anna pavlova i dreamed i was a ballerina

Though frail, she was supple and impressed one of her teachers, Marius Petipa, who would later become her favorite ballet master. When she turned ten, she was admitted to the St. She knew then, that she was destined to dance. Pavlova’s passion for ballet began at the age of eight, when her mother took her to see The Sleeping Beauty at the Maryinsky Theatre. Her mother’s second husband, Matvey Pavlov, is believed to have adopted her at the age of three, by which she acquired his last name.

Some sources, including The Saint Petersburg Gazette, have claimed that her illegitimate father was the Jewish–Russian banker Lazar Polyakov. She and her mother were very poor, and they spent the summers with Anna’s grandmother. When Anna was very small, her mother married reserve soldier Matvey Pavlov, who died when Anna was two years old. Pavlova was the daughter of Lyubov Feodorovna, a washerwoman. See her in the typical china poblana costume in the first video below (minutes 3:40 and 6:20). The Jarabe Tapatio is commonly known as The Mexican Hat Dance. She has a special connection to Mexico, the county I call home, as she was the first classical ballerina to interpret the “Jarabe Tapatio” dance on pointe during her 1919 tour to this country.

She was born on February 12, 1881, though there has been a bit of controversy on the exact date (January 31st) and died a few days shy of her 50th birthday, on January 23, 1931. The life of famous Russian ballerina Ana Pavlova was an extraordinary one.

Anna pavlova i dreamed i was a ballerina