Ninette de Valois

Dame
Ninette de Valois
OM CH DBE
Dame Ninette de Valois OMCHDBE
	de Valois (c. 1920s)
Born	Edris Stannus; 6 June 1898; Blessington,Ireland
Died	8 March 2001(aged 102); Barnes, London,England
Nationality	British
Education	Lila Field Academy for Children; Edouard Espinosa; Enrico Cecchetti; Nicholas Legat;
Occupations	Ballet dancer; Ballet teacher and coach; Choreographer; Company director;
Years active	1900s–1990s
Organizations	The Royal Ballet; Birmingham Royal Ballet; Royal Ballet School;
Known for	Ballet
Notable work	Job(Choreographer); Checkmate(Choreographer);
Title	Founder and Artistic Director
Term	1931–1963 (Royal Ballet)
Predecessor	None (Founder)
Successor	SirFrederick Ashton
Spouse	Arthur Blackall Connell (m.1935; died 1987)
Awards	Albert Medal(1964); Laurence Olivier Award(1992); Legion of Honour– Knight (1950);

Dame Ninette de ValoisOM CH DBE(bornEdris Stannus;6 June 1898 – 8 March 2001) was an Irish-born British^[1]dancer,teacher,choreographer,and director ofclassical ballet.Most notably, she danced professionally withSerge Diaghilev'sBallets Russes,later establishing theRoyal Ballet,one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century and one of the leading ballet companies in the world. She also established theRoyal Ballet Schooland the touring company which became theBirmingham Royal Ballet.She is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of ballet and as the "godmother" of English and Irish ballet.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Life

Early life and family

Ninette de Valois was born as Edris Stannus on 6 June 1898 atBaltyboys House,an 18th-century manor house near the town ofBlessington,County Wicklow,Ireland,then still part of theUnited Kingdom.A member of agentryfamily, she was the second daughter ofLieutenant ColonelThomas StannusDSO,^[5]a British Army officer, and Elizabeth Graydon Smith, a glassmaker known as "Lilith Stannus".^[6]^[7]She was the maternal great-granddaughter of the diaristElizabeth Grant Smithand the maternal great-great-granddaughter of Scottish politicianJohn Peter Grant.^[8]Through her mother she was also the great-grandniece ofSir John Peter Grantand a first cousin twice removed ofLady Strachey.In 1905 she moved to England,^[9]to live with her grandmother inKent.She started attending ballet lessons in 1908, at the age of ten.

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 theLyceum Theatrein theWest 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 theRoyal Opera House.She continued to study ballet with notable teachers, includingEdouard Espinosa,Enrico CecchettiandNicholas Legat.^[9]

Ballets Russes

In 1923, de Valois joined theBallets Russes,a renowned ballet company founded by the Russian impresarioSergei Diaghilev.She remained with the company for three years, performing around Europe and being promoted to the rank ofSoloist,and creating roles in some of the company's most famous ballets, includingLes bichesandLe Train Bleu.^[9]During this time, she was also mentor toAlicia Markovawho was only a child at the time, but would eventually be recognized as aPrima Ballerina Assolutaand one of the most famous English dancers of all time. Later in her life, Valois said that everything she knew about how to run a ballet company she learned from working with Diaghilev.^[4]She stepped back from regular intense dancing in 1924, after doctors detected damage from a previously undiagnosed case of childhoodpolio.^[1]

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^[4]and the Abbey Theatre School of Ballet, Dublin.^[10]In London, her ultimate goal was to form a repertory ballet company, with dancers drawn from the school and trained in a uniquely British style of ballet.^[9]Students of the school were given professional stage experience performing in opera and plays staged atThe Old Vic,with de Valois choreographing several short ballets for the theatre.Lilian Bayliswas the owner of the Old Vic at that time, and in 1928 she also acquired and refurbished theSadler's Wells Theatre,with the intention of creating a sister theatre to the Old Vic. She employed de Valois to stage full-scale dance productions at both theatres and when the Sadler's Wells theatre re-opened in 1931, de Valois moved her school into studios there, under the new name, theSadler's Wells Ballet School.A ballet company was also formed, known as theVic-Wells Ballet.The Vic-Wells ballet company and school would be the predecessors of today'sRoyal Ballet,Birmingham Royal BalletandRoyal Ballet School.

Also in 1927, in May,W. B. Yeats,poet and co-founder of theAbbey 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 asHarold R. White'sThe Faun(April 1928),^[12]Arthur Duff'sThe Drinking HornandJohn F. Larchet'sBluebeard(both in July 1933).^[13]^[14]

Vic-Wells Ballet

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, withAnton Dolinas 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, afterAlicia Markovajoined 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 theImperial Russian Ballet.She also set about establishing a British repertory, engagingFrederick Ashtonas Principal Choreographer andConstant Lambertas musical director in 1935.^[4]She also choreographed a number of her own ballets, including her most notable works,Job(1931),The Rake's Progress(1935) andCheckmate(1937).

Eventually, the company included many of the most famous ballet dancers in the world, includingMargot Fonteyn,Robert Helpmann,Moira Shearer,Beryl Grey,andMichael 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 theTurkish State Opera and BalletinIstanbul,the school was later absorbed into and became the School of Music & Ballet atAnkara State Conservatory,a department of theHacettepe University.^[15]^[16]

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 asSvetlana Beriosova,Antoinette Sibley,Nadia Nerina,Lynn Seymour,and, most sensationally,Rudolf Nureyev.^{[citation needed]}She also invited choreographers such as SirKenneth MacMillanandGeorge Balanchineto work with her company. She formally retired from the Royal Ballet directorship in 1963, but her presence continued to loom large in the company,^{[citation needed]}and the same was true with the School, from which she formally retired in 1970.

