Cleo Nordi

Cleo Nordi (Russian: Клео Норди; 28 January [O.S. 16 January] 1898  Kronstadt, Russian Empire – 30 March 1983 London), was a Russo-Finnish ballerina who danced as a soloist with Anna Pavlova's company before becoming a renowned teacher of the Russian ballet tradition in London.[1] She was involved in three dance-related films.

Cleo Nordi
Born
Клео Норди

(1898-01-28)28 January 1898
Kronstadt, Russian Empire
Died30 March 1983(1983-03-30) (aged 85)
London, United Kingdom
NationalityRussian, British
EducationNikolai Legat, Lyubov Yegorova, Olga Preobrajenska
OccupationBallerina, ballet master, choreographer
Years active1914–1983
MovementRussian ballet

Biography

Nordi trained in St.Petersburg with Nicolai Legat, with Lyubov Yegorova, Olga Preobrajenska and Vera Trefilova and in Helsingfors with George Gé.[2] On 13 December 1924 she made her Paris debut at the Théâtre Fémina in a light entertainment. The following year she became a member of the Paris Opera where she stayed until 1926.[3] Later that year she joined Anna Pavlova's company with which she toured and danced solo roles until the latter’s death in 1931.[4]

Through her marriage to Walford Hayden, Pavlova's musical director and a light orchestra conductor, she was one of the first ballerinas screened on British television in 1934.[5] She made dance arrangements for the musical theatre, sometimes herself appearing in productions and became involved in cinema.[6] She had supporting roles in two films, in Cafe Colette (1937), Latin Quarter (1945) and was choreographer in the production of Caravan (1946). She travelled widely, including to Australia and Asia where she adopted the practice of Kundalini yoga.[7][8]

After the Second world war she settled in London where she held classes in West London and latterly in studios in Scarsdale Villas, and in Eldon Road, Kensington. She became an established and esteemed ballet teacher.[9] Among her hundreds of pupils, notable have been Rukmini Devi Arundale, Tamara Tchinarova, Roger Tully, Nadia Nerina[10] and Pina Bausch.[11]

Cleo Nordi died in Fulham, aged 85 in 1983.

Bibliography
  • Davis, Janet Rowson. "Ballet on British Television, 1932-1935: A Supplement." Dance Chronicle, vol. 7, no. 3, 1984, pp. 294–325. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1567654. Nordi appeared dancing the Tarantella in an early UK television broadcast of ballet in 1934. Retrieved 02.02.2019

See also

References
  1. "Nordi, Cleo (b. 1899)." Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. . Encyclopedia.com. 29 Jan. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
  2. Chronological List of written histories of dance in Finland, Appendix 1. Cleo Nordi features from 1922 to 1924 in different parts of Finland, her father's homeland. https://asiakas.kotisivukone.com/files/...com/appendices.pdf%5B%5D
  3. L'Ouest Éclair, newspaper, 18-11-1925 announces Cleo Nordi of the Paris Opéra in the role of Camille Saint-Saëns' Gipsy https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4967452/f4.image.r=Cleo%20Nordi%20danseuse?rk=557942;4 Retrieved 31-01-2019
  4. "(sound recording) Interview with Cleo Nordi,1977". |author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=February 1, 2019 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox, and Tilden Foundation}}
  5. Davis, Janet Rowson. "Ballet on British Television, 1932-1935: A Supplement." Dance Chronicle, vol. 7, no. 3, 1984, pp. 294–325. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1567654. Retrieved 02.02.2019
  6. Walford Hayden, founder of the noted Café Colette Orchestra retrieved 01-02-2019
  7. Rukmini Devi Arