READ and EXPLAIN Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlova was born in Russia in 1881. Her love of ballet began at a very early age and when she was 10 years old she entered the Imperial Ballet School in St Petersburg. She eventually became the main dancer for the company. In 1911, she set up her own company, becoming the first ballerina to tour ballet around the world. She was most recognised for creating the role ‘The Dying Swan’, which she performed over 4,000 times. It’s a four minute long ballet choreographed specifically for her in 1905 and is part of The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens. In 1912 Pavlova moved to London, which became her home until her death in 1931. It was in 1927 that she performed at the Hippodrome in one of her lightning tours of Britain – travelling 4,000 miles in ten weeks from Aberdeen to Plymouth1. Her itinerary for the second week in November was Monday: Newcastle, Tuesday: Middleborough, Wednesday: West Hartlepool, Thursday: Darlington, Friday: York and Scarborough, and Saturday: Hull. Her own death, like Pepi’s, is tinged with pathos. At the age of 49, after another arduous tour, she took a much-needed Christmas holiday abroad. Afterwards, she was to start another tour, beginning at The Hague in Holland. However, the train there was involved in an accident and she was left waiting for nearly 12 hours on a snowy evening, apparently wearing only thin clothes. When she eventually arrived at The Hague, Pavlova developed pneumonia, which quickly worsened. The story goes that doctors told her she needed an operation and that she wouldn’t be able to continue dancing afterwards. Her reply was that she’d rather die than not be able to dance. According to her husband, on her deathbed she said, “Get my swan costume ready.” before passing away in the early hours of 23rd January 1931. 1 ‘Information from ‘Of Fish and Actors’, Lloyd, C., 2007, The Northern Echo..