Alexandra Danilova

Alexandra Danilova
Danilova as Fanny Cerrito in Pas de Quatre, 1948
Native name	Александра Дионисьевна Данилова
Born	Aleksandra Dionisyevna Danilova (1903-11-20)November 20, 1903 Peterhof, Russia
Died	July 13, 1997(1997-07-13) (aged 93) New York City, U.S.
Nationality	Russian; naturalized American (1946)
Occupation	Ballerina, teacher
Spouse(s)	Giuseppe Massera (m. 1934) Kazimir Kokich (m. 1941)
Awards	Capezio Dance Award, 1958 Mae L. Wien Award, 1989 Kennedy Center Honoree, 1989

Aleksandra Dionisyevna Danilova (Russian: Александра Дионисьевна Данилова; November 20, 1903 – July 13, 1997) was a Russian-born prima ballerina, who became an American citizen. In 1989, she was recognized for lifetime achievements in ballet as a Kennedy Center Honoree.

Born in Peterhof, Russia on November 20, 1903, she trained at the Russian Imperial Ballet School in Leningrad (formerly and currently St. Petersburg). She was one of the few Russian-trained ballerinas to tour outside Russia. Her first professional post was as a member of St. Petersburg's Imperial Ballet.

In 1924, she and George Balanchine left Russia. They were soon picked up by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes; Danilova as a dancer, Balanchine as a choreographer. Danilova toured for years with the Ballets Russes under Sergei Diaghilev, then with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo after Diaghilev's death. With the latter company, Danilova and Frederic Franklin created one of the legendary ballet partnerships of the twentieth century. Danilova became known for her glamour and beautiful legs, as well as her work ethic and professionalism.

The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo presented Gaîté Parisienne in the U.S. for the first time at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, on 12 October 1938, with Danilova as the Glove Seller. Portraying her as a vivacious, glamorous, sophisticated woman of the world, Danilova in Gaîté became one of the attractions of the Ballet Russe, and the ballet often concluded a season's opening-night performance. On the opening night of the company's 1941 season in New York, when Danilova made her first entrance she was given a spontaneous ovation that stopped the show. Such show-stopping ovations thenceforth became a tradition of every opening-night Gaîté with Danilova.