An Irish Ballerina's Journey Ninette De Valois Part 1

 

Photo of a young Ninette De Valois from the 1920's

Irish Ballerina Ninette De Valois, made the Royal Ballet  one of the top leading ballet companies in the world, without her, Britain wouldn’t have had a Ballet.

Ninette De Valois was her stage name created by her Mother to sound more French and she thought having a french name could help her professionally and earn more jobs in ballet.

Her real name was Edris Stannus born June 6, 1898  outside of an Irish Village near Blessingham County Wicklow, Ireland. Her Father was a British Officer and her family was living on an estate called the Baltiboys.

 It was at Baltiboys  where a young Ninette De Valois was introduced to dance by one of the  estate staff members who taught her the Irish jig. She immediately took to the dance and performed it in front of her family at a party. This was her first ever live performance. 

In 1905  the family relocated to England and Ninette De Valois, who loved dancing, started taking dance classes. De Valois suffered from polio and the damage caused her pain sometimes, when she danced.

When she was thirteen she took interest in ballet and studied under the ballet teacher Lila Field. During 1912 she was a part of her first ballet dance troupe “Wonder Children Troupe”. 

Ninette De Valois was a fan of Anna Pavlova, the Russian Prima Ballerina, and in De Valois dance troupe she would often imitate  her in Anna Pavlova’s Dying Swan role. But as much as Ninette De Valois admired Pavlova, she still wished there was a British Ballerina role model for her. 

Ballet back then was  recognized  in Russia and France as in art form, but it hadn’t gotten popular yet in England. Ninette De Valois created a goal for herself; she wanted to create a ballet in Britain. Her passion for ballet drove her all the way into adulthood.