Ballet Archives

Photo Caption: Anna Pavlova in Bakst Swan Lake Costume. With her left hand, Pavlova supported herself by a post (later touched out) during the long exposure time, 1909 from Anna Pavlova Her Life And Art By Keith Money Anna Pavlova's success in Russia was monumental, but the young Pavlova of thirty was dreaming larger. Her enthusiasm and excitement were growing substantially, so she decided that now was the time to spread her wings and take flight on a new adventure, and she did, which she describes well her reasons in her own words. "I have always secretly dreamed of spending the second half of my career abroad, and it has turned out that way... I have signed a contract in America and must leave St. Petersburg on the 3 September, so perhaps I shall have time to appear once before the public to say goodbye. Of course, these two years will pass very quickly, like everything in life. Naturally I will be criticized for leaving the Maryinsky stage, but that is wrong. I personally a...

Photo Caption: Anna Pavlova with her dog in her St, Petersburg drawing room, c. 1908-09 from Anna Pavlova Her Life And Art by Keith Money The continuation of The interview Anna Pavlova did with the New York times dived into many different topics.  Pavlova never paused once to think how she was going to answer; instead, she was well prepared and quickly responded, sometimes quicker than the reporter could write down.  One of the topics brought up by the reporter was her daily schedule which the reporter found fascinating. It also showed how productive she was with her dancing because of how she ran her daily schedule. "In Russia my day is crowded with work. I rise early, at nine or ten o'clock in the morning. I go out for a little walk and then go to the theatre to rehearse. Sometimes I am so busy rehearsing that I take breakfast along with me. I eat it quickly in the theatre and I rehearse until 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Then I go home. I glance over the newspapers and r...

  Photo Credit Anna Pavlova in Coppelia costume, London, c. 1910 from Anna Pavlova Her Life And Art by Keith Money Anna Pavlova did an interview with the New York Times on March 6, 1910 in this interview Pavlova told the Times reporter the day she was born in rained and described the atmosphere of her birth place and how that influenced her love of melancholy in art, drama and nature.  "I love the note of sadness in everything: in art, in the drama, in nature, Ah-in nature above all! I love the dreamy Russian forests, and the dream inspiring English parks."- Anna Pavlova being interview New York Times 1910 The reporter  interrupts Pavlova when she starts talking about she's feeling better  then when she first arrived in New York. The  reporter asks if Pavlova's success in New York is why her health improved? She disagrees with the reporter telling him that the success never has an effect on her because of all the places she toured which were all successful. Howe...

      Photo Credit: Anna Pavlova as the Dying Swan Photo shoot in Berlin by Photographer Hanse Herrmann, 1908 I think it would surprise most that Anna Pavlova had an interesting, almost love-hate relationship with the tutu. She recognized their beauty and tradition, but she also found them constraining for modern dances.In an interview in Berlin in the year 1914 Anna Pavlova said this about the tutu.  "The tutu?" I like it and I don't. Certainly, the short skirt is the ideal one for a dancer. In the tutu one can best show off the technique and art of the dance. The legs are free; every movement can clearly be seen. Every muscle's movement must be correct. All the movements are exact, precise-- is is impossible to give way to any sudden caprice. The pattern once established must remain as it is." - Quote from Anna Pavlova 1914 In this interview, Anna Pavlova explains the birth of the tutu, which was born out of necessity. The ballet dancer Camargo from the Classic...

  Photo Credit: Anna Pavlova Portrait in 1921 from Anna Pavlova Her Life And Art By Keith Money Anna Pavlova was always known to take care of her dancers, whether paying them their salaries out of her own pockets or coming back to pick them up when war caused issues because of their nationality. Anna Pavlova never abandoned them, and she spoke about this very thing in an interview with the Observer. "I am grateful for the reception which is everywhere accorded me it is not yet easy to travel and to look after my large family.  Certainly in some respects it was worse during the war. We were  kept almost as prisoners in South America for years. It was, if you like, a triumphal tour, but, nevertheless, it lasted too long. There was no means of getting away unless we were prepared to shed members of the company in every country. The passport regulations were particularly onerous for us. There are dancers with me of many nationalities, so that it became almost impossible to mo...