Editing Anna Pavlova (section)

==Imperial Ballet School==
Young Pavlova's years of [[classical ballet]] training were difficult. Her severely arched feet, thin ankles and long limbs clashed with the small, compact body favoured for the ballerina of the time. Her fellow students taunted her with such nicknames as ''The broom'' and ''La petite sauvage''. Undeterred, she trained to improve her technique. She practised repeatedly after learning a step. She said: "No one can arrive from being talented alone. God gives talent, work transforms talent into genius."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lilith.org/blog/2016/11/yes-these-famous-ballerinas-are-jewish/|title=Yes, These Famous Ballerinas Are Jewish|author=McDonough, Yona Zeldis|date=3 November 2016|website=Lilith|access-date=12 November 2019}}</ref> She took extra lessons from the noted teachers of the day—[[Christian Johansson]], [[Pavel Gerdt]], [[Nikolai Legat]]—and from [[Enrico Cecchetti]], considered the greatest ballet virtuoso of the time and founder of the [[Cecchetti method]], a very influential ballet technique used to this day. In 1898, she entered the ''classe de perfection'' of [[Ekaterina Vazem]], former ''Prima ballerina'' of the Saint Petersburg Imperial Theatres.

During her final year at the Imperial Ballet School, Pavlova performed many roles with the principal company. She graduated in 1899 at age 18,{{sfn|Bernatas|Vlasova|2006}} chosen to enter the Imperial Ballet a rank ahead of ''corps de ballet'' as a ''coryphée''. She made her official début at the Mariinsky Theatre in Pavel Gerdt's ''Les Dryades prétendues'' (''The False Dryads''). Her performance drew praise from the critics, particularly [[Nikolai Bezobrazov]].