From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Markova in 1940
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Born
| Lilian Alicia Marks
(
1910-12-01
)
1 December 1910
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Died
| 2 December 2004
(2004-12-02)
(aged 94)
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Nationality
| British
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Occupation
| Ballerina
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Title
| Prima ballerina assoluta
and theatre company director
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Alicia Markova
DBE
(born
Lilian Alicia Marks
, 1 December 1910 ? 2 December 2004) was an
English
ballerina
and
choreographer
. She also directed and taught
ballet
. She was the first
British
dancer to become the
prima ballerina
of a ballet company.
[1]
Markova was born and raised in
London
. She was a founder dancer of the
Ballet Rambert
(1931/5), the
Vic-Wells Ballet
(193/5), Markova-Dolin Company (1935/8), danced for the
American Ballet Theatre
(1941/5), and was co-founder and director of the
English National Ballet
. She toured with Dolin after the war until 1949. Her last period as a dancer came with the London Festival Ballet, which became the English National Ballet. She retired from professional dancing in January 1963 at fifty-two.
Markova died at ninety-four in
Bath, Somerset
, of a
stroke
.
Markova's father was Jewish, and her mother converted to the faith. She began studying
ballet
with Princess
Serafina Astafieva
, a Russian ballerina living in London. Astafieva was a retired dancer of the
Ballets Russes
, a renowned ballet company founded by the
impresario
Sergei Diaghilev
.
At 13, Markova was seen in class by Diaghilev, who was visiting London in search of new talent. He invited her to join the Ballets Russes in
Monte Carlo
, which she did in 1925, a month after her 14th birthday. She danced roles which were specially
choreographed
for her. She met some of the leading 20th century figures who worked with the company. They included
Pablo Picasso
,
Henri Matisse
,
Igor Stravinsky
,
Sergei Prokofiev
,
Leonide Massine
,
George Balanchine
, and
Bronislava Nijinska
.
[1]
- ↑
1.0
1.1
Crane, Debra & Mackrill, Judith 2000.
The Oxford dictionary of dance
. Oxford University Press, p315/6.
ISBN
0-19-860106-9
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