1. Nini Arlette Theilade was a Danish ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher.
11 Facts About Nini Theilade
1. 2.
Nini Theilade was named "Nini", which means "99", because she was reportedly the 99th descendant of a maharajah.
3.
Nini Theilade's mother hoped to place her in the ballet school run by Lubov Egorova, who trained the stars of the Ballets Russes, but the school only admitted adults at the time and she instead studied with Nadya Bryusova.
4.
In 1929, aged 14, Nini Theilade made her debut in The Hague in a solo programme of various pieces choreographed by Asta Mollerup.
5.
Nini Theilade starred both as a dancer and actress in Reinhardt's Hollywood film A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1935.
6.
Nini Theilade performed as a guest at New York's Metropolitan Opera, dancing to Debussy's Clouds.
7.
Nini Theilade was dismissed from the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1940 after meeting and marrying her first husband, Piet Loopuyt, a Dutch financier, in Brazil.
8.
Nini Theilade began her involvement as ballet instructor at Odense Theatre's school, which was to last 30 years.
9.
Nini Theilade left Lyon in 1990 at the age of 75 to return to Denmark, where she continued to be active in drama and dance productions.
10.
Nini Theilade remarried to Arne Buchter-Larsen in 1967; he died in 1987.
11.
Nini Theilade spent her last four years in Hesselager Care Centre in Svendborg Municipality, where she died on 13 February 2018 at the age of 102.