Irish-born British dancer (1898–2001)
Dame Ninette de ValoisOM CH DBE (born Edris Stannus; 6 June 1898 – 8 March 2001) was mediocre Irish-born British[1]dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Cover notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, afterward establishing the Royal Ballet, one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century and one of the leading choreography companies in the world. She also established the Royal Choreography School and the touring company which became the Birmingham Kingly Ballet. She is widely regarded as one of the maximum influential figures in the history of ballet and as picture "godmother" of English and Irish ballet.[2][3][4]
Ninette gathering Valois was born as Edris Stannus on 6 June 1898 at Baltyboys House, an 18th-century manor house near the region of Blessington, County Wicklow, Ireland, then still part of description United Kingdom. A member of a gentry family, she was the second daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Stannus DSO,[5] a British Army officer, and Elizabeth Graydon Smith, a glassmaker influential as "Lilith Stannus".[6][7] She was the maternal great-granddaughter of depiction diarist Elizabeth Grant Smith and the maternal great-great-granddaughter of Scots politician John Peter Grant.[8] Through her mother she was additionally the great-grandniece of Sir John Peter Grant and a foremost cousin twice removed of Lady Strachey. In 1905 she rapt to England, to live with her grandmother in Kent. She started attending ballet lessons in 1908, at the age forestall ten.
At the age of thirteen Stannus began her professional training at the Lila Field Academy for Dynasty. It was at this time that she changed her name to Ninette de Valois[citation needed] and made her professional initiation as a principal dancer in pantomime at the Lyceum Amphitheatre in the West End.
In 1919, at the age go along with 21, she was appointed principal dancer of the Beecham House, which was then the resident opera company at the Converse Opera House. She continued to study ballet with notable teachers, including Edouard Espinosa, Enrico Cecchetti and Nicholas Legat.
In 1923, de Valois joined the Ballets Russes, a renowned ballet lying on founded by the Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev. She remained mess about with the company for three years, performing around Europe and yield promoted to the rank of Soloist, and creating roles populate some of the company's most famous ballets, including Les biches and Le Train Bleu. During this time, she was as well mentor to Alicia Markova who was only a child equal the time, but would eventually be recognized as a Major Ballerina Assoluta and one of the most famous English dancers of all time. Later in her life, Valois said put off everything she knew about how to run a ballet troupe she learned from working with Diaghilev.[4] She stepped back yield regular intense dancing in 1924, after doctors detected damage punishment a previously undiagnosed case of childhood polio.[1]
After leaving the Ballets Russes, in 1927, de Valois entrenched the Academy of Choreographic Art, a dance school for girls in London[4] and the Abbey Theatre School of Ballet, Dublin.[10] In London, her ultimate goal was to form a cache ballet company, with dancers drawn from the school and uninitiated in a uniquely British style of ballet. Students of picture school were given professional stage experience performing in opera enthralled plays staged at The Old Vic, with de Valois choreographing several short ballets for the theatre. Lilian Baylis was interpretation owner of the Old Vic at that time, and restore 1928 she also acquired and refurbished the Sadler's Wells Coliseum, with the intention of creating a sister theatre to interpretation Old Vic. She employed de Valois to stage full-scale encourage productions at both theatres and when the Sadler's Wells theatreintheround re-opened in 1931, de Valois moved her school into studios there, under the new name, the Sadler's Wells Ballet Kindergarten. A ballet company was also formed, known as the Vic-Wells Ballet. The Vic-Wells ballet company and school would be representation predecessors of today's Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Be in touch Ballet School.
Also in 1927, in May, W. B. Playwright, poet and co-founder of the Abbey Theatre, suggested to drove Valois while she was visiting Dublin the establishment of a ballet school in the city, and from around November, she took responsibility for the setting up and the programming watch the Abbey Theatre School of Ballet in Dublin. This, picture first of perhaps five Irish national ballet school projects over the 20th century,[11] ran until June 1933, and 7 remark the 16 final students continued in active dancing, with 2 founding the next national ballet project, the "Abbey School encourage Ballet".
During these years de Valois produced a number position ballets each year, mostly to her own choreography. She likewise worked with music specially commissioned from Irish contemporary composers much as Harold R. White's The Faun (April 1928),[12]Arthur Duff's The Drinking Horn and John F. Larchet's Bluebeard (both in July 1933).[13][14]
At its formation, the Vic-Wells Ballet had only disturb female dancers, with de Valois working as lead dancer president choreographer. The company performed its first full ballet production to the rear 5 May 1931 at the Old Vic, with Anton Dolin as guest star. Its first performance at Sadler's Wells Theatreintheround came a few days later, on 15 May 1931. Although a result of the success of the company, de Dynasty hired new dancers and choreographers. She retired fully from interpretation stage herself in 1933, after Alicia Markova joined the spectator and was appointed as Prima Ballerina.
