Anna Pavlova's Birds

 

Photo Credit: Anna Pavlova at the Ivy House feeding her Swans. Her other birds flamingos are seen in the pond as well from Anna Pavlova Her Life And Her Art by Keith Money

Anna Pavlova's connection to the birds seems to start as far back as her childhood, where there is photo of a young Pavlova holding a birdcage with a bird. Pavlova was a student of the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg when the photo was taken. 

Photo Credit: Young Pavlova and her classmates at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg here she is on the left holding a bird cage with what looks like doves inside the cage from Anna Pavlova Her Life And Her Art by Keith Money

When she performed the role of the dying swan, Anna Pavlova seemed so connected to swans. She of course loved other birds but Swans had a special place in her heart and it seemed that swans shared that connection to her.  

Photo Credit: Anna Pavlova returning after a long tour back to the Ivy House she is seen here wearing her famous Dying Swan costume greeting her swans from Anna Pavlova Her Life And Art by Keith Money

It's documented that her beloved pet swan Jack was only loving toward Anna Pavlova and he didn't like the other guests at the Ivy House. Jack is pictured in many photos letting Anna Pavlova hold and hug him. This, I heard is rare, so Anna Pavlova had something special that Swans loved. Anna Pavlova chose the Ivy House based on the pond it had. Pavlova was a visionary so she imagined Swans swimming freely in the water. Anna Pavlova didn't let her idea of swans swimming in the pond stay in her imagination. No, she acted on it and made it a reality. Her pond was filled with her beloved swans.

Photo Credit: Anna Pavlova holding her beloved pet swan Jack from Anna Pavlova Her Life And Art by Keith Money

Anna Pavlova had an aviary that was in the conservatory at the Ivy House. It was made entirely of glass. It had elaborate ventilation and  central heating that would regulate the temperature so the birds could live. There were wire panels which stopped the birds from flying into the glass.

Photo Credit Anna Pavlova with a native bird from Bombay from Anna Pavlova Her Life And Her Art by Keith Money.

"But isn't it possible. in heaven's name, to build something which, with the aid of central heating, will regulate the temperature, so that these lovely birds can live? In my garden among the trees and bushes and the flowers. I live my own life and I do not want to feel death so close at hand. We must do something. Spend as much as you like, but do something."- Quote from Anna Pavlova from a letter she wrote to the Ivy House gardener Paul Smikites which she wanted extreme care and humane treatment given to all the birds just as she shared for the birds.