NOELLA PONTOIS . Biography

(B.1943)
París Opera Ballet

BIOGRAPHY

Noëlla Pontois was born in Vendôme, France, in 1943. She entered the Paris Opéra Ballet School in 1953 and joined the POB in 1961. She was promoted to principal in 1966 and to étoile in 1968. She is remembered for her lightness, exceptional balance, romantic grace and delicate style. Was a frequent partner of Rudolf Nureyev. Retired from the POB in 1983.

She excelled in the 19th-century classical repertoire but also created roles in among others Petit's Adage et variations 1965, Extase 1968 and Mouvances 1976, Descombey's Jazz Suite 1966 and Zyklus 1966, Flindt's Jeux 1973, Alonso's Pas de quatre 1973, Robbins' Scherzo fantastique 1974.

Awards:
Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, 1984

NOELLA PONTOIS

(B.1943)
París Opera Ballet

MARIE-CLAUDE PIETRAGALLA

París Opera Ballet

BIOGRAPHY

Marie-Claude Pietragalla was born in 1962. She studied at the Paris Opéra Ballet School 1973-79. Joined the Paris Opéra Ballet in 1979 and was appointed étoile in 1990. Director of the Ballet National de Marseille since 1998.

MARIE-CLAUDE PIETRAGALLA

París Opera Ballet

MARIE-CLAUDE PIETRAGALLA

París Opera Ballet

MONICA PEREGO

English National Ballet

MONICA PEREGO

English National Ballet

MONICA PEREGO

English National Ballet

LISA PAVANE

BIOGRAFIA (b.1961)

Lisa Pavane studied with Tessa Maunder in Newcastle, New South Wales, and then at the Australian Ballet School before joining the Australian Ballet in 1981. She was promoted to soloist in 1983 and principal in 1986. From her first year with the Australian Ballet she was sought out by Australian choreographers. She created the role of My Fawny in Robert Ray's Poems in 1981, a principal role in Ray's City Dances in 1982, the role of an Apparition in Graeme Murphy's Gallery in 1987 and principal roles in Stephen Baynes' Ballade in 1988 and Catalyst in 1990. To much acclaim she danced leading roles in all the major works in the Australian Ballet's repertoire. She also appeared as a guest artist with Boston Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, at the Sixth and Seventh World Ballet Festivals in Japan and in Budapest with the Munich Staats Opera Ballet.

In July 1994 Pavane, with then husband Greg Horsman, left the Australian Ballet wanting to expand her horizons and feeling unhappy with the way the company was being run under the then artistic director, Maina Gielgud. Pavane and Horsman were appointed senior principals with English National Ballet in September 1994. In London Pavane continued to carve out a strong career as a classical dancer. A notable highlight of her career with the English National Ballet was her casting as Odette/Odile in Derek Deane's arena production of Swan Lake which toured to Australia.

Pavane returned to Australia in 2001, and was appointed to the teaching staff of the Australian Ballet School in 2007.

BRONISLAVA NIJINSKA

(1891 - 1972)
Ballets Russes

ANASTASIA YATSENKO

Bolshoi Ballet

TAMARA GEVA

(1907 - 1997)
Dancer Choreographer George Balanchine

EMMA LIVRY

(1842 - 1863)
París Opera Ballet

EMMA LIVRY

(1842 - 1863)
París Opera Ballet

IRINA BARONOVA

(1919 - 2008)
Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo

IRINA BARONOVA

(1919 - 2008)
Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo

MARIA TALLCHIEF

(B.1925)
New York City Ballet
Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo

OLGA SPESSIVTSEVA

(1895 - 1991)
Mariinsky Ballet

OLGA SPESSIVTSEVA

(1895 - 1991)
Mariinsky Ballet

OLGA SPESSIVTSEVA

(1895 - 1991)
Mariinsky Ballet

OLGA SPESSIVTSEVA

(1895 - 1991)
Mariinsky Ballet

OLGA SPESSIVTSEVA

(1895 - 1991)
Mariinsky Ballet

VERA NEMTCHINOVA . Biography

(1899 - 1984)
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
State Opera in Kaunas
The San Francisco Ballet

BIOGRAPHY

Vera Nemtchinova was born in 1899 in Moscow. She began her dance training at the age of 10. In 1915, Vera auditioned for Serge Grigoriev, of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, and she was hired as a member of the Corps de Ballet. This was the same year that Lena Antonova started with Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. The two would come to be lifelong friends. Vera’s first solos were the Mazurka and Pas de deux in Les Sylphides in 1916. Diaghilev gave Vera the nickname of "Little Vera", as she was younger than Vera Karalli another of Diaghilev’s ballerinas. It was not until 1924 that she would be promoted to Prima Ballerina. It was in that same year, Vera’s danced one of her most famous roles in Bronislava Nijinska's Les Biches.
In 1927 Vera and fellow Diaghilev dancer, Anton Dolin, left the company to form their own company along with Anatole Oboukhoff, who Vera would marry years later. They toured Europe until Dolin left the company to return to the Ballets Russes. Vera went on to be the Prima Ballerina of the State Opera in Kaunas, Lithuania from 1930 to 1935. She also danced with René Blum's Ballet Russe in 1936, Col. de Basil's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1939, and was a guest artist with Ballet Theatre, now ABT, in 1943 and the San Francisco Ballet in 1946.

