Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Natalia Clare, RIP

Famed Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo dancer:
She studied ballet with Bronislava Nijinska, one of impresario Sergei Diaghilev's stable of choreographers, and made her professional debut in 1940 dancing for Nijinska at the Hollywood Bowl.

In 1942, Colonel de Basil, director of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, invited her to join his company, and she danced for him throughout the world.

She married Oleg Tupine, a Ballets Russes star, in 1945, and they became a team onstage as well. A 1956 Times review praised their "virtuosity of more than average caliber and, above all, teamwork which, for its unusual precision, pointed to a long association in many a recital."

In 1948, Clare joined Sergei Denham's competing Ballet Russe company as a principal dancer, performing leading roles in such classics as "Les Sylphides," "Gaîté Parisienne," "Raymonda," "Coppélia," "Graduation Ball," "Aurora's Wedding" and "The Nutcracker." She and Tupine then danced for the Markova-Dolin Ballet and other troupes, including one of their own.

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