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 ofMolly Lake and Travis Kemp,who in 1954 had undertaken to run it at de Valois' request;^[17]this ultimately led to the development of theTurkish 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 includingMargot Fonteyn,Nadia Nerina,Anya Linden,Michael SomesandDavid Blair.She mounted productions of the traditional classical repertoire includingCoppélia,Giselle,Swan LakeandThe Nutcracker,as well as the contemporary balletsLes Patineurs,Les Rendezvousand ' by Frederick Ashton, and her own balletsThe Rake's Progress,CheckmateandOrpheus.^[18]

In 1965, de Valois produced and choreographed the first full-length work created for the new Turkish State Ballet. TitledÇeşmebaşı(At the Fountain), the ballet was the first to feature music composed by a Turkish composer,Ferit Tuzun,and its choreography incorporated elements of Turkish folk dance. Further ballets followed, and the company continued to develop. Today, ballet continues to be a thriving art form in Turkey, with the ballet school that de Valois established now forming part of the State Conservatory for Music and Drama at theAnkara State Conservatory.^[18]

Personal life

In 1935, atWindsor,she married Dr Arthur Blackall Connell (1902–1987), a physician and surgeon fromWandsworth,who worked as a general practitioner inBarnes,London, where they lived, and laterSunningdale,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 ofJohn 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 ofThis Is Your Life,when she was surprised byEamonn Andrewsat the home of the dancerFrederick Ashtonin 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'sDesert Island Discs.Her chosen book was a collection of poems and her luxury item was an everlasting bottle ofsleeping pills.^[22]

Choreographic works

Among her earliest choreography was a production of the Greek tragedyOresteia,which openedTerence Gray'sCambridge Festival Theatrein November 1926.^[23]De Valois first established herself as a choreographer producing several short ballets for theThe Old Vic,London. She also provided choreography for plays and operas at the theatre, all of which were performed by her own pupils.^[9]After forming the Vic-Wells Ballet, her first major production,Job(1931), was the first ballet to define the future of the British ballet repertoire.

Later, after employingFrederick Ashtonas the company's first Principal Choreographer in 1935,^[9]de Valois collaborated with him to produce a series of signature ballets, which are recognized as cornerstones of British ballet. These includedThe Rake's Progress(1935)^[24]andCheckmate(1937).^[9]

Job(1931)

The oldest ballet in the Royal Ballet repertoire,Jobis 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.^[25]The ballet was produced and choreographed by de Valois, with a commissioned score entitledJob, a Masque for Dancing,written byRalph Vaughan Williams,with orchestrations byConstant Lambertand designs byGwendolen Raverat.The libretto for the ballet was written byGeoffrey Keynesand is based onWilliam Blake's engraved edition of theBook of Jobfrom theHebrew Bible.^[26]Consisting of eight scenes, the ballet is inspired by Blake's engravings and so de Valois choreographed the ballet using predominantly mimed actions to create a simple decorative effect.^[27]

Jobfeatures a number of well-known dances, which continue to be performed regularly. The most recognised extracts areSatan's Dance,an acrobatic solo for a male dancer, the dance of Job's comforters, and the satirical expressionist dances representingWar,PestilenceandFamine.^[28]Jobhad its world premiere on 5 July 1931, and was performed for members of the Camargo Society at theCambridge 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)
Bar aux Folies-Bergère(1934), forThe 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 theTurkish State Opera and Ballet
Sinfonietta(1966)
Coppèlia

Honours and awards

Honours

Ninette de Valois was appointed Commander of theOrder of the British Empire(CBE) on 1 January 1947^[α]and was promotedDame Commander(DBE) on 1 January 1951.^[β]She became aMember of the Order of the Companions of Honour(CH) on 31 December 1981^[γ]and was honoured byHM The Queenwith theOrder of Merit(OM) on 2 January 1992.^[δ]

She was appointed aknighthoodofFrance's Legion of Honouron 1 May 1950.^[ε]and received theOrder of Merit of the Republic of Turkeyon 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.^[η]She was the first recipient of theRoyal Academy of Dance Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Awardin 1953–1954.^[θ]She was made Honorary Fellow of theRoyal Academy of Danceon 19 July 1963^[ι]and of theImperial Society of Teachers of Dancingon 8 March 1964^[κ]In 1964 she received theRoyal Society of Arts Albert Medal^[λ]and in 1974, thePraemium Erasmianum Foundation Erasmus Prize.^[μ]TheQueen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medalwas awarded on 7 June 1977^[ν]and theRoyal Opera HouseLong Service medal in 1979.^[ξ]

She received theCritics' Circle Award for Distinguished Service to the Artsin 1989^[ο]and the Society of London TheatreLaurence Olivier AwardSpecial Award in 1992.^[π]

In the United States, she received theDance Theatre of HarlemEmergence Award on 27 July 1981.^[ρ]

Honoris causadegrees

Ninette de Valois received Doctor of Music (DMus) degrees from theUniversity of Londonin 1947, theUniversity of Sheffieldon 29 June 1955,^[σ]Trinity College Dublinin 1957 andDurham Universityin 1982.

She received DLitt from theUniversity of Readingin 1951, theUniversity of Oxfordin 1955 and theUniversity of Ulsterin 1979.

In 1958 she received an LLD from theUniversity of Aberdeenand on 5 July 1975 Doctor of Letters from theUniversity of Sussex.^[τ]