ANNA PAVLOVA - PROGRAM SIGNED - HFSID 46642

ANNA PAVLOVA
Complete program for an appearance by the Russian prima ballerina at Covent Garden.
Program signed: "Best wishes/Anna Pavlova" on front cover, 16p, 8¾x11¼. Complete program for an appearance with Russian ballet dancer and ballet master Laurent Novikoff at Covent Garden. The three-part program included Chopiniana, a "Set of Dances from Chopin", six performances of various other dances, including "Rondino" and "Gavotte Pavlova", and seven other dances, including The Swan. In addition to Novikoff, the performances, which were backed by the Covent Garden Orchestra under the direction of Walford Hyden, featured a number of other dancers from the Corps de Ballet. Beautiful portraits of Pavlova on front and back covers, large photograph of Pavlova and Novikoff on inside front cover, two photographs of "Anna Pavlova at Home" and four additional photographs of the prima ballerina on inside pages, which also feature photographs of Novikoff and other principal performers. Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova (1881-1931) made her U.S. debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York in 1910. She had studied with the Maryinsky Theatre's Imperial School of Ballet in 1891, joining the Imperial Ballet in 1899 and becoming a prima ballerina, after having successfully danced Giselle, in 1906, the year before she embarked on her first tour of Moscow. After returning to Russia in 1910, Pavlova founded her own group with eight dancers in St. Petersburg, Russia, and she began making world tours (including her first return visit to the U.S.) in 1913. Pavlova was known for her grace and elegance, evident in her most famous performance, The Dying Swan. In 1918, she choreographed Autumn Leaves, which, along with Californian Poppy and The Dragonfly, became audience favorites. Lightly creased, mid-vertical fold touches facial image on front cover. Covers and blank margins of some pages are lightly soiled. Overall, fine condition.