Nini Theilade
| Nini Theilade | |
|---|---|
| Born |
15 June 1915 Purwokerto, Indonesia |
| Occupation | Ballet dancer |
| Years active | 1925 – 2013 |
Nini Arlette Theilade (born 15 June 1915) is a Danish ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher.
Born in Purwokerto, Indonesia, her mother, Joanna Catarina, was of Polish, German and French extraction while her father, Hans Theilade, was an engineer. In 1926, on the family's return to Denmark, she attended Asta Mollerup's ballet school in Copenhagen.
After she was refused entry to the Royal Ballet's school when she was 12, her mother took her to Paris, hoping the best teachers of the time would ensure her development. Although Nini soon appeared in Carina Ari's performances in Montreux with the Opéra Comique ballet company, her mother was more ambitious. She decided to place her with the highly reputed Paris school run by Lubov Egorova who trained the stars of the Ballets Russes.
In 1929, when just 14, Theilade appeared in The Hague in a solo programme of various pieces choreographed by Asta Mollerup. She was such a success that she went on tour in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, France, Sweden and Finland. In 1931, she was a guest performer at the Royal Theatre, Copenhagen before touring the United States. From 1931, under Max Reinhardt, she appeared in Berlin, Vienna, Salzburg and Florence. She also starred both as a dancer and singer in Reinhard's Hollywood film A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1935.
From 1938-40, she played many leading roles in the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo which were choreographed for her by Léonide Massine. They included Poverty in Nobilissima Visione and Venus in Bacchanale with costumes by Salvador Dalí. She performed as a guest at New York's Metropolitan Opera dancing to Debussy's Clouds.
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