Harman, Audrey

Anna Pavlova (1881-1931) was the most celebrated ballerina of her generation. She studied at the Imperial Theatre School, St Petersburg, and graduated into the Mariinsky Ballet, where she made her official debut in 1899. She was championed by Marius Petipa during her early career, and rose through the ranks to become a Ballerina in 1905, and Prima Ballerina in 1906. She was a contemporary of Mikhail Fokine, who in 1907 choreographed for her an iconic solo dance, The Dying Swan, which she made famous throughout the world. She remained a leading dancer at the Mariinsky Theatre until 1913, although from 1908 she also began to forge a career abroad. In 1909 she made her début in Paris with Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes; by 1911 she had formed own Company, which she lead on countless tours all over the globe for two decades. She died suddenly from pneumonia during a tour to Holland, in January 1931, less than a month before her fiftieth birthday.