Ballet General
Anna Pavlova was able to complete 37 turns while on top of a moving elephant while on a tour in China.
Pavlova is most known for creating the role of The Dying Swan, a solo choreographed for her by Michel Fokine. She was able to skip the corps de ballet and become a coryphée right after she graduated from school. Usually dancers must dance in larger groups (corps de ballet) first before they can dance in smaller groups (coryphée). Anna gave over four thousand ballet performances during the years between 1913-1930. |
During her life she had many pets including a Siamese cat, various dogs, Cadilan birds and swans.
Anna told people her mother had been married once to a man named Pavel, who died when Anna was a toddler. This was because she wanted to believe she was a product of an earlier marriage. A biographical film was made about Anna in 1983, called Anna Pavlova. The meringue dessert "pavlova," popular in Australia and New Zealand, is named after her. Valentin Serov painted her famous 1909 life-size portrait. Pavlova is depicted in her favorite role as a white swan on a blue background |
Valentin Serov's painting, 1909
Example of ballet shoes Anna wore