Ninette de Valois
DBE | |
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Born | Edris Stannus 6 June 1898 |
Died | 8 March 2001 Barnes, London, England, UK | (aged 102)
Nationality | British |
Citizenship | British |
Education |
|
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1900s–1990s |
Organizations | |
Known for | Ballet |
Notable work |
|
Title | Founder and Artistic Director |
Term | 1931–1963 (Royal Ballet) |
Predecessor | None (Founder) |
Successor | Sir Frederick Ashton |
Spouse |
Arthur Blackall Connell
(m. 1935; died 1987) |
Awards |
|
Dame Ninette de Valois
Life
Early life and family
Ninette de Valois was born as Edris Stannus on 6 June 1898 at
Early dancing career
At the age of thirteen Stannus began her professional training at the Lila Field Academy for Children. It was at this time that she changed her name to Ninette de Valois[citation needed] and made her professional debut as a principal dancer in pantomime at the Lyceum Theatre in the West End.
In 1919, at the age of 21, she was appointed principal dancer of the Beecham Opera, which was then the resident opera company at the
Ballets Russes
In 1923, de Valois joined the
London and Dublin dance schools
After leaving the Ballets Russes, in 1927, de Valois established the Academy of Choreographic Art, a dance school for girls in London
Also in 1927, in May, W. B. Yeats, poet and co-founder of the Abbey Theatre, suggested to de 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 of the Abbey Theatre School of Ballet in Dublin. This, the first of perhaps five Irish national ballet school projects during the 20th century,[11] ran until June 1933, and 7 of the 16 final students continued in active dancing, with 2 founding the next national ballet project, the "Abbey School of Ballet".
Choreography
During these years de Valois produced a number of ballets each year, mostly to her own choreography. She also worked with music specially commissioned from Irish contemporary composers such as
Vic-Wells Ballet
This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2017) |
At its formation, the Vic-Wells Ballet had only six female dancers, with de Valois working as lead dancer and choreographer. The company performed its first full ballet production on 5 May 1931 at the Old Vic, with Anton Dolin as guest star. Its first performance at Sadler's Wells Theatre came a few days later, on 15 May 1931. As a result of the success of the company, de Valois hired new dancers and choreographers. She retired fully from the stage herself in 1933, after Alicia Markova joined the company and was appointed as Prima Ballerina.
Under de Valois's direction, the company flourished in the 1930s, becoming one of the first Western dance companies to perform the classical ballet repertoire made famous by the
Eventually, the company included many of the most famous ballet dancers in the world, including Margot Fonteyn, Robert 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 Turkey. Formed as the ballet school of the
The Royal Ballet
In 1956, the ballet company and school were granted a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth II, and formally linked. De Valois made sure that her company had a constant supply of talent, and in later years it had such stars as
De Valois acted as patron or supporter to a number of other projects, including the Cork Ballet Company and the Irish National Ballet Company in Ireland.