SONYA TYVEN

(B.1928)
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
New York City Ballet

SONIA WOJCIKOWSKA

(B.1919)
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo

NADIA NERINA

(B.1927)
Royal Ballet

BIOHRAPHY

Nadia Nerina was born in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1927. She studied in South Africa and in 1945 went to London where she studied both at the Rambert School and the Sadler's Wells Ballet School. Joined the SWB in 1946, became soloist in 1947 and principal in 1952. She was a virtuoso soubrette dancer noted for her light jumps, strong feet and suuny disposition. She was a favourite of Ashton's and created many roles for him including Cinderella (1948), Hommage to the Queen (1953), Birthday Offering (1956) and Lise in La Fille mal gardée (1960). She appeared as guest artist at the Bolshoi Ballet and the Kirov Ballet in 1960. She retired in 1969.

NADIA NERINA

(B.1927)
Royal Ballet

ALLA MIKHALCHENCO

(B.1957)
Bolshoi Ballet

NOTICIAS SOBRE ALLA MIKHALCHENCO

Joinville - A quarta-feira foi de emoção para as 150 crianças selecionas pela Escola de Ballet do Teatro Bolshoi de Joinville. A lista dos jovens selecionados para o curso de formação profissional, que começa em março de 2000, saiu ontem pela manhã e dezenas de famílias foram conferir o resultado afixado nas paredes do Centreventos Cau Hansen. Cerca de 800 alunos, de sete a 10 anos, disputaram as vagas. Eles foram selecionados num universo de 23.600 crianças da rede municipal de ensino. Os concorrentes foram avaliados pelas bailarinas russas Alla Mikhalchenco e Galina Bogatireva e por uma junta de profissionais formada por médicos e profissionais de dança. Os aprovados atingiram a média de aptidão física e artística exigida pelo Teatro Bolshoi, na Rússia.

ALLA MIKHALCHENCO

(B.1957)
Bolshoi Ballet

GALINA MEZENTSEVA

(B.1952)
Mariinsky Ballet

GALINA MEZENTSEVA

(B.1952)
Mariinsky Ballet

GALINA MEZENTSEVA

(B.1952)
Mariinsky Ballet

PATRICIA WHILDE . Biography

New York City Ballet

BIOGRAPHY

Patricia Lorrain-Ann White followed in her sister Nora's footsteps to become a dancer. She was born in Ottawa, Canada, where she and Nora received their early training from Gwendolyn Osborne. At the age of 13, Patricia came to New York and studied with Dorothy Littlefield at the School of American Ballet.

A year or so after her arrival she appeared with the American Concert Ballet, and then joined the Marquis de Cuevas's Ballet International. She accompanied George Balanchine and a small group of dancers to Mexico City in the summer of 1945. They danced with the opera company at the Palaciodes Belles Artes and gave a few all-ballet performances, dancing Les Sylphides, Apollo and Constantia. Upon her return to New York City Patricia White joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Because her sister was already a member of the company she changed her name from White to Wilde.
On opening night she danced as a featured performer in three ballets: Danses Concertantes, Concerto Barocco, and Le Beau Danube. During the next four years she danced in just about every ballet in the Ballet Russe repertoire.
In 1949 Wilde decided to go abroad to study. Roland Petit persuaded her to join his company for its Paris season. She was reunited with Balanchine while performing with the English Metropolitan Ballet. Balanchine lured her back to America to join his New York City Ballet just before their first foreign tour to London and other European cities.

Patricia Wilde remained with the New York City Ballet for many years. She once said, "Those were the years in which Balanchine's company hit its prime. Working from 1950 to 1965 was a beautiful time to be working with Mr. B. You had the feeling that what you were doing there was important; what was going on was marvelous."

Balanchine created many roles for Wilde, including the Highland Girl in Scotch Symphony, the Pas de Trois in Swan Lake, and Glinka Pas de Trois, Square Dance, Waltz-Scherzo, Native Dancers, and Raymonda Variations.
Wilde was an amazingly quick study, and a person who would tackle any job with good-humored audacity. She worked her way through the repertory, leaving her personal mark on each part.

Dance critic Toby Tobias wrote, "Her forte was allegro. She was a terre-à-terre dancer, the girl with the gorgeous jump. She has the fastest feet on the City Center Stage."

It was clarity, that beautiful sharpness in Wilde's dancing that gave it its focus. She had projection and showmanship. She has said that her idea of a good dancer is one who has the ability to hold the audience.

