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ABOyH: Prima ballerina Anna Pavlova and her husband.
Victor Dandre, who devoted his life to protecting the tem-
pestuous and impulsive star. RIGHT: Pavlova with Jack,
most beloved of the swans she kept at the London home
where she and Dandre spent their only placid moments.
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Devoted husband danced
attendance on Pavlova
. Back in 1905 a very frightened prima ballerina, Anna Pavlova,
crouched against a wall in St. Petersburg while Cossacks galloped
by, slashing at a hungry mob with their lead-tipped whips.
STANDING over Pav-
lova, protecting her.
was a solid, well-groomed
young man by the name
of Victor Dandre.
Dandre, already in love
with Pavlova, was from that
moment to devote his life to
shielding her from harm.
The love story of Anna Pav-
lova and Victor Dandre was
so submerged in the brilliance
of the dancing star that few
were conscious of it.
While Pavlova devoted her
life to art, Dandre lived for
Pavlova alone.
"She was so light, so
ethereal, so spiritual, so
chaste," he wrote, "that one
felt like going on one's knees
before her."
Victor Dandre was 27, just
ten years older than Pavlova,
when they met in 1899 at a
party given by Serge Diag-
hilev, who was soon to emerge
as the greatest ballet producer
the world has known.
Dandre was rich, a mining
engineer, classmate of Diag-
hilev at the university, and a
dabbler in the arts - particu-
larly the ballet.
Pavlova and he were im-
mediately drawn to each other.
She was already a star, tem-
pestuous and impulsive. He
was calm, well poised, with a
wisdom well beyond his years.
And always he contrived to
be with her when troubles
came. "What would I do
without you?" she once asked.
Dandre first proposed to her
one day when he found her in
tears.
She refused him. She was
dedicated solely to her art.
Dandre would not take
"no." He loved her both for
herself and her genius.
"You need someone to take
care of you," he urged, "some-
one to shield you. One day
you will change your mind."
More and more she ran to
him with her problems.
He warned her not to join
in the revolt by the younger
stars for more control of the
Russian Imperial Ballet, but
stood firmly by her when she
and others were suspended.
He protected her from Cos-
sack whips and enticed the
great maestro Cecchetti back
to St. Petersburg to iron out
the few faults in her dancing.
Soon, with genuine affec-
tion, she realised she could
not live without him and they
were married quietly.
Pavlova was now at the
turning point of her career.
Fokine had created her great-
est dance,
"The Swan,"
for her. Her
dancing was
hailed as
flawless.
She was
rich, admired,
and feted.
Yet some
inner power
was driving
her to break
with this life
and spread
Y Another
f world-famous 1
L love story M
By WILLIAM JOY
the love of ballet the world
over.
Dandre gave up his pro-
fession to shelter her as she
danced round the world.
Forty-four nations hailed
the genius of Pavlova. She
danced before kings and
courts, in great theatres, and
for the common people in
vaudeville, circuses, and even
bull-rings.
She barnstormed in the
American backblocks and in
Australian country towns, ful-
filling her mission of taking
joy to all people.
And everywhere, solidly be-
hind the dancing feet of Pav-
lova, stood the wise, kindly,
competent figure of Dandre.
His was no easy task. Pav
lova?s was a strange person-
ality. She drove herself some-
times 15 hours a day in her
quest for perfection.
She was generous, affection-
ate, and friendly. But she was
liable to break into storms of
temper in which she raged in
Russian, French, German, or
broken English.
And sometimes he would
find her in a flood of tears be-
cause she imagined she had
not danced as well as she
should.
In her troubles, as always,
she turned to Dandre.
He organised their tours,
booked the theatres and the
special trains, and saw that
the company
and their
400 cases of
scenery and
costumes ar-
rived on time.
He saw
that t h e
stages were
fit to dance
on, and had
some planed
smooth or
covered.
At one
Queensland town he had a
stage specially built.
Between tours there were
brief halcyon days at Ivy
House, their gracious home in
London's Hampstead, where
the artist Turner once pain ed
his masterpieces.
Dandre and Pavlova spent
the only placid moments of
their lives there with the birds
and plants Pavlova brought
from the countries she visited.
She had swans, a flamingo,
and dogs. A peacock spread
his gorgeous tail as he strutted
for titbits from their table.
Such holidays with their
restful, intimate atmosphere
\«ere rare. Soon the house
would be in turmoil as they
?planned another tour.
Of all their trips, Dandre
records, Pavlova loved most
the tours of South America,
and of Australia and the East.
In Sydney and Melbourne
they rented houses in pleasant
gardens where they could live
with the 120 Australian birds
Pavlova collected on the tour.
With rare devotion, Victor
Dandre fulfilled his self-ap-
pointed task of making life
easy for the woman and the
dancer he adored.
And he was there to comfort
her at her untimely death.
Pavlova had been resting at
Cannes, on the French Riviera,
before starting a tour of Hol-
land on January 19, 1931.
Dandre had to go to Lon-
don on business connected
with the tour. Pavlova broke
her journey in Paris for special
rehearsals there.
The studio was not heated.
She developed pleurisy. De-
spite her soaring temperature,
she insisted on going to The
Hague.
Dandre hurried to her side
to find her dangerously ill.
Only a trepanning operation
on her ribs could save her.
She agreed gaily till, with fal-
tering voice, Dandre told her
it meant she would never
dance again.
She refused to have the oper-
ation. She gambled on re-
covering and lost.
Towards midnight on Janu-
ary 22 she asked for her swan
costume.
With her hands fluttering in
the gestures of the dying swan,
with which she had entranced
thousands, the soul of Anna
Pavlova, greatest dancer in
the world, passed from her.
By her deathbed stood the
gentle man who had devoted
his whole life to shielding and
protecting her, and was now
left disconsolate and alone.
$