Pavlova, Anna Matveyevna [key], 1881–1931, Russian ballerina. In 1892 she entered the Imperial Ballet School, St. Petersburg. She made her debut in 1899 at the Mariinsky Theatre, but it was only after tours to Scandinavia (1907) and to Berlin and Vienna (1908) that she gained fame. In Paris, Pavlova danced (1909) with Nijinsky in Diaghilev's Ballets Russes; she made her American debut in 1910. Thereafter, until her death, she toured extensively with her own company, working for the first year in partnership with Mikhail Mordkin. Pavlova, considered the greatest ballerina of her time, excelled in Giselle, Chopiniana, and especially in The Dying Swan, choreographed for her by Michel Fokine. Her repertoire included 23 ballets and 80 divertissements. Pavlova's perfect classical technique and ethereal quality brought her universal acclaim.
See biographies by A. H. Franks et al. (1956), O. Kerensky (1973), and J. and R. Lazzarini (1981).
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