BWW Reviews: Anna Pavlova, Twentieth Century Ballerina

Anna Pavlova, Twentieth Century Ballerina

by Jane Pritchard, with Caroline Hamilton

Booth-Clibborn Editions 2013

Reviewed by Seyna Bruskin

Jane Pritchard, the curator of the dance collection at London's Victoria and Albert Museum, was responsible for much of the success of its 2009 Exhibition, Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. This exhibition, or parts of it, continues to travel around the world. Anyone with an interest in the history of ballet owes it to themselves to get even a small glimpse of what Ms. Pritchard and her colleagues assembled for that magnificent event.

I was fortunate enough to be able to haul myself to London for a week or so, to walk (and walk and walk) through the galleries, see the films, lectures and take the self-guided tours of London that Ms. Pritchard coordinated.

I was also able to visit Ivy House, the former residence of Anna Pavlova, probably the most famous ballerina of all time. Ivy House just celebrated 100 years since Mme. Pavlova bought the property. It is now a Jewish cultural center where ballet is taught in the very studios Mme. Pavlova once worked. I was able to get into the grounds and photograph the very pond where Mme. Pavlova sat with Jack, her pet swan. (Pavlova loved all animals and was often photographed with them.) It was like touching the hem of the Pope, or Elvis, depending on your cultural outlook.

In this anxiously-awaited new book, Ms. Pritchard and her co-author shower the reader with beautiful photographs of the deceptively delicate-looking Pavlova and her colleagues in the Imperial Ballet. They tell the story of Mme. Pavlova's artistic development within the various institutions she worked for as she grew in fame and artistry.

Born in 1881 to a single mother, legend is that Pavlova, at age eight, saw a performance of The Sleeping Beauty, and fell instantly in love with ballet. Two years later, she auditioned for and was accepted as a student in the Imperial Ballet School (also called the Maryinsky) in St. Petersburg. Her rise was swift: she was very quickly given important roles even before her graduation and was partnered by some of the greatest male dancers there. The great choreographer, Petipa, created dances for her.

The authors reinforce stories found in other books about the rivalries often equal in drama to the ballets performed. Pavlova's successes often brought the wrath of other performing artists, who accused her of usurping their territory and glory. (An ironic footnote is that during part of the Victoria and Albert exhibition, Ivy House was hosting a showing of photographs of Tamara Karsavina, one of Pavlova's most important rivals.) Recent news from the great Bolshoi (or "big") Ballet shows us that rivalries still fester in Russian ballet.

All her work in those tumultuous years before, during and after the Russian Revolution is put into detailed historical context of ballet at the turn of the 20th Century.

Artists of the Maryinsky often took guest assignments or toured to get extra income. In addition to performing for the Bolshoi and other Imperial theaters, Pavlova began touring independently in Europe before joining Serge Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes. In 1909 he was the first person to take Russian art, opera and ballet to Europe. His brilliant team of choreographers, composers, designers, musicians and dancers was incredibly successful, and changed the European aesthetic practically overnight. Starting in 1909 Pavlova toured -- irregularly -- with Diaghilev.

The book, sub-titled "Twentieth Century Ballerina," explains the independent path that Pavlova took during her life. Pavlova did not stay long with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, and Ms. Pritchard carefully documents the reasons for the split. Following World War I, Pavlova and Diaghilev were often in direct competition.

The drawing power of her name was so great that, in 1914, Mme. Pavlova formed an independent touring company. She literally toured the world, and wherever she went she inspired people to dance and to love ballet. In South America a young Frederic Ashton saw her company and determined that ballet would be his life's work, becoming one of the greatest English choreographers of the 20th Century.

Managing a touring ballet company is not an easy job. Pavlova had at least some responsibility for programming ballets, (sometimes in two cities in one day); hiring, firing and paying artists, managing travel arrangements, and dozens of other details that women of the time seldom handled. Her accomplishments are all the more impressive, considering that she danced in every performance! Pavlova took pains to understand the cultural norms of the places she visited so that she could best appeal to those audiences.

Her many performances in England are discussed and listed, as are the many other ways she influenced the early 20th Century. But the book is not a biography; there is no narration of her life history or even her personality. Although these details are ostensibly not in the purview of the book, I felt the lack.

The photographs are magnificent, showing her in ballets, films, advertisements, at home and in posed portraits. The authors are also quick to mention the dearth of personal information about Mme. Pavlova, including her relationship with Victor Dandré: did she or didn't she marry him? He was a major presence in the second part of her life and had much influence and control over her business affairs, but was he a burden or a benefactor?