When a performer is truly great and becomes greater than the performance it is when he or she is known outside of his or her profession. Anna Pavlova is arguably the most famous ballerina of all time, and with good reason. She was not a particularly skilled dancer, even by the standards of the time, because she hadn't the physical strength or the height. Nevertheless, she embraced her limitations and polished her faults. She would appear alone in a spot light, wearing white, and looking utterly frail, and this was her art, this was how she transfixed her audience. So long as she remained en her pointe, she didn't need to do much else. She was only five feet tall yet she would fill the theatre. Someone said that about Queen Victoria at the Great Exhibition when she walked into the Crystal Palace, that she filled the place, and she was quite an insignificant woman.
It's only about two minutes so do watch Pavlova dance her quintessential rôle. The music is, of course, The Swan by Saint-Saëns, part of the Carnival of the Animals.
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