Ballerina's Feet

 Just imagine Anna Pavlova thought she didn't have ballerina's feet.

Anna Pavlova had what is known in ballet terminology as grecian feet, particularly, long toes where the second toe is longer than the big toe along with high arches. For this reason, she was extremely particular in the way her pointe shoes were made. Every detail of her ballet shoe was tailor-made so that she could dance comfortably for a long time and avoid injuries to her feet.

Anna Pavlova was like any modern woman at the time and believed having good shoes was a necessity and not a luxury. Reporters seemed to write as if they assumed having well fitting shoes was a luxury, which is revealed in the journalist's critical, if not rude words. 

"She says herself her feet are not right for a ballet dancer. Her toes are too long, the instep too high. These are great handicaps, overcome only by long practice... All her shoes are made by a Milan specialist to fit her plaster casts, tracings, and diagrams. Her shoe bill is enormous. A man could live well on what her shoes cost every year."- Reporter

     Anna Pavlova's pointe shoes were made by Romeo Nicolini, a shoemaker from Milan. There was a language barrier between the two; it often caused her problems and frustrations because Nicolini did not understand what she wanted. She would try to communicate what she wanted by demonstrating  wearing his shoes and pointing out the flaws and explaining what she wanted to have repaired. Anna had a contract with Nicolini carefully drawn up and he was paid more than the usual price just so he would be careful in fulfilling Pavlova's requests. Nevertheless, the shoes fell short of Pavlova's expectations and she returned to the shop at least ten times to have her shoes repaired.

Once, when Anna Pavlova was back in Milan, she met the dancer Rosina Gali. Gali also had her shoes made by Nicolini. Anna decided to go see Nicolini with Gali since Rosina spoke Italian. This gave Anna the opportunity to explain to Nicolini and have him finally understand exactly what she wanted. After leaving the store, she felt that maybe her demands would finally be fulfilled. However, that idea fell through quickly after her shoes were delivered. She discovered that her shoes were made to Gali’s requests and Gali’s shoes were made to Pavlova’s requests!

     Anna Pavlova had another frustration with Nicolini, namely that he was not punctual. She gave him the dates when the shoes had to be delivered and the first order arrived on time. However, the second-order was delivered a month to two months late and the third-order never made it all.  Nicolini was never concerned however, because he knew, despite all the frustrations he caused, his dancers would never leave him after dancing in his shoes.  

     Anna Pavlova tried other shoemakers; one of them an American from Los Angeles. Despite following Pavlova's instructions, she still found them uncomfortable, deciding it was because they were not made by hand and instead by a machine, which according to her, gave them no soul. Pavlova returned to Nicolini shortly after, as he predicted. 

Anna Pavlova was granted a little luck when her teacher Cecchetti moved to Milan and was able to translate her messages into Italian for Nicolini and help Anna Pavlova. Cecchetti was upset that Nicolini was causing Pavlova unnecessary stress and said this to Nicolini when he visited him at his shop. 

"Don't you understand what an honor it is for you that the great Pavlova has her shoes made by you?" Cecchetti asked. The old man Nicolini thought a while and then answered:"Yes, it is a great honor that she is my client." And reflecting further, he added: "Yes, but if I had two Pavlovas, I'd be done for." - Conversation between Cecchetti and Nicolini

1908 or 1909 Anna Pavlova as Lise in La Fille Mal Gardee which was one of her favorite roles to play.