An Irish Ballerina's Journey Ninette De Valois Part 2

Ninette De Valois 1914

 Ninette de Valois didn't attend regular school instead she was taught by a governess at home before later attending Lila Academy School for Children. During this time, Ninette knew she was passionate about having a career in ballet. Ballet had not become popular in England yet so an official English ballet did not exist at that time. London was the city where French and Russian Ballet companies would tour, so perhaps because of that, England didn't see a need for their own ballet. If that was the case, Ninette De Valois didn't let it stop her from setting out to do what she wanted to do. 

London Lyceum Theater is where Ninette de Valois performed as a dancer in Pantomime during the WWI years; she also began teaching ballet classes. Around 1917, Ninette de Valois changed her name to a more French sounding name she believed doing this would help her career as a dancer. Her mother came up with the name "Ninette de Valois"  she related it to the family's French heritage.

Ninette de Valois made her first stage performance under her new name Ninette de Valois at the London Opera in The Corps de Ballet. She soon after became the principal dancer for Beecham Opera and Ballet Company. During this time, she danced with the ballet companies of famous ballet dancers Leonid Massine and Lydia Lopokova.

In 1919, she was the principal dancer during the opera season at London's Covent Garden. Ninette de Valois was still training under prestigious ballet instructors but a new opportunity presented itself to her when she started working with Anna Pavlova's teacher, Enrico Cecchetti. He was also connected to Diaghilev's famous Ballet Russes and the Ballet Russes were famous for revolutionizing classical dance and merging it with French and Russian ambience.

1923 would be the year Ninette De Valois would join the company of former member Russian Prima Ballerina, Anna Pavlova, who she used to imitate as a child. De Valois spent two years learning and grew as a dancer. She learned through Diaghilev, the business side of a ballet company. Her time with the Ballet Russes would forever change her into the strong woman she would become.