Turkish State Ballet
As with ballet in Britain and Ireland, de Valois exerted a great deal of influence on the development of ballet in Turkey, which had no prior history with the art form. The Turkish Government invited her to research the possibility of establishing a ballet school in the country, and she subsequently visited the country in the 1940s, going on to open a school following the same model as her Sadler's Wells Ballet School in London. Initially, very few people took the project seriously, but the school did become firmly established under the direction of Molly Lake and Travis Kemp, who in 1954 had undertaken to run it at de Valois' request;[17] this ultimately led to the development of the Turkish State Ballet.[18]
After training the first set of pupils[who?] at the new school, de Valois produced a number of early performances by the state ballet company, permitting guest appearances by Royal Ballet dancers including Margot Fonteyn, 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 contemporary ballets Les Patineurs, Les Rendezvous and ' by Frederick Ashton, and her own ballets The Rake's Progress, Checkmate and Orpheus.[18]
In 1965, de Valois produced and choreographed the first full-length work created for the new Turkish State Ballet. Titled Çeşmebaşı (At the Fountain), the ballet was the first to feature music composed by a Turkish composer,
Personal life
In 1935, at Windsor, she married Dr Arthur Blackall Connell (1902–1987), a physician and surgeon from Wandsworth, who worked as a general practitioner in Barnes, London, where they lived, and later Sunningdale, Berkshire. She was his second wife; the union 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 of Northesk; they had two sons and a daughter.[21]
De Valois kept her private life very distinct from her professional, making only the briefest of references to her marriage in her autobiographical writings. In April 1964 she was the subject of This Is Your Life, when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the home of the dancer Frederick Ashton in London. She continued to make public appearances until her death in London at the age of 102.[citation needed]
In 1991, de Valois appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Her chosen book was a collection of poems and her luxury item was an everlasting bottle of sleeping pills.[22]
Choreographic works
This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2017) |
Among her earliest choreography was a production of the Greek tragedy
Later, after employing Frederick Ashton as the company's first Principal Choreographer in 1935,[9] de Valois collaborated with him to produce a series of signature ballets, which are recognised as cornerstones of British ballet. These included The Rake's Progress (1935)[24] and Checkmate (1937).[9]
Job (1931)
The oldest ballet in the Royal Ballet repertoire, Job is regarded as a crucial work in the development of British ballet and was the first ballet to be produced by an entirely British creative team.
Job features a number of well-known dances, which continue to be performed regularly. The most recognised extracts are Satan's Dance, an acrobatic 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 Cambridge Theatre, London. The first public performance of the ballet took place on 22 September 1931 at the Old Vic Theatre.[26]
Other works
Ninette de Valois' other works include:
- The Haunted Ballroom (1934)
- The Ballet Club
- The Rake's Progress (1935)
- As You Like It (1936)
- Checkmate (1937)
- Every Goose Can
- The Gods Go A-Begging
- Barabau
- The Prospect Before Us (1940)
- Keloğlan (1950)
- At the Fountain Head (1963)
- Çeşmebaşı (1965), for the Turkish State Opera and Ballet
- Sinfonietta (1966)
- Coppèlia
Honours and awards
Honours
Ninette de Valois was appointed
She was appointed a knighthood of France's Legion of Honour on 1 May 1950.[ε] and received the Order of Merit of the Republic of Turkey on 2 January 1998.[ζ]
Awards
Ninette de Valois received the Bronze award presented for services to Ballet from the Irish Catholic Stage Guild in 1949.
She received the
In the United States, she received the Dance Theatre of Harlem Emergence Award on 27 July 1981.[ρ]
Honoris causa degrees
Ninette de Valois received Doctor of Music (DMus) degrees from the
She received DLitt from the
In 1958 she received an LLD from the University of Aberdeen and on 5 July 1975 Doctor of Letters from the University of Sussex.[τ]
Ninette de Valois Festival of Dance
The Ninette de Valois Festival of Dance has been held annually in de Valois' hometown of Blessington, Co. Wicklow since 2018.[29] The festival was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic but resumed in 2022.[30] A memorial bench to de Valois is situated outside St Mary's Church in Blessington.[31]
Bibliography
- de Valois, Ninette (1937). Invitation to the Ballet. London: Bodley Head. OCLC 59460167.
- de Valois, Ninette (1957). Come Dance with Me; A Memoir, 1898–1956. London: H. Hamilton. OCLC 4063947.
- de Valois, Ninette (1992) [1957]. Come Dance With Me; A Memoir, 1898–1956. Dublin: Lilliput Press. ISBN 0-946640-62-9. Reprint of de Valois (1957).
- de Valois, Ninette (1992) [1957]. Come Dance With Me; A Memoir, 1898–1956. Dublin: Lilliput Press.
- de Valois, Ninette (1977). Step by Step: The Formation of an Establishment. London: W. H. Allen. ISBN 0-491-01598-4.
