In Russia (1928–1935)

Pavlova danced with Vakhtang Chabukiani and Sergey Gavrilovich Koren [ru] in scenes from the ballet The Masque of the Red Death (Russian: Маскарад Красной Смерти) by Nikolai Tcherepnin, on 10 November 1928. The following spring, she joined a dance troupe which traveled to Russian Turkestan, performing at Tashkent,^[1] before being invited to dance as a soloist in the theater operated by Alexey Feona [ru].^[6] Along with other evening students from the Choreographic Institute, she performed at the Maly Opera House and was invited to participate in a touring company that traveled all over Russia between 1931 and 1932. During the tour, she danced the lead role of Taï-Choa in The Red Poppy to the music of Reinhold Glière.^[7] In September 1932, she returned to Leningrad where she lived with her husband, the choreographer of the Khabarovsk Regional Musical Comedy Theater, Leonid Romanovich Leonidov. Theirs was an artistic union, and that year he staged The Red Poppy. The marriage failed^[8] and Pavlova then married the Japanese diplomat, Takehisa Shimizu, taking the name Midori Shimizu.^[9][10] On 13 December 1934, Pavlova moved to Moscow, where she lived at 42 Herzen Street, the location of the Japanese Embassy.^[8]

In Moscow, Pavlova began studying with Viktor Semenov^[8] (Russian: Виктор Александрович Семёнов), head of the Moscow Choreographic School between 1931 and 1936.^[11] The repertoire they prepared for her included Waltz by Fritz Kreisler, The Dying Swan by Mikhail Fokine, the role of Nikiya from La Bayadère by Marius Petipa and Ludwig Minkus, the part of Anitra from Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg and excerpts from Don Quixote to music by Minkus. Her mixed marriage caused difficulties and the fear of reprisal, as it was typical for people in this period to be accused of spying.^{[Notes 1][8]} As Shimizu was a diplomat specializing in Russia, he may have had some warning that the Great Purge was coming.^[10] The couple began planning for a move to Japan and Pavlova gathered dance-related books, music, and costumes. She spoke with the Japanese ambassador, who set up a meeting in Moscow with the industrialist Ichizō Kobayashi. He had opened a film theater, which would be suitable to stage ballet, in Tokyo with capacity for audiences of up to 3,000 spectators.^[10][14] He asked her to go to Japan to establish ballet there.^[15]

In Japan (1936–1980)

On 27 December 1935 Pavlova received her Japanese passport; the following April, together with Shimizu, she moved to Tokyo.^[8] Pavlova worked with Toyokichi Hata [ja], director of Kobayashi's theater to prepare for the first production of Dance of the Little Swans from Swan Lake. The audience did not understand the production, which was perceived as a foreign jazz dance. Only when Hata traveled abroad two years later and saw a performance of Swan Lake in New York City, was he able to appreciate the performance Pavlova had choreographed.^[16][17] She recognized that if she wanted to teach or dance, she would have to become the producer and handle all aspects of the performance, including choreography, costumes, dance training, lighting, music selection and staging, while learning about the language and culture of Japan.^[16] She served as the ballet instructor for the Nichigeki Dancing Team [ja],^[18] and was employed by the Nippon Gekijo Theatre, a variety theater.^[19]

Her premiere as Midori Aoyama in Japan was at the Takarazuka Theater on 12 October 1936, when she danced eight numbers for publicity. After this performance, she began using the stage name Olga Sapphire, to keep her connection with Russia.^[20] She partnered with Azuma Yusaku [ja], who had been trained by Eliana Pavlova [ru; ja]^{[Notes 2]} Between 1936 and 1938, they performed at the Nihon Gekijō.^[24] She was the only Western performer at the theater at the time and served as its prima ballerina, as well as choreographer and teacher. Besides classical Russian ballet, Sapphire choreographed Japanese dances. In 1938, she created and directed Impressions of the Orient (Japanese: Tōyō no inshō), a two-act production. She continued to dance classical ballet regularly at the Nehon Gekijō throughout the Pacific War,^[25] though almost all other theatrical performances had been suspended.^[24] In 1942, she performed the lead role in Scheherazade to a sold out house at the Takarazuka Theater and in 1943, she performed in the Burmese Peacock.^[25]

In addition to working on stage, Sapphire became involved in creating dance scenes in film. Her choreography featured in Masahiro Makino's 1943 remake of Orphans of the Storm, Ahen senso (Opium War). After the war, Kobayashi and Hata faced reprisals for their war activities, and Sapphire lost her primary backers.^[26][27] She left the Takarazuka Theater but continued to dance in stage productions, such as her version of Carmen using a musical arrangement by Shiro Matsumoto, a shortened version of Swan Lake, and scenes from The Nutcracker.^[26] In 1950, she published a book バレエ読本 (Ballet Reader), which was referred to in Nobel Prize-winning author Yasunari Kawabata's 1951 book, 舞姫 (Dancing Girl [ja]), which evaluates the impact of cultural exchange.^[26][28] Her last performance was in 1953, though she continued working to promote Japanese ballet until 1957.^[26] In 1960, Sapphire accompanied her husband to a diplomatic post in Poland for three years, before returning to Japan.^[29]