Golo Mann
German-Swiss historian (1909-1994)
British dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
Dame Ninette de Valois was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, later establishing the Royal Ballet, one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century and one of the leading ballet companies in the world.
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About the Ninette de Valois
Dame Ninette de Valois was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, later establishing the Royal Ballet, one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century and one of the leading ballet companies in the world. She also established the Royal Ballet School and the touring company which became the Birmingham Royal Ballet. She is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of ballet and as the “godmother” of English and Irish ballet.
20 Quotes by Ninette de Valois
- 1.
First of all, the most important, that is to learn everything good that has survived from other times, and carefully to watch the bad – and throw it out.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 2.
Somebody must always be doing something new, or life would get very dull.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 3.
Nearly everything in life goes in threes and fours.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 4.
As time goes on, all schools only get left alive if they have found something special themselves.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 5.
Exactly the same with dancing, you can’t dance until you’ve learnt steps, the things your feet can do.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 6.
There’s nothing in the world that isn’t good, bad, and indifferent.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 7.
God gave us all exactly the same fingers, arms, legs, and feet, but in our different countries we divided them all a little differently as we feel it, do you understand?
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 8.
There would never have been a British Ballet without Diaghilev. He had a wonderful influence.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 9.
The best way to study is to go to the Cecchetti method for about a year and draw onto all the highest points and then put that into the general method.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 10.
Hardly any generation wants to take the whole of the last generation, it just wants to take its best bits.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 11.
All the children in the school should learn the steps of everything, before they learn the thing, then they know which step they’re doing better, because your voice is in certain steps and has to do most of the things that have been composed in those steps.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 12.
Oh yes, technique has definitely advanced. But you never advance without losing something en passant, and you lose it because you’re paying so much attention to the new thing.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 13.
Also, if you have an accident, you can’t start to dance again at the top, you’re too weak; you start with the easy things – the way you did them when you were young, and come up up up, the way you did then.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 14.
And then you have the classical ballerinas, they’re like sopranos. Applied to the dance.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 15.
Classical ballet will never die.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 16.
Oh yes, after the war, and we were all starving – we had no proper food or anything – no proper shoes.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 17.
You can’t stop what comes into a country, you can be influenced, but you can’t stop it, you shouldn’t, because it makes all the others interesting, we all get muddled up together, and produce something that belongs to everyone.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 18.
Well, I mean, we are developing the other parts, and we can’t give quite all our attention to the upper part, but soon the lower parts will be developed, and the upper part and the lower part will become partners, that will be wonderful.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 19.
It’s either not good enough and dies altogether, or it develops.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet
- 20.
So it takes years to make a solid company.
Ninette de ValoisBritish dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet