Collection on Anna Pavlova, 1911-1981, bulk 1912-1931

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Summary

Creators:

UCI Libraries. Department of Special Collections and Archives

Abstract:

The collection comprises dance programs, photographs, postcards, clippings, and tributes assembled by the University of California, Irvine, Special Collections and Archives to document the career of Anna Pavlova, a ballerina who was renowned for her inspiring performances and for generating world-wide interest in ballet through her tours of the Americas and the Far East. The collection also contains papers from Pavlova's private student Beatrice Griffiths, documenting Griffiths' dance lessons and participation in Pavlova's dance company and including a typed letter of recommendation signed by Pavlova.

Extent:

0.8 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Language:

English .

Preferred citation:

Collection on Anna Pavlova. MS-P050. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.

For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection comprises dance programs, photographs, postcards, clippings, and tributes assembled by the University of California, Irvine Special Collections and Archives to document the career of Anna Pavlova, a ballerina who was renowned for her inspiring performances and for generating world-wide interest in ballet through her tours of the Americas and the Far East. The collection also contains papers from Pavlova's private student Beatrice Griffiths, documenting Griffiths' dance lessons and participation in Pavlova's dance company and including a typed letter of recommendation signed by Pavlova.

The term "event program" is used to describe materials printed for particular performances and include the names of participants or performing arts organizations. Event programs often contain specific times, dates, and ticket information. The term "souvenir program" is used to describe materials that were issued annually or seasonally. Souvenir programs usually contain descriptions of selected dances and images of featured performers but often lack specific information about performance titles, times, and dates.

Biographical / historical:

Between 1898 and 1930, Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova was one of the most celebrated dancers in the world and generated world-wide interest in classical ballet. Her dance style was renowned for its artistry and grace in an era dominated by strength and academic technique. She danced professionally for over twenty years and tirelessly brought ballet to people who had never before had the opportunity to experience it. Sometime after 1912 she formed her own company and traveled with her troupe to six continents, dancing in small provinces as well as big cities. She incorporated multi-cultural dances into her repertoire and brought dances from East Asia and Mexico to central Europe and North America. Pavlova choreographed solos for herself and created a short ballet called Autumn Leaves. Her signature dance was Le Cygne (The Swan), which combined very traditional footwork with less formal, expressive arm movements. Through Le Cygne, Pavlova touched audiences deeply by communicating the fragility of life. She portrayed a dying swan by dancing passionately en point through the entire dance and leaving her toes only in surrender to death at the very end.

Professionally, Pavlova was ever in the spotlight, but she managed to keep much of her personal life private. The claim that she was married to her manager Victor Dandré is unsubstantiated, though they were domestic partners for many years. She had no children of her own, but following the devastation of World War I, Pavlova established a home for Russian orphans at St. Cloud near Paris. At her home in London, Ivy House, Pavlova kept many pets, including a pair of white swans.

Throughout her life, Pavlova maintained an exhausting pace of traveling and tours and is reputed to never have missed a scheduled performance. On a cold December night in 1930, while en route to the Netherlands, the train on which Pavlova was traveling broke down, stranding her in the cold for hours. She caught a chill, which developed into pneumonia and then pleurisy. For the first time in her career, Anna Pavlova cancelled a show. She died January 23, 1931.

Chronology
Date	Event
1881 January 31	Born in St. Petersburg, Russia to mother Lyubov Fyodorovna Pavlova. (Date of birth given as February 12, 1881 in some sources.)
1892	Admitted to the Imperial Ballet School, St. Petersburg.
1898	Made official stage début at the Maryinsky.
1899 April	Graduated form the Imperial Ballet School, St. Petersburg.
1905	Began to study with Enrico Cecchetti.
1907 December	Le Cygne (The Swan).
1908	Toured Riga, Helsingfors, Stockholm, and Copenhagen.
1909 Spring	Toured Leipzig, Prague, and Vienna.
1909 Summer	Le Cygne
1910 April 18	Opened at the Palace Theatre in London.
1910	Made her American debut performing Coppelia with Michel Mordkin at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
1911	Engaged Laurent Novikoff as dance partner. Toured London with the Ballets Russe. Appeared in St. Petersburg.
1912	Ivy House
1913	Toured Germany. Appeared in St. Petersburg.
1914	Ivy House.
1915	The Sleeping Beauty.
1916	The Dumb Girl of Portici.
1917	Toured Havana, Cuba.
1918	Toured Mexico and South America.
1920-21	Solicited funds and established an orphanage in Paris, France for Russian refugee children.
1922-23	Toured the Far East.
1925	Toured the European continent.
1926-27	Toured South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia.
1927	Toured England, Germany, and Italy.
1928-29	Embarked on her last world tour, which included South America, Egypt, India, Malaysia, Java, Burma, and Australia. Engaged Pierre Vladimiroff as her dance partner.
1930 December 13	Giselle.
1931 January 23	Died of pleurisy at The Hague, Netherlands. Cremated and buried at Golders Green, London.

Acquisition information:

Acquired, 1985, 2001.

Processing information:

Processed by Cyndi Shein 2007.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged alphabetically by format. Within each format, items are arranged alphabetically or chronologically as appropriate.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:: Ballet -- History -- Sources.
Ballets russes -- History -- Sources.
Ballet dancers.
Photographic prints -- 20th century.
Postcards -- 20th century.
Dance cards
Souvenir programs -- 20th century.
Names:: Pavlova, Anna -- Archives
Griffiths, Beatrice -- Archives

Access and use

Restrictions:: The collection is open for research.
Terms of access:: Property rights reside with the University of California. Printed materials created before 1923 are in the public domain. For other materials, literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish other materials, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.