References
- ^ a b Ninette de Valois. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
- ^ Segal, Lewis. "Dame Ninette de Valois; Influential Founder of Britain's Royal Ballet". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
- ^ "The first wave of classical ballet in Australia". cultureandrecreation.gov.au. 4 April 2009. Archived from the original on 20 November 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
- ^ a b c d Walsh, John (6 June 1998). "Interview: Dame Ninette de Valois: Doyenne of the dance". The Independent. London, UK. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
- ^ Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh Burke's Irish Family Records London 1876
- ^ "Irishwoman who became the mother of British ballet". irishtimes.com. 19 March 2001. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
- ^ Kennedy, Maev (9 March 2001). "Royal Ballet founder dies at 102". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
- ^ "Baltyboys House, Hill and Cairn". Wicklow Heritage. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g De Valois Bequest.
- ISBN 978-3-03911-873-1, pp. 7–39
- ISBN 9783039118731.
- ^ See O'Brien (2011), p. 18
- ^ See O'Brien (2011), p. 31
- ^ See also http://www.abbeytheatremusic.ie
- ^ "Product details / Come Dance With Me; A Memoir". Lilliput Press. Archived from the original on 3 November 2010. Product details for de Valois (1992).
- ^ "Hacettepe University website". Retrieved 6 August 2010.
- ^ Molly Lake. Oxford University Press, 1998.
- ^ a b c "50 Years of Turkish Ballet". Turkish Cultural Foundation. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
- ^ Staff (8 March 2001). "Royal Ballet founder dies". BBC News. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
- ^ Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes, vol. 95, p. 503
- ^ Burke's Peerage 2003, vol. 2, pp. 2, 936
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Dame Ninette De Valois". BBC. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-521-42351-9.
- ^ "The Rake's Progress". Royal Opera House. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- JSTOR 1290777. (subscription required)
- ^ a b "Job". Collections Online: Performance Database. Royal Opera House. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
- ^ "The Camargo Society". streetfighterblog.net. 2009. Archived from the original on 19 April 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
- ^ "Dame Ninette de Valois OM". The Telegraph. 9 March 2001. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
- ^ "Ninette de Valois Festival of Dance". Blessington & District Forum. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- ^ Buchanan, Myles (25 May 2022). "Blessington dance and theatre festival inspired by founder of the Abbey School of Ballet, Ninette de Valois". The Irish Indepdendent. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- ^ "Dame Ninette De Valois". Blessington & District Forum. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
From the Royal Opera House
- "Ninette de Valois Bequest and Papers". Royal Opera House Collections Online. rohcollections.org.uk. Retrieved 31 July 2010. Biography on main page, digitised items from the collection on subpages.
- ^ "Ninette de Valois, CBE". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "Ninette de Valois, DBE". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "Ninette de Valois, CH". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "Order of Merit". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "Légion d'Honneur". De Valois Bequest. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
- ^ "Turkish Honour of Merit". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "For Services to Ballet". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "RAD Coronation Award". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "Ninette de Valois, FRAD". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "Ninette de Valois, FISTD". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "Albert Medal". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "Erasmus Prize". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "Silver Jubilee Medal". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "ROH Long Service Medal". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "Critics' Circle Award". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "Laurence Olivier Award". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "Emergence Award". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "Doctor of Music, Sheffield". De Valois Bequest.
- ^ "Doctor of Letters, Sussex". De Valois Bequest.
See also
- Category:Ballets by Ninette de Valois
- List of people on stamps of Ireland
- Women in dance
External links
- Dame Ninette de Valois obituary, The Independent
- London Ballet Circle website Archived 8 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine, londonballetcircle.co.uk
- Profile, pcah.us
- Profile, ballerinagallery.com
- Ninette de Valois profile, peopleplayuk.org.uk
- Ninette de Valois, Royal Ballet Founder, Dies at 102, nytimes.com
- Kathrine Sorley Walker, "The Festival and the Abbey: Ninette de Valois' Early Choreography, 1925–1934, Part One", Dance Chronicle, Vol. 7, No. 4 (1984–1985), pp. 379–412
- Ninette de Valois profile; archived 1 November 2009
- Biography: Ninette de Valois, answers.com
- "Call Her 'Madame'", encyclopedia.com
- Ninette de Valois profile, Ricorso.net
- Ninette de Valois at IMDb