Anna Pavlova 125th Anniversary of her birth

[leonid17]

I am surprised to find that in 2006, so little has been made of the 75th anniversary of the death(23rd January) and the 125th anniversary of the birth(31st January) of Anna Matveyevna Pavlova a legend among classical ballet dancers. Almost single-handedly, she created the popular audience for ballet - the length and breadth of the United States - Central and Southern America - the UK -

Australia - New Zealand and invigorating ballet's popularity in Europe in the second and third decades of the 20th century. Other dancers and companies(Diaghilev notably) contributed but none aquired the popular audience status or media coverage that Pavlove achieved. Are ballet lovers today more interested in what they have personally witnessed? Are those interested in ballet history less interested in ballet dancers than productions? Is Pavlova becoming a foot note in ballet history? Is Pavlova understood by present day ballet lovers? Although a day late Happy Birthday Anna Pavlova.

[bart]

I would love to see a compendium of people in ballet -- Ashton, the most prominent that comes to mind -- who were directly inspired to pursue a ballet career by seeing Pavlova perform. The reach and longevity of her touring were breathtaking. And so was the influence.

[Helene]

Based on the celebrations of the 100th anniversaries of the births of Balanchine and Ashton in 2004, I wonder if a dancer/choreographer requires an institution or disciples affiliated with institutions to launch and sustain a major commemoration.

If there is one dancer in history with whom the word ballet is associated worldwide, it has to be Pavlova. Even the all-sports-all-the-time New Zealanders I met on both islands could tell me that the ubiquitous dessert was named for the great ballerina Pavlova.

[Gina Ness]

Thank you, leonid...I cannot believe that Pavlova will ever be a footnote in ballet history...She is still idolized by ballet teachers around the world who are teaching the next generation of dancers. Thank you for reminding everyone that her birthday is in January! A belated Happy Birthday to the remarkable, the one and only Anna Pavlova...

[Mel Johnson]

As long as there are dancers darning their pointe shoes, retouching photographs to make their feet look better, or dancing an Ashton work with the "Fred step", the shade of Pavlova will be there.

[dirac]

I think the name of Pavlova will always represent ballet. She’s become an archetype, in the way the name of Babe Ruth symbolizes baseball to people who know nothing else about it.

[Pamela Moberg]

In my youth - not exactly yesterday - I used to do class with Madame Cleo Nordi.

When there was the Pavlova anniversary, all pupils were told to go along - no, we didnt have to if we didnt want - to the Russian Church in Ennismore Gardens for the memorial service. It was a long time ago, maybe I have got the address wrong, but in my memory I can see the church. Class was held as usual, but you could sense that it was a kind of very special day.

[leonid17]

In my youth - not exactly yesterday - I used to do class with Madame Cleo Nordi.

When there was the Pavlova anniversary, all pupils were told to go along - no, we didnt have to if we didnt want - to the Russian Church in Ennismore Gardens for the memorial service. It was a long time ago, maybe I have got the address wrong, but in my memory I can see the church. Class was held as usual, but you could sense that it was a kind of very special day.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was touched to see your post and your memory of Madame Nordi. I knew this exceptional woman who spoke of Pavlova in such a reverent manner, as did all the dancers of Pavlova's company that I had contact with. Her dancers from Winifred Edwards who taught at the Royal Ballet School to Muriel Stuart a leading New York teacher remarked on how she would exhibit an outstanding technique in class that on later tours was not seen on stage. We know that she had outstanding success as Nikiya, Giselle, Medora etc on the Maryinsky stage and will be remembered for more than " darned point shoes and touched up photographs"

which one poster opined. In film shot with a fixed camera and the limitation of having to spontaneously adapt dances from the stage to an area of some 15ft wide, her glory still shines for every one to see. The British Film Institute have produced a copyrighted version of 'The Immortal Swan' on DVD(available to educational institutions) of a clarity I have not seen before.

[Mel Johnson]

I'm glad that you mentioned Muriel Stuart, leonid, as she was one of my teachers. I also had the pleasure of taking class from Hilda Butsova (née Boot). She and Miss Stuart had no use for one another, to hear them tell it, each didn't know what the other was talking about, and "she knew nothing about proper ballet". From where I stood at the barre, however, they both taught exactly the same things the same way.

