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Redefining Dimensions of Femininity: Agency in Anna Pavlova’s Cultivated Persona


George Arents Collection, The New York Public Library. “Anna Pavlova.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Student Name:
Nadia Halim

Project Link:
https://mediathread.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/s/CUdnce3985/project/40993

Statement: The growth of digital humanities research in the field of dance reframes analytical approaches to viewing and understanding dance by incorporating visual argumentation. As a tactile art form, choreographic work lends itself to the nature of visual juxtapositions and media manipulation in visually directed arguments. Through conducting archival research at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts as well as in-depth visual analysis of Anna Pavlova’s filmed performances at the Museum of Modern Art, my own written arguments contextualizing Pavlova’s sociohistorical and art historical influences found root in actual images and film. This course, Digital Footprints, traces dance history for the modern scholar.

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Anna Pavlova, the Embodiment of the Past and the Future


Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. “Anna Pavlova in Russian dress” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1910.

Student Name:
Halima Mossi

Project Link:
https://mediathread.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/s/CUdnce3985/project/40754 

Statement:  I argue that Anna Pavlova took ballet from an imperial, restrictive Russia and made it a global, accessible phenomenon. She transformed ballet into a freeing, lively style, adapting it to reflect 20th century aspirations and innovations. This course has taught me to think creatively and consciously about how best to represent dance in scholarly projects. Embedding photos and video into my composition enhanced my argument on Pavlova, in that it brought her energy and enthusiasm to share dance with as many people as possible to life. Pavlova is a great subject to integrate new digital technology with because she focused on adapting ballet to suit the new technologies, like film, in her era.

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Anna Pavlova’s Relationship with Classical Ballet Technique


Student Name:
Lexa Armstrong

Project Link:
https://mediathread.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/s/CUdnce3985/project/41048

Statement:  Looking at 20th-century ballerina Anna Pavlova’s pointe shoes at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts sparked my curiosity around the ethereal nature she embodied in such narrow, light, and supple shoes. I began to analyze a variety of visual depictions of Pavlova, from lithographs and other artistic renderings, to still photographs created in portrait studios, to moving images of her dancing. By comparing these images to some of her contemporaries and predecessors in the field, I recognized Pavlova’s creation of a unique technical aesthetic in classical ballet, and how not adopting certain expectations allowed her to rise to the level of recognition and fame she still enjoys today. This in-depth analysis would be possible without digitization and the tool of juxtaposition. The ability to “zoom in” on digitized images, not just figuratively but literally, fueled my continued study of her relationship with traditional ballet technique.