10 Facts About Yolanda Sonnabend

Yolanda Paulina Tamara Sonnabend was a British theatre and ballet designer and painter, primarily of portraits.

Yolanda Sonnabend's father was of German-Jewish descent and her mother was of Russian-Jewish descent.

Yolanda Sonnabend subsequently taught at the Camberwell School of Art, the Slade, the Central School and at the Wimbledon School of Art.

Yolanda Sonnabend worked as a theatre and ballet designer for the Royal Opera House and the Royal Ballet, as well as Sadler's Wells, the Oxford Playhouse and Stuttgart Ballet.

Yolanda Sonnabend designed her first ballet, "A Blue Rose" by Peter Wright, in 1957 when she was a student at the Slade School of Fine Art.

Yolanda Sonnabend first collaborated with Kenneth MacMillan in 1963 on Symphony and worked with him for over thirty years, including Rituals, Requiem, My Brother, My Sisters and Valley of Shadows.

Yolanda Sonnabend was a painter with Kenneth MacMillan and Physicist Stephen Hawking being two of her most noteworthy subjects.

Yolanda Sonnabend was the subject of three National Portrait Gallery portraits.

Yolanda Sonnabend died in England on 9 November 2015, aged 80.

Yolanda Sonnabend was unmarried and survived by her brother Joseph.