[Pamela Moberg]

Thanks, Mel, for that lovely piece of rememberance, it made me giggle.

And Leonid, thank you so much. Are you Russian by any chance?

Madame Nordi was half Finnish, half Russian, she used to carry on multilingual lessons - you really had to keep on your toes, both balletically and linguistically. For me it was not such a problem, but I do pity the poor pupils from say Australia or somewhere in Africa. In the course of one lesson, she used to speak in English,

French, Russian, Finnish, Swedish (rather badly). It was great fun - those were the days!!!

She was born in Kronstadt which is now in Russia, not very far from St. Petersburg. But when Cleo Nordi was born I think that belonged to Finland, which in turn was a part of Russia. On my last visit there I asked if it would be possible to go to Kronstadt, I just felt like seeing where she came from.

No go, Kronstadt is supposed to be a kind of military secret zone and really no go area.

Finally, Leonid, did you ever meet her? Did any other BalletAlerters meet her?

Or do I have the sole privilege in this respect? :rolleyes:

[leonid17]

Thanks, Mel, for that lovely piece of rememberance, it made me giggle.

And Leonid, thank you so much. Are you Russian by any chance?

Madame Nordi was half Finnish, half Russian, she used to carry on multilingual lessons - you really had to keep on your toes, both balletically and linguistically. For me it was not such a problem, but I do pity the poor pupils from say Australia or somewhere in Africa. In the course of one lesson, she used to speak in English,

French, Russian, Finnish, Swedish (rather badly). It was great fun - those were the days!!!

She was born in Kronstadt which is now in Russia, not very far from St. Petersburg. But when Cleo Nordi was born I think that belonged to Finland, which in turn was a part of Russia. On my last visit there I asked if it would be possible to go to Kronstadt, I just felt like seeing where she came from.

No go, Kronstadt is supposed to be a kind of military secret zone and really no go area.

Finally, Leonid, did you ever meet her? Did any other BalletAlerters meet her?

Or do I have the sole privilege in this respect?  :rolleyes:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was so pleased to read your posting on Cleo Nordi who I met on a number of occasions and we talked about ballet and things of the spirit. On the occasion of the funeral service of Manya Kharchevnikova, Pavlova's costumier at the Russian Orthodox church in Ennismore Gardens (which you visited) and I then shared a taxi with her on the half-hour journey to the cemetery when we talked all the time about Manya, Pavlova and spiritual matters. I also met her at a series of seminars on Vaganova technique, organised and presented by Ann Marie and David Holmes, using a long series of films made at the Vaganova Academy in which she discussed and demonstrated different methods of execution of steps, as she had been taught. The story that Mel Johnson tells about the contradictions vocalised by Hilda Butsova and Muriel Stuart reminds me of similar occasions with other former members of Pavlova's company. Almost every dancer I met wanted to convey their authoritative version of teaching and events and quite happily cut across another’s former member’s speech as if they were not there. It was as if they were saying that the experience of working with Pavlova was so great that no one else could have experienced it as they did. They were all however united in praise of this remarkable artist.

No Pamela, I am not Russian but I do spend a lot of my time researching the cultural activities and social life of Imperial Russia and especially the ballet of St. Petersburg from the 18th century to date.

[Mel Johnson]

Pavlova's influence on ballet is hard to overestimate and must not be underestimated. She developed an audience, especially in the New World by touring extensively, playing places that had never seen ballet before, and would not again until the coming of television. Whether with her own company, or as the "class act" on a vaudeville bill, she took ballet to the people. Although her taste ran rather to the conservative side, she was treated by the press as an exotic, and was "good copy" for hundreds of local newspapers, who described her onstage and offstage activities with great interest. There are places in America, and I am sure in other countries, which have their own ballet companies in large part because Pavlova laid the foundation for them. Charlie Chaplin made a comedy short "Sunnyside" which parodied the bucolic revery sorts of ballets that she and others toured with, and she found it very funny. So did the audiences she had played to. She made films of La Muette de Portici and Don Quixote, only bits and pieces of which survive, mostly as stills, because of the inherent vice of nitrocellulose film. She also made 1-reelers of short works, like "The Dying Swan". She became an expert at publicity, making sure that the press was aware of her backstage work, and it is my earnest belief that those dancers who darn their shoes, even though marley floors have made it superfluous, are doing it because Pavlova made sure that the press knew that she did that. She became adept at selecting and personally retouching on the negative, photographs which showed her to best advantage. Her dress influenced fashion, in the form of the ensemble she wore in the "Pavlova Gavotte". New Zealand immortalized her in the delectable dessert, the Pavlova. Her company members, as teachers, carried the sort of Classico-Romantic technique that she preferred into new generations. So her influence was profound, especially in the development of audience, but her unique and idiosyncratic style has never been rediscovered by any other dancer. She was entirely sui generis.

