Anna Pavlova was the most famous ballerina of the early twentieth century — a dancer so transcendent that her performance of The Dying Swan became the defining image of classical ballet. But her feet were wrong for pointe work, and her solution — reinforcing her shoes with harder soles — quietly launched the evolution of the modern pointe shoe that every ballerina wears today.

This episode traces Pavlova from her impoverished St. Petersburg childhood through the Imperial Ballet, her break with Diaghilev, the global tours that brought ballet to millions who had never seen it, and the shoe innovation that changed dance technology forever.

• Pavlova’s childhood poverty and her acceptance into the Imperial Ballet School
• The Dying Swan solo choreographed by Fokine that became her signature for life
• Her decision to leave Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and tour the world independently
• The reinforced pointe shoe that solved her physical limitations and reshaped ballet footwear