This Real-Life Swan Lake Ballerina Had A Burning Rivalry, And It Consumed Her

Born into Russia in 1881, Pavlova’s career got going at the end of the century. Forced to overcome physical barriers, she eventually climbed the ranks of her troupe to be a prima ballerina. For anyone who doesn’t know, that term refers to the main female performer within a given ballet troupe.

By 1905, Pavlova’s reputation had reached entirely new heights thanks to a dance known as The Dying Swan. This would develop into the role with which she was most closely associated, and she would dance it thousands of times. Though The Dying Swan had been choreographed by someone else, she later came to be known for her own creations, too.

At the point of her untimely death in 1931, Pavlova had firmly secured her place in history among the greatest ballerinas ever to perform. Her influence is still felt even today, with contemporary dancers continuing to look to her for inspiration. Without the work of Anna Pavlova, then, ballet wouldn’t be what it is today.

But not everyone has what it takes to become a legend, particularly in a field as infamously competitive as ballet. It takes a certain type of person, someone willing to push through the pain barrier. An individual who’s maybe a little eccentric, somebody who can be ruthless when necessary. Pavlova was unquestionably those things — and we see that most clearly through her fierce rivalry with another ballet legend, Tamara Karsavina.

Ballet’s dark side is notorious, perhaps most famously portrayed in the movie Black Swan. Starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis as two rivals battling it out for the main role in a performance of Swan Lake, this disturbing film doesn’t exactly paint the world of ballet in the nicest of lights. Sadly, many real dancers have also been negatively affected by the competitive atmosphere that can exist within ballet companies.

In an article for Varsity in 2019, an experienced dancer named Ellie Hunt wrote of the toxicity she’d encountered in the ballet world. At the time of writing her piece, Hunt had been performing for around a decade and a half. But thanks to the difficult culture surrounding her, she’d felt compelled to cease entering competitions many years earlier.

Explaining her reasons, Hunt wrote, “I have been dancing for over 15 years, and still perform in shows, but I stopped dancing competitively at the age of 17. I remember the constant side-eye at competitions, the whispering and giggling. I often hid in the dressing room as long as possible to avoid them. There were other girls like me, too shy to make a career in this cut-throat profession.”

Clearly, Ellie Hunt suffered badly as a result of the rivalries and antagonisms fostered within the culture of competitive ballet — and she’s hardly unique in that regard. Some people, it seems, just aren’t cut out to endure that environment. One person who could bear all that pressure, though, was Anna Pavlova.

Pavlova entered into the sometimes brutal world of ballet at the tender age of nine. Even at this young age, she was faced with difficulties. She attended an audition to become a student at the Imperial Ballet School, but she was rejected. Apparently, it was said that Pavlova was too young and appeared “sickly.”

A year later, though, the school relented and she was allowed to enroll as a student. She soon started to perform, but it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. Her eventual rise to the top was by no means assured during these early stages of her dancing career. A lot of work was going to be needed.

That’s because Pavlova wasn’t necessarily the most natural dancer in the world. Her feet, it’s said, had quite an extreme arch. Plus, her ankles were very slim and her legs were longer than was expected of ballerinas in those days. All these difficulties led to some bullying from her peers, who called her “la petite sauvage.” That means “the little savage.”

But rather than let this teasing get the better of her, it seemed, if anything, to drive Pavlova on. She committed totally to perfecting her craft, training intensely. Then, when she was 18, after graduating from her school she was accepted as a member of the prestigious Imperial Russian Ballet company.

Pavlova’s debut show with the company was a success, with the press even singling out her display for acclaim. But even after this strong start, her career wasn’t exactly flawless from here on out. Mistakes were made on occasion, and audience numbers weren’t always huge when she was performing.

All the while, Pavlova’s delicate ankles made life quite hard for her. That’s because her physique meant that certain dances proved really tough for the budding ballerina to get a handle on. She always carried on, though, pushing through her struggles and ignoring all those peers who gave her a tough time.

In order to deal with the weakness in her ankles, Pavlova started using wood in her shoes. Nowadays, this is a common practice, but back then it was far more rare. Some purists at the time, in fact, thought it was akin to breaking the rules. We’d have to guess that Pavlova got a hard time for this, too.

Pavlova’s little innovation obviously worked for her, though, as by 1901 she’d started to gain more recognition. That year, she was coached for a special ballet by a talented prima ballerina named Mathilde Kschessinska. Kschessinska was expecting a child at the time, and it’s said she wanted Pavlova to flop. That isn’t what happened, though, as the audience became enamored by the young dancer.

In the years that followed, Pavlova started to gain more and more experience. Her parts grew in stature, with the ballerina soon coming to play the lead in some of the most celebrated ballets around. And in 1905 she was even able to persuade the acclaimed choreographer Michel Fokine to devise a dance for her.

The work that Fokine came up with would eventually come to serve as Pavlova’s signature dance. Known as The Dying Swan, she ended up performing this piece on close to 4,000 occasions in her life. A writer named Carl Van Vechten who was lucky enough to experience it described the dance as “the most exquisite specimen of Pavlova’s art which she has yet given to the public.”