In 1965 Wilde left the New York City Ballet. Balanchine, as always, lost interest in his mature dancers as new young talent emerged.
Patricia Wilde was not unemployed for long. She was invited by Rebecca Harkness to become Director of the new Harkness Ballet School in 1965. Unfortunately Harkness's and Wilde's personalities clashed and Wilde left to look for a more satisfying position. She taught for awhile in Geneva, then in 1969 she became company teacher for American Ballet Theatre. She remained with ABT until 1982, when she left to become the Director of the Pittsburgh Ballet. She is still associated with the company as an advisor to Terry Orr, who is now the Director.

Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn

PAMELA MAY

(1917 - 2005)
Royal Ballet

PAMELA MAY

(1917 - 2005)
Royal Ballet

ALICIA MARKOVA

(1910 - 2004)
Royal Ballet
Ballets Russes

BIOGRAFIA

Bailarina inglesa, una de las figuras más importantes del ballet británico. Nació en Londres, y su verdadero nombre era Lilian Alicia Marks. Debutó a los 10 años y en 1924 se unió a los Ballets Rusos, la compañía del empresario Sergei Diáguilev, donde permaneció hasta su disolución en 1929. A la muerte de este, continuó su carrera en el Vic-Wells Ballet (en la actualidad, Royal Ballet), la Camargo Society y el Ballet Rambert. En 1935 fundó su propia compañía con el bailarín británico Anton Dolin, el Markova-Dolin Ballet, que funcionó hasta 1938, y en 1950 juntos crearon el London Festival Ballet. De 1963 a 1969, tras abandonar los escenarios, fue directora del Metropolitan Opera Ballet de Nueva York y de su escuela de danza. Famosa por la ligereza de sus movimientos, la delicadeza de su expresión y la gracia interpretativa, Markova sobresalió en personajes clásicos, como Giselle y El lago de los cisnes, y en otros trabajos de coreógrafos modernos británicos, como Antony Tudor. Falleció el 12 de febrero de 2004.

ALICIA MARKOVA

(1910 - 2004)
Royal Ballet
Ballets Russes

YEKATERINA GELTZER

(1876 - 1962)
Bolshoi Ballet

YEKATERINA GELTZER

(1876 - 1962)
Bolshoi Ballet

SOFIA FEDOROVA

(1879 - 1963)
Bolshoi Ballet
Ballets Russes

SOFIA FEDOROVA

(1879 - 1963)
Bolshoi Ballet
Ballets Russes

NATALIA MAKAROVA - Biography

(B. 1940)
Mariinsky Ballet

BIOGRAPHY

Natalia Makarova was born in Leningrad in 1940. She studied at the Kirov Ballet School and joined the Kirov Ballet in 1959. Defected to the West in 1970 and joined the American Ballet Theatre. Guest ballerina throughout the world.

Repertoire includes:
Giselle, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Hamlet, Apollo, Jardin aux Lilas, Dark Elegies, Pillar of Fire, Romeo and Juliet, La Bayadere, Manon, Checkmate, Les Biches.

Awards:
Gold Medal at the Varna Competition 1965.

NATALIA MAKAROVA

(B. 1940)
Mariinsky Ballet

NATALIA MAKAROVA

(B. 1940)
Mariinsky Ballet

VERA KARALLI . Biography

(1889 - 1972)
Bolshoi Ballet

BIOGRAPHY

Vera Karalli was born in Moscow in 1889. She graduated from the Moscow Theatre School in 1906 (class of Gorsky). Her strength was more of dramatic talent and stage presence than classical technique. With the Bolshoi Theatre she was promoted to soloist after two years and to ballerina in 1915. In 1909 she danced with Diaghilev's company, as well as in 1919 and 1920. She was Gorsky's favourite ballerina and danced all his classical stagings, frequently with Mordkin as her partner. Her oriental beauty and plastic expressivness brought her widespread fame. She also became one of Russias first film stars. She danced and taught in Kaunas, Lithuania, in the 1920's. Between 1930 and 1935 she was ballet mistress of the Romanian Opera in Bucharest. Had her own studio in Paris 1938-41, then taught in Vienna.

VERA KARALLI

(1889 - 1972)
Bolshoi Ballet

VIRGINIA ZUCCHI

(1847 - 1930)
Opera de Berlín
La Scala de Milán

KYRA NICHOLS

(B.1958)
New York City Ballet

BIOGRAFIA

Kyra Nichols was born in Berkeley, California, in 1958. She studied with her mother Sally Streets, a former NYCB dancer, and then with Alan Howard and at the School of American Ballet. She joined New York City Ballet in 1974 and was appointed principal in 1979. She spent her entire career with NYCB and was admired as one of the most classical of their ballerinas.

She dances a wide range of Balanchine roles, but he never created anything for her, except a revision of his Firebird in 1980. She created roles in many Robbins ballets, including The Four Seasons (1979), Rondo (1980), Piano Pieces (1981), I'm Old Fashioned (1983), Antique Epigraphs (1984) and Eight Lines (1985). She also created roles in Martins Histoire du soldat (1981), A Schubertiad (1984), Poulenc Sonata (1985), Tanzspiel (1988), Beethoven Romance (1989) and A Musical Offering (1991).

KYRA NICHOLS

(B.1958)
New York City Ballet