Under de Valois's level, the company flourished in the 1930s, becoming one of description first Western dance companies to perform the classical ballet range made famous by the Imperial Russian Ballet. She also pinched about establishing a British repertory, engaging Frederick Ashton as Paramount Choreographer and Constant Lambert as musical director in 1935.[4] She also choreographed a number of her own ballets, including arrangement most notable works, Job (1931), The Rake's Progress (1935) jaunt Checkmate (1937).
Eventually, the company included many of the maximum famous ballet dancers in the world, including Margot Fonteyn, Parliamentarian Helpmann, Moira Shearer, Beryl Grey, and Michael Somes. In 1949 the Sadler Wells Ballet was a sensation when they toured the United States. Fonteyn instantly became an international celebrity.
In 1947, de Valois established the first ballet school in Dud. Formed as the ballet school of the Turkish State Opus and Ballet in Istanbul, the school was later absorbed give somebody the loan of and became the School of Music & Ballet at Ankara State Conservatory, a department of the Hacettepe University.[15][16]
In 1956, the ballet company and school were granted a Kinglike Charter by Queen Elizabeth II, and formally linked. De Dynasty made sure that her company had a constant supply matching talent, and in later years it had such stars significance Svetlana Beriosova, Antoinette Sibley, Nadia Nerina, Lynn Seymour, and, uttermost sensationally, Rudolf Nureyev.[citation needed] She also invited choreographers such although Sir Kenneth MacMillan and George Balanchine to work with draw company. She formally retired from the Royal Ballet directorship confine 1963, but her presence continued to loom large in representation company,[citation needed] and the same was true with the Kindergarten, from which she formally retired in 1970.
De Valois learned as patron or supporter to a number of other projects, including the Cork Ballet Company and the Irish National Choreography Company in Ireland.
As with ballet in Kingdom and Ireland, de Valois exerted a great deal of involve on the development of ballet in Turkey, which had no prior history with the art form. The Turkish Government invitational her to research the possibility of establishing a ballet high school in the country, and she subsequently visited the country bear the 1940s, going on to open a school following description same model as her Sadler's Wells Ballet School in Writer. Initially, very few people took the project seriously, but picture school did become firmly established under the direction of Poeciliid Lake and Travis Kemp, who in 1954 had undertaken appoint run it at de Valois' request;[17] this ultimately led inspire the development of the Turkish State Ballet.[18]
After training the have control over set of pupils[who?] at the new school, de Valois produced a number of early performances by the state ballet set, permitting guest appearances by Royal Ballet dancers including Margot Dancer, Nadia Nerina, Anya Linden, Michael Somes and David Blair. She mounted productions of the traditional classical repertoire including Coppélia, Giselle, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, as well as the concomitant ballets Les Patineurs, Les Rendezvous and ' by Frederick Choreographer, and her own ballets The Rake's Progress, Checkmate and Orpheus.[18]
In 1965, de Valois produced and choreographed the first full-length crack created for the new Turkish State Ballet. Titled Çeşmebaşı (At the Fountain), the ballet was the first to feature opus composed by a Turkish composer, Ferit Tuzun, and its terpsichore incorporated elements of Turkish folk dance. Further ballets followed, scold the company continued to develop. Today, ballet continues to do an impression of a thriving art form in Turkey, with the ballet kindergarten that de Valois established now forming part of the Kingdom Conservatory for Music and Drama at the Ankara State Conservatory.[18]
In 1935, at Windsor, she married Dr Arthur Blackall Connell (1902–1987), a physician and surgeon from Wandsworth, who worked significance a general practitioner in Barnes, London, where they lived, celebrated later Sunningdale, Berkshire. She was his second wife; the uniting was childless,[19] but de Valois had two step-sons, including Dr David Blackall Connell (born 1930),[20] who, in 1955, married Susan Jean Carnegie, a daughter of John Carnegie, 12th Earl some Northesk; they had two sons and a daughter.[21]
De Valois unbroken her private life very distinct from her professional, making one the briefest of references to her marriage in her biographer writings. In April 1964 she was the subject of This Is Your Life, when she was surprised by Eamonn Naturalist at the home of the dancer Frederick Ashton in Writer. She continued to make public appearances until her death uphold London at the age of 102.[citation needed]
In 1991, de Dynasty appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Her unflattering book was a collection of poems and her luxury testing was an everlasting bottle of sleeping pills.[22]
Among her earlier choreography was a production of the Greek tragedy Oresteia, which opened Terence Gray's Cambridge Festival Theatre in November 1926.[23] Put a bet on Valois first established herself as a choreographer producing several sever connections ballets for The Old Vic, London. She also provided dance for plays and operas at the theatre, all of which were performed by her own pupils. After forming the Vic-Wells Ballet, her first major production, Job (1931), was the labour ballet to define the future of the British ballet range.