A year after she’d approached Fokine to create this dance for her, Pavlova was promoted to prima ballerina. This, if nothing else, was pure vindication for the young ballerina, who’d endured her peers making fun of her and her weak ankles. She’d undeniably had the last laugh, and now Pavlova went on to produce her own works.

Pavlova was briefly associated with the recently established Ballets Russes, a company that eventually became highly distinguished in its own right. Another member of that troupe was Tamara Karsavina, who was herself a tremendous talent. And she came to be Pavlova’s bitter rival.

Pavlova and Karsavina had very much been part of the same circles, even showing up in the same performances sometimes. Also a member of the Imperial Ballet, Karsavina was an exquisite dancer. Together, the two women changed ballet forever — in another life, they might have been the best of friends.

But even though they’d had a very similar education and experiences, the two ended up becoming enemies. Despite their clear similarities — or perhaps because of them — the pair developed a fierce rivalry. They’d perform many of the same dances over the years, albeit in their own distinct styles. Karsavina, it’s been said, was the more romantic performer, whereas Pavlova was reportedly wedded to more classical techniques.

You don’t rise to the top of your field without a certain amount of competitiveness, so that helps to explain the rivalry between the two dancers. Certainly, Pavlova was famous for her combative instincts. There’s a story, in fact, that claims she once struck her dance partner square across the face — all because she felt the audience was cheering for him more than her.

This competitive side of Pavlova could really be seen in how her beef with Karsavina played out. One story, in particular, stands out in this regard. Karsavina was on stage, dancing for an audience. The performance was about to hit a snag, though — and Pavlova absolutely reveled in it.

As she was moving around the stage, Karsavina’s outfit betrayed her. The straps slipped from her shoulders, leaving her exposed to everyone in the crowd. She was mortified, but Pavlova wasn’t exactly understanding. On the contrary, Pavlova was reportedly so remorselessly mean about the situation that Karsavina burst out crying.

Whereas once Pavlova had herself been bullied as a young dancer, the shoe was now firmly on the other foot. She’d unequivocally acted cruelly towards her foe. But maybe it was that very coldness that helped Pavlova to deal with the pressures of being at the top of the ballet world?

Perhaps one of the necessities for rising to the top of your game is that you need to be a little different to other folk? Well, Pavlova was most certainly that. The woman was known for her eccentricities, which were particularly evident when she relocated to London during 1912.

Pavlova purchased a property known as Ivy House — and it was a grand place. The garden, as a matter of fact, was so big that it even had its own lake. And in this lake lived a bunch of swans, which served as fitting pets for a woman whose fame was so closely bound to the creatures.

Swans aren’t exactly renowned for their loving relationships with humans, yet maybe they viewed Pavlova as one of their own? She could, after all, be frequently seen cavorting with the birds, as photographs from the time attest. Apparently, a particular swan called Jack took a special liking to the ballerina.

While Pavlova had experienced some prickly relationships with fellow humans in her life, she did marry. But even then, it seems that the marriage remained secret for a while. Not much is known of the relationship itself, either, though it is clear that the husband was her manager Victor Dandré.

From 1914, Dandré organized Pavlova’s tours across the globe. As an independent performer, Pavlova brought her ballet company to audiences all over the planet and left them enthralled. In doing so, she forged a legacy that survives to this very day. Her name was firmly cemented into the history of ballet.

As the years wore on, though, things started to become a little more difficult for Pavlova. She’d been at the top of her game for so long, but when she grew older her dancing started to slip from the remarkable heights it’d once maintained. Time, it seems, catches up with even the very best.

By the early 1930s, Pavlova was approaching 50 years of age and beginning to tire. A three-decade-long period in high-end ballet was really starting to make itself felt. She needed a break. So, following a grueling tour of the U.K, she set off for a much-needed vacation. Sadly, it was not to be a good one.

Towards the end of the trip, Pavlova’s said to have hopped on a train headed for the Hague in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, an incident then occurred that meant she had to stay outside for many hours. The weather that day was relentlessly cold.

To make matters worse, Pavlova was by no means dressed for the occasion. Her clothes provided her with no warmth, which predictably meant she fell ill. The extent of her sickness, however, was extreme. She’d picked up pneumonia, and it wasn’t letting off. Even after she’d made it to her destination, her condition continued to deteriorate.

Rumor has it that Pavlova’s life could’ve been saved with surgery. The thing was, though, this procedure would’ve finished her dancing days. She was never going to let that happen, apparently saying, “If I can’t dance then I’d rather be dead.” And so, before her 50th birthday, the world lost Anna Pavlova.

Right before the end, it’s said that Pavlova made a special request of those who were present. As her life slipped away, the ballerina apparently wanted to see one thing. It was, of course, the swan outfit that she’d worn for her performances over so many years.

Though she’d died tragically before her time, Anna Pavlova had already secured her place in history. To this very day, she remains among the most famous and significant individuals to ever perform ballet. Even now, so many years after her death, she continues to inspire and energize dancers.

Tamara Karsavina’s one of the only other people who can reasonably claim to have a legacy on a par with Pavlova. And maybe they can thank each other for their respective places in ballet history? Their fierce rivalry likely drove each other on, with both women trying to gain the upper hand. As a result, they both reached heights that have never been surpassed since.