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Anna Pavlova
For this book, Kerensky drew on first-hand impressions from those who knew Pavlova--including former members of her company--as well as extensive research to produce the first complete, objective biography of this great and influential Russian dancer.
160 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1973
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November 22, 2022
‘Anna Pavlova’ is not a biography, but a critical examination of genius. Kerensky’s absorbing and astonishingly penetrating study dissects the Pavlova legend, from her early life and training to the gruelling lifestyle and internal drive that eventually contributed to her premature death on the eve of her fiftieth birthday. Kerensky’s portrait is balanced, frank, nuanced and an exemplary model of style and grace. Throughly recommended.
March 29, 2016
p.7 – Here is Pavlova’s own description: “To enter the School of the Imperial Ballet is to enter a convent where frivolity is banned, and where merciless discipline reigns. Every morning at eight, the solemn tolling of a bell would put an end to our sleep. We dressed under the stern eye of a governess, whose duty it was to see that all hands were kept perfectly clean, all nails in good trim, and all teeth carefully washed. When we were ready, we went to prayers which were sung by one of the older pupils in front of an icon under which a tiny flickering lamp was burning like a little red star. At nine, breakfast – tea, bread and butter – was served, and immediately afterwards the dancing lessons began.”
p.39 – When Pavlova rejected Diaghilev’s offer to appear in his second Paris season and chose to form a small group of her own to back her in a music-hall programme at the Palace Theatre, London, she was very apprehensive about the project and she certainly had no idea that the group would become the nucleus of the company with which she would tour until her death. Unconsciously, she was embarking on the life and the type of repertoire which was to make her the most famous dancer in the world and which probably exerted an even greater influence on the future of ballet than the Diaghilev company did. She had been inspired by the travels of the nineteenth-century romantic ballerina Taglioni with the idea of taking her art to as many places as possible, and she needed to be free from outside control, whether that of the Imperial Russian Ballet or of Diaghilev. She also needed to display her personality and her talent in a repertoire designed for that purpose, rather than in works by master choreographers like Petipa and Fokine which were not specifically indented for her.
p.47 – It was estimated by Theodore Stier, one of Pavlova’s musical directors, that between 1910 and 1925 her company travelled three hundred thousand miles, giving nearly four thousand performances. Sol Hurok reckoned that it was three hundred and fifty thousand miles by the time she died, which meant Pavlova had travelled the equivalent of going round the world fourteen times at the equator.
p.85 – The only complete ballet choreographed my Pavlova, as distinct from the various little divertissements, was Autumn Leaves, created in Buenos Aires in 1918. She had had it in mind for a long time and she chose the music of Chopin with great care.
p.86 – What is perhaps more surprising is that Autumn Leaves has not survived in the repertoire of any company in the world. Perhaps it really needed Pavlova’s presence to make it worthwhile. I can trace records of only one revival, by the Borovansky Ballet in Australia during the second world war.
p.100 – In an article called “An Answer to Critics of the Ballet,” published in the American magazine The Dance in 1926, Pavlova wrote, “It was the dancing of the natural school which brought freedom to the old-time ballet, for we added to our ancient technique the abandon and classic beauty of Isadora Duncan’s subline art, augmenting the power and sensitiveness of our instrument.”
p.101 – Pavlova’s article: “The purpose of dancing is not to show men as they look when they go about their work, a little grubby, a little sordid, a little pathetic. Contrarily, the function of dancing is to give man a sight of an unreal world, beautiful, dazzling as his dreams. For dancing is pure romance and it is by the grace of romance that man sees himself, not as he is, but as he should like to be… beautiful, free, healthy, happy, carefree…
p.125 – In her own brief memoir, Pavlova wrote, “In my opinion, a true artist must devote herself wholly to her art. She has no right to lead the life that most women long for… What exactly is success? For me it is to be found not in applause, but in the satisfaction of feeling that one is realizing one’s ideal.
p.141 – “To be a great artist, you must have loved, you must know all about love… you must suffer with love. But – listen to me, galoupchik (silly boy) – you must learn to do without it! You must dance your love, you must spiritualize it, you must turn it into grace and beauty of movement and line – you must turn it into a living flame upon the stage, so that you will kindle your audiences and lift them with you into the sacred fire. In the end, that is the only way for any artist to love, who would be great. And that is the only love that endures, the only love that never changes!”
p.153 – Pavlova sowed the seeds of ballet in every continent and created a world-wide audience. If Pavlova had not toured the world, giving people a new vision of beauty, ballet might never have acquired its universal appeal. It might have remained an esoteric thing, thought fit only for sophisticated aesthetes. The fact that ballet is now booming not just in capital cities, but in provincial and regional centres all over the world, is at least indirectly a tribute to Pavlova, and the best memorials she could have.
p.39 – When Pavlova rejected Diaghilev’s offer to appear in his second Paris season and chose to form a small group of her own to back her in a music-hall programme at the Palace Theatre, London, she was very apprehensive about the project and she certainly had no idea that the group would become the nucleus of the company with which she would tour until her death. Unconsciously, she was embarking on the life and the type of repertoire which was to make her the most famous dancer in the world and which probably exerted an even greater influence on the future of ballet than the Diaghilev company did. She had been inspired by the travels of the nineteenth-century romantic ballerina Taglioni with the idea of taking her art to as many places as possible, and she needed to be free from outside control, whether that of the Imperial Russian Ballet or of Diaghilev. She also needed to display her personality and her talent in a repertoire designed for that purpose, rather than in works by master choreographers like Petipa and Fokine which were not specifically indented for her.
p.47 – It was estimated by Theodore Stier, one of Pavlova’s musical directors, that between 1910 and 1925 her company travelled three hundred thousand miles, giving nearly four thousand performances. Sol Hurok reckoned that it was three hundred and fifty thousand miles by the time she died, which meant Pavlova had travelled the equivalent of going round the world fourteen times at the equator.
p.85 – The only complete ballet choreographed my Pavlova, as distinct from the various little divertissements, was Autumn Leaves, created in Buenos Aires in 1918. She had had it in mind for a long time and she chose the music of Chopin with great care.
p.86 – What is perhaps more surprising is that Autumn Leaves has not survived in the repertoire of any company in the world. Perhaps it really needed Pavlova’s presence to make it worthwhile. I can trace records of only one revival, by the Borovansky Ballet in Australia during the second world war.
p.100 – In an article called “An Answer to Critics of the Ballet,” published in the American magazine The Dance in 1926, Pavlova wrote, “It was the dancing of the natural school which brought freedom to the old-time ballet, for we added to our ancient technique the abandon and classic beauty of Isadora Duncan’s subline art, augmenting the power and sensitiveness of our instrument.”
p.101 – Pavlova’s article: “The purpose of dancing is not to show men as they look when they go about their work, a little grubby, a little sordid, a little pathetic. Contrarily, the function of dancing is to give man a sight of an unreal world, beautiful, dazzling as his dreams. For dancing is pure romance and it is by the grace of romance that man sees himself, not as he is, but as he should like to be… beautiful, free, healthy, happy, carefree…
p.125 – In her own brief memoir, Pavlova wrote, “In my opinion, a true artist must devote herself wholly to her art. She has no right to lead the life that most women long for… What exactly is success? For me it is to be found not in applause, but in the satisfaction of feeling that one is realizing one’s ideal.
p.141 – “To be a great artist, you must have loved, you must know all about love… you must suffer with love. But – listen to me, galoupchik (silly boy) – you must learn to do without it! You must dance your love, you must spiritualize it, you must turn it into grace and beauty of movement and line – you must turn it into a living flame upon the stage, so that you will kindle your audiences and lift them with you into the sacred fire. In the end, that is the only way for any artist to love, who would be great. And that is the only love that endures, the only love that never changes!”
p.153 – Pavlova sowed the seeds of ballet in every continent and created a world-wide audience. If Pavlova had not toured the world, giving people a new vision of beauty, ballet might never have acquired its universal appeal. It might have remained an esoteric thing, thought fit only for sophisticated aesthetes. The fact that ballet is now booming not just in capital cities, but in provincial and regional centres all over the world, is at least indirectly a tribute to Pavlova, and the best memorials she could have.
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