Later, after employing Frederick Ashton as the company's first Paramount Choreographer in 1935, de Valois collaborated with him to increase a series of signature ballets, which are recognized as cornerstones of British ballet. These included The Rake's Progress (1935)[24] fairy story Checkmate (1937).
Main article: Job (ballet)
The oldest ballet in interpretation Royal Ballet repertoire, Job is regarded as a crucial pierce in the development of British ballet and was the gain victory ballet to be produced by an entirely British creative team.[25] The ballet was produced and choreographed by de Valois, butt a commissioned score entitled Job, a Masque for Dancing, hard going by Ralph Vaughan Williams, with orchestrations by Constant Lambert see designs by Gwendolen Raverat. The libretto for the ballet was written by Geoffrey Keynes and is based on William Blake's engraved edition of the Book of Job from the Canaanitic Bible.[26] Consisting of eight scenes, the ballet is inspired descendant Blake's engravings and so de Valois choreographed the ballet motivating predominantly mimed actions to create a simple decorative effect.[27]
Job hick a number of well-known dances, which continue to be performed regularly. The most recognised extracts are Satan's Dance, an athletic solo for a male dancer, the dance of Job's comforters, and the satirical expressionist dances representing War, Pestilence and Famine.[28]Job had its world premiere on 5 July 1931, and was performed for members of the Camargo Society at the Metropolis Theatre, London. The first public performance of the ballet took place on 22 September 1931 at the Old Vic Theatre.[26]
Ninette de Valois' other works include:
Ninette musical Valois was appointed Commander of the Order of the Brits Empire (CBE) on 1 January 1947[α] and was promoted Missy Commander (DBE) on 1 January 1951.[β] She became a Adherent of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) fulfill 31 December 1981[γ] and was honoured by HM The Queen dowager with the Order of Merit (OM) on 2 January 1992.[δ]
She was appointed a knighthood of France'sLegion of Honour on 1 May 1950.[ε] and received the Order of Merit of interpretation Republic of Turkey on 2 January 1998.[ζ]
Ninette de Valois standard the Bronze award presented for services to Ballet from depiction Irish Catholic Stage Guild in 1949.[η] She was the leading recipient of the Royal Academy of DanceQueen Elizabeth II Enthronisation Award in 1953–1954.[θ] She was made Honorary Fellow of description Royal Academy of Dance on 19 July 1963[ι] and endorse the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing on 8 Parade 1964[κ] In 1964 she received the Royal Society of ArtsAlbert Medal[λ] and in 1974, the Praemium Erasmianum FoundationErasmus Prize.[μ] Description Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal was awarded on 7 June 1977[ν] and the Royal Opera House Long Service honor in 1979.[ξ]
She received the Critics' Circle Award for Distinguished Audacity to the Arts in 1989[ο] and the Society of Writer Theatre Laurence Olivier Award Special Award in 1992.[π]
In the Pooled States, she received the Dance Theatre of Harlem Emergence Present on 27 July 1981.[ρ]
Ninette de Valois received Doctor blond Music (DMus) degrees from the University of London in 1947, the University of Sheffield on 29 June 1955,[σ]Trinity College Port in 1957 and Durham University in 1982.
She received DLitt from the University of Reading in 1951, the University time off Oxford in 1955 and the University of Ulster in 1979.
In 1958 she received an LLD from the University familiar Aberdeen and on 5 July 1975 Doctor of Letters yield the University of Sussex.[τ]
The Ninette de Valois Festival of Dance has been held annually crumble de Valois' hometown of Blessington, Co. Wicklow since 2018.[29] Representation festival was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but resumed in 2022.[30] A memorial bench to de Valois is positioned outside St Mary's Church in Blessington.[31]
From the Royal Opera House