Anna Pavlova 1983

The film opens in the cold Saint Petersburg, where a young Anna Pavlova, Galina Belyaeva, watches dancers through a window and resolves that she wants to be not merely a dancer but among the best.

Guided by the celebrated master dancer and ballet teacher Marius Petipa, Pyotr Gusev helps Anna on the path to glory as she rises at the imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.

Within this theatre, she meets the young choreographer Mikhail Fokine, Sergey Shakurov, and together they rehearse The Dying Swan, a world-famous solo that becomes a defining moment of her early career.

In 1909, Sergei Diaghilev, Vsevolod Larionov, founds the Ballets Russes in Paris, recruiting the best Russian dancers and choreographers, including Anna Pavlova, whose talent continues to captivate audiences worldwide.

After a short time she moves to London, where she celebrates major success and triumphs across the globe, performing in the United States, Mexico, and Venezuela. Victor Dandré – her manager, companion and husband – remains a constant presence throughout these years, James Fox shaping the business and personal side of her remarkable journey.

Her deepest wish to return to her native Mariinsky Theatre remains unfulfilled, even as she achieves international renown. Anna Pavlova dies from pneumonia at the age of 49 in 1931 during a farewell tour in The Hague.