theatrical costumes should be selected in accordance with what is happening on the stage, and not to please the classical canons.

Pavlova's opponents claimed that open legs are primarily a demonstration of dance technique. Anna agreed, but at the same time spoke out for greater freedom in choosing a costume. She believed that the crinoline had long become an academic attribute and did not at all encourage creativity. Formally, both sides were right, but they decided to leave the final word to the public.

Anna Pavlova regretted only one drawback of long clothes - the tunic deprived the ballerina of "fluffiness". She came up with this word herself, the term meant that the folds fettered the flying movements of the body, or rather, they hid the flight itself. But then Anna learned to use this disadvantage. The ballerina suggested that her partner throw her a little higher than usual, and everything fell into place. The required freedom of movement and grace appeared in the dance.

Serge Lifar: impressions

"I have never seen such divine lightness, weightless airiness and such graceful movements." This is how the famous French choreographer Serge Lifar wrote about his meeting with the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova.

"From the first minute I was captivated by the nature of her plasticity, she danced as if she were breathing, easily and naturally. No desire for the correct ballet, fouette, virtuoso tricks. Only the natural beauty of natural movements and airiness, airiness…"

"I saw in Pavlova not a ballerina, but a geniusdance. She lifted me up from the ground, I could neither reason nor evaluate. There were no shortcomings, just as a deity cannot have them."

Tours and statistics

Anna Pavlova led an active touring life for 22 years. During this period, she took part in nine thousand performances, two thirds of which took place with the performance of the main roles. Moving from city to city, the ballerina covered at least 500 thousand kilometers by train. An Italian ballet shoe maker sewed two thousand pairs of pointe shoes for Anna Pavlova a year.

In between tours, the ballerina rested with her husband in her house, among tame swans, in the shade of trees, near the still clean pond. On one of these visits, Dandre invited the famous photographer Lafayette, who took a series of pictures of Anna Pavlova with her beloved swan. Today, these photographs are perceived as a memory of the great ballerina of the 20th century.

In Australia, in honor of the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, they came up with the Pavlova dessert made from exotic fruits with meringue. By the way, the New Zealanders claim that they created the fruity treat.

Once Anna Pavlova danced on the theater stage the popular Mexican folk dance "jarabe tapatio", which means "dance with a hat", in her own interpretation. Enthusiastic Mexicans threw their hats on the ballerina and the whole stage. And in 1924 this dance was declared the national dance of the Mexican Republic.

In China, Anna Pavlova surprised the audience,dancing non-stop 37 fouettes on a small platform mounted on the back of an elephant walking across the field.

Dutch flower growers have grown a special variety of snow-white tulips, which was named after the great ballerina Anna Pavlova. Graceful flowers on thin stems, as if symbolize grace.

In London, several different monuments dedicated to the ballerina were erected. Each of them refers to a certain period of her life. Three monuments are installed near the Ivy House, where Pavlova lived most of her life.

Anna was distinguished by a rare philanthropy, she did charity work, opened several orphanages and shelters for homeless children. Girls and boys from the guests of these establishments who had the ability to dance were selected and sent to the school of children's choreography, opened in the Ivy House.

A separate charity action of Anna Pavlova was her help to the starving people of the Volga region. In addition, on her behalf, parcels were regularly sent to the St. Petersburg Ballet School.

Death of a great dancer

Anna Pavlova died of pneumonia on January 23, 1931 in The Hague, during a tour. The ballerina caught a cold at a rehearsal in a cold hall. Her ashes are in the Golders Green columbarium in London. The urn is located next to the remains of her husband Victor Dandre.

A film created in memory of Anna Pavlova

The life and fate of the world-famous ballerina was reflected in a five-episode TV movie staged according to the scriptEmil Loteanu.

The film story tells about the short but eventful life of a great ballerina and a wonderful person named Anna Pavlova. 1983, the time the series was released on the screen, was the year of the 102nd anniversary of the birth of the dancer. There are many characters involved in the film, and the role of Pavlova was played by actress Galina Belyaeva.