[Mme. Hermine]

The Dumb Girl of Portici does survive as a whole though, I think, Mel; I saw it in London in 1981 at an exhibit for the 50th anniversary of her death at the Barbican.

[leonid17]

The Dumb Girl of Portici does survive as a whole though, I think, Mel; I saw it in London in 1981 at an exhibit for the 50th anniversary of her death at the Barbican.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It was shown in its entirety at the Museum of London as part of the 50th anniversary of Pavlova's death. Former members of Pavlova's company attended this showing, together with a large number of ballet-goers interested in the history of ballet. The Museum of London has a good sized collection of photographs of Pavlova together with objects she owned. At various times they have exhibited Pavlova's 'Swan' and 'Russian Dance' costumes which are part of their collection.

[rg]

pardon any duplication if this has been noted but the following excerpt of PROTICI is apparently viewable on line from NYPL.

here's the listing on the cat. entry i found. there the 'click here to view digitized excerpts' is highlighted & one can click on it.

The dumb girl of Portici: excerpts 1915. 8 1/2 min. : si. b&w. ***Click here to View digitized excerpts***

Treasures of the American Performing Arts, 1875-1923

Excerpts from the motion picture produced by Universal Films, starring Anna Pavlova.

For complete version see: *MGZHB 16-877 The dumb girl of Portici.

Four excerpts featuring Anna Pavlova. In the first she is seen as a classical nymph; thereafter she appears as the mute Neapolitan peasant girl, Fenella.

Excerpts also available in electronic form, digitized by The New York Public Library.

[Mel Johnson]

Good, the film must have been kept in a cool place. Celluloid film has this nasty tendency to turn into nitroglycerine. We've lost a lot of valuable historical record to the ravages of time. An additional side note of cinema interest: Boris Karloff has a bit part in the film.

[leonid17]

pardon any duplication if this has been noted but the following excerpt of PROTICI is apparently viewable on  line from NYPL.

here's the listing on the cat. entry i found. there the 'click here to view digitized excerpts' is highlighted & one can click on it.

The dumb girl of Portici: excerpts 1915. 8 1/2 min. : si. b&w. ***Click here to View digitized excerpts***

Treasures of the American Performing Arts, 1875-1923

Excerpts from the motion picture produced by Universal Films, starring Anna Pavlova.

For complete version see: *MGZHB 16-877 The dumb girl of Portici.

Four excerpts featuring Anna Pavlova. In the first she is seen as a classical nymph; thereafter she appears as the mute Neapolitan peasant girl, Fenella.

Excerpts also available in electronic form, digitized by The New York Public Library.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the information. I will view this as a welcome substitute for the 110 mins(I think) of the full length.

[Mel Johnson]

But back to the matter of why it is difficult to mount a celebration of Pavlova's service to ballet. She did not leave a very wide choreographic track, as her metier was primarily performance and audience development. And I can watch only so many "Dying Swan"s. A reconstruction of "Autumn Leaves" might be fun, but would it be worth the effort and expense of attempting to recover lost choreography? A 125th is hard to memorialize anyway - what is the word, "quasquicentennial"? And a Diamond Jubilee of someone's death just seems to be right out of Charles Addams. I remember once being faced with a crazy quilt that had found its way into our collection, and one of the silks used in the cover was a participant's badge for a picnic celebrating the 203rd anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne! "Man," I said, "now there's a group who were looking for ANY excuse to have a party!"