Famous Female Russian Ballet Dancers

Art in Motion: A Perfect Synchrony

The art of ballet dancing never had a perfect human definition in Anna Pavlovna Pavlova. She was of Jewish-Russian descent, an illegitimate daughter of a poor laundress named Lyubov Federovna Pavlova. Born on February 12, 1881. Her father by birth was actually a wealthy businessman named Lazar Polyakov but under difficult and impossible circumstances the union between Anna’s biological parents could not possibly result in marriage. Matthwey or Matther Pavlov, her mother’s husband, a retired soldier gave legal rights to Anna to carry his name. When Anna was two years old, Matthwey died. Anna’s birth could not have possibly come at a better time than on the early part of the 20^th century when art and culture could possibly merged. She was born in Ligovo near St. Petersburg, Russia. Anna grew up with her biological grandmother in an upscale suburb in Ligovo and was taken good care of by Lazar Polyakov. The cultured upbringing exposed Anna much to art and culture. She would attend ballet performances at theImperial Mariinski Theatre and ever since saw herself performing on stage, a dream that would not take so long to be realized.

Initially at the age of 8, she was rejected entry at the ImperialBalletSchool, this did not deter her hopes to become a ballerina instead she honed herself at home for two more years. On her 9^th birthday, her mother gave as a gift a treat to her only child to a ballet performance of the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and this ballet classic paved the way for a great performer to be born. Anna then firmly decided to carve a name in this craft. At age 10 she was examined and admitted at the ImperialBalletSchool and observed a very rigid routine, relentlessly training 8 hours a day, studied music and imposed a strict diet of fish and vegetables. Her frail structure deceived those who did not know her well and she could very well pass for a small, malnourished damsel. However, on the contrary, her passion within was the force which made her exceptionally strong and possessed a perfect balance. After 8 intense years of training and study, Anna graduated. She made her debut performance on September 19, 1899 and worked with Mariinsky Ballet for 8 years. She danced to the role of Gizelle. Mikhail Fokin, her choreographer and partner choreographed her to perfection in the best known ballet piece ‘The Dying Swan’ to which Anna is best known of all over the world. Anna convoked her own company and went around the globe to perform her classic style of ballet. She toured several countries painstakingly in almost all modes of transportation possible and to date is credited to have made ballet a popular art. Her over 4,0000 performances enthralled the world to no end and up to this date the memory of Anna lingered on. As Anna would have described her ardent passion for her craft she often felt that she was ‘haunted by the need to dance’ and dance she did all throughout the best years of her life. Intrigues did not spare her as she was accused of cheating when she modified the pointe shoe due to the extreme curved arches of her feet which made it especially difficult for her to dance on her toes. She surmised that putting a piece of  firm leather  would give her a better support to keep hold of her own weight as she dance on the tip of her toes. At this present moment her extremely bright idea gave way to the modern pointe shoe for ballerinas. In 1931, she got sick of pneumonia and seriously fell ill until she died a week before her 50^th birthday in Haage, Netherlands as  she weakly gazed at her swan costume from her deathbed.

Now one would not have known at all that the beginning of the 20^th century would produce the biggest name in classic Russian ballet. Tamara Platonovna Karsavina and Matilda Kshesinskaya both classmates of Anna Pavlova who came to rise to the occasion as well.

Karsavina 91885-1978) whose sublime beauty became the symbol of her time rivaled her to no end with Anna Pavlova at the Mariinsky School of Ballet. Tamara as fate would have it was born of a father who was a ballet dancer himself, Platon Karsavin. Notwithstanding, Tamara was cut out to follow the footsteps of her father and prevailed at the Mariinsky Theatre when Anna Pavlova formed her own troupe. The art that is Tamara gave life to vivid and immortal classics such as Giselle. SwanLake, Don Quixote to name a few. She portrayed the lead roles of many legends and myth to a style that transforms with a depth that gave justice to the heroine in focus. Her prolific life though quiet and unassuming contributed much to the craft. She wrote some books regarding the art of dance and published memoirs. She also helped found the RoyalAcademy of dancing in 1920 and designs for Tamara had been created by great and notable artists like Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Alexander Golovin and Natalia Goncharova. The rivalry between Anna Pavlova and Tamara Karsavina had remained strictly professional and the ardent and intense passion for their craft has catapulted ballet as a household name when every little can dream of becoming.

These are just two of the most noted artists of their time and with a common Russian descent. It is undeniable that ballet take so much root from Russia and the contribution of those mentioned above would ultimately take a big piece of the laurels and accolade. The names of Pavlova and Karsavina would leave an immortal imprint in the history of classic ballet for generation upon generation. Reading further at how much sacrifice and challenges these young ladies tried to overcome in their lives to reach the pinnacle of success  based on this one would affirm the reality that nothing becomes perfect without sheer hard work and relentless dedication to make art in motion a perfect synchrony.