Guide to the Collection on Anna Pavlova MS.P.050
Processed by Cyndi Shein; machine-readable finding aid created by Cyndi
Shein
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine
Libraries
(cc) 2007
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
University of California, Irvine
Irvine 92623-9557
spcoll@uci.edu
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine
Libraries
Title: Collection on Anna Pavlova
Creator:
UCI Libraries. Department of Special Collections and
Archives
Identifier/Call Number: MS.P.050
Physical Description:
0.8 Linear Feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1911-1981
Date (bulk): 1912-1931
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.
Language of Material:
English .
Access
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
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.
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.
Acquisition Information
Acquired, 1985, 2001.
Processing History
Processed by Cyndi Shein 2007.
Biography
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.
Biographical/Historical note
Chronology
| 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.
|
Collection Scope and Content Summary
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.
Collection Arrangement
This collection is arranged alphabetically by format. Within each format, items are
arranged alphabetically or chronologically as appropriate.
Frank, A. H. (ed.).
Pavlova, a Biography. Bath,
England: Pitman Press, 1956.Magriel, Paul.
Pavlova, an Illustrated Monograph. New York: Henry Holt and Company,
1947.Money, Keith.
Anna Pavlova, Her Life and
Art.
New York : A. A. Knopf, 1982.Pritchard, Jane. "Pavlova,
Anna Pavlovna (1881–1931)." In
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37836 (accessed July 27, 2007).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ballet dancers.
Photographic prints -- 20th century.
Postcards -- 20th century.
Dance cards
Souvenir programs -- 20th century.
Ballet -- History -- Sources.
Ballets russes -- History -- Sources.
Pavlova, Anna -- Archives
Griffiths, Beatrice -- Archives
Beatrice Griffiths papers related to Anna Pavlova
Biographical/Historical note
Beatrice Griffiths was one of only seven private pupils that Anna Pavlova taught during
her lifetime. Griffiths received lessons from Pavlova in London and traveled the world
with Pavlova's company. By 1926 Griffiths established her own school, The School of
Operatic Dancing, at Gloworm Studios.
box 1, folder 1
Correspondence
1912-1922
Scope and Contents note
Includes letters from Daniel Mayer, Victor Dandré, and [Marjorie ?] Ford to Beatrice
and her mother Edith Griffiths concerning Beatrice's dance lessons and invitations to
perform.
box 1, folder 2
Pavlova Company identification card, postcard, and clippings
undated
box 1, folder 3
Letter of recommendation (typescript) for Griffiths signed by
Pavlova
1920
box 1, folder 4
Receipts concerning payment for dance lessons
1912-1913
box 1, folder 5
Articles
1932-1972, undated
box 1, folder 6
Event programs
1916, undated
box FB-022, folder 6
Oversized news sheets
1930, undated
Dance programs and tributes
box 1, folder 9
Saison Russe, "Special engagement of Mlle. Pavlova, Russia's acknowledged
greatest Dancer and the famous Leader of the Imperial Russian Ballet M. Morkin"
(Palace Theatre), April 17, 1911, event program
1911
box 1, folder 10
"Mlle. Pavlowa's 1914-15 American Tour," souvenir program
1914
box 1, folder 11
"Anna Pavlowa and her Ballet Russe" (Medinah Temple, Chicago), event and
souvenir programs
1920
General Physical Description note: 2 items
box FB-022, folder 6
"Anna Pavlova et les principaux artistes de sa troupe: A. Volinine, Hilda
Butzova" (Palais du Trocadéro), souvenir program
1921
box FB-022, folder 6
"Grand Gala Pavlova, Fête de nuit à bagatelle, Un Cygne sur le Lac. Paris, 21
Juin 1921," souvenir program
1921
box FB-022, folder 6
"Soirée de Gala, 8 Juin 1925, Palais du Trocadéro - Paris," souvenir
program
1925
box 1, folder 12
"Anna Pavlova supported by Laurent Novikoff [and] Alexandre Volinine" (Royal
Opera House, Covent Garden), souvenir program
1925?
box 1, folder 13
"Anna Pavlova supported by Laurent Novikoff [and] Alexandre Volinine" (Royal
Opera House, Covent Garden), souvenir program
1927?
box 1, folder 14
"Pavlova supported by Laurent Novikoff" (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden)
souvenir program
1927?
box 1, folder 15
"Anna Pavlova, Special performance to establish a perpetual memorial to the
great dancer," event program and flier
1931
General Physical Description note: 2 items
box 1, folder 16
"Anna Pawlowa," souvenir program
undated
box 1, folder 17
"Empire Theatre Calcutta, Programme," program of upcoming
performances
undated
box FB-022, folder 6
"Homage to Pavlova," tribute
undated
General Physical Description note: 12x12 inches, 19 pages with
photographs
Scope and Contents note
Designed as a record insert to accompany recording of Richard Bonygne conducting the
London Symphony Orchestra. Collection does not include the recording.
box 1, folder 18
"Homenaje a Ana Pavlova, por André Levinson," tribute (Spanish)
undated
box 1, folder 19
"Mlle. Anna Pavlova," souvenir program
undated
box 1, folder 20
"Palace Theatre W. Saison Russe, Mlle. Anna Pavlova" (First production in
England of "Les Preludes"), souvenir program
undated
box 1, folder 21
"Palace Theatre W. Saison Russe, Mlle. Anna Pavlova" (selected
divertissments), souvenir program
undated
box 1, folder 22
"Pavlowa," souvenir program with Malvina Hoffman sculpture on
cover
undated
General Physical Description note: Sepia-toned, tied with string
box 1, folder 23
"Pavlowa," souvenir program with Malvina Hoffman sculpture on
cover
undated
General Physical Description note: Stapled, 2 items
box 1, folder 24
Untitled souvenir program
undated
box 1, folder 25
Artwork depicting Pavlova
undated
Scope and Contents note
Contains 1 photograph of Sir John Lavery's painting
La mort du
cygnet: Anna Pavlova
and 6 photographs of a plaster cast of Pavlova's
head.
box 1, folder 26-27
Pavlova at leisure
undated
General Physical Description note: 11 photographs, various sizes (5 x 8 to 9 x
12 inches)
Scope and Contents note
Contains black-and-white and sepia-toned photographs of Pavlova playing croquet and
posing outdoors. Pavlova appears alone in some photographs and with friends or pets in
others.
box 1, folder 28-29
Pavlova in costume
undated
General Physical Description note: 31 photographs, various sizes (5 x 7 to 8 x
10 inches)
Scope and Contents note
Contains black-and-white and sepia-toned photographs of Pavlova posing in various
costumes from her many performances. Supporting cast members appear in some of the
photographs with Pavlova.
Postcards and greeting card
box 2, folder 1
General
undated
General Physical Description note: 1 greeting card, 19 postcards
box 2, folder 2
Leningrad exhibition
1981
Scope and Contents note
Set of 12 postcards with introduction in Russian.
box 2, folder 3
Anna Pavlova: Catalogue of the Commemorative
Exhibition organised by the London Museum in association with the Anna Pavlova
Commemorative Committee
(London: 1956)
1956
box 2, folder 4
Art and Archaeology (September 1928, Vol. 26,
No. 3)
1928
box 2, folder 5
Coppelia: Grand Ballet in Three Acts by
Charles Nuitter and A. Saint-Leon (New York: Charles E. Burden, n.d.)
undated
box 2, folder 6
Dance Magazine (January 1956)
1956
box 2, folder 7
Stage Pictorial (December 1913, Vol. 2, No.
10)
1913
box 2, folder 8
Sunset, the Pacific Monthly (January
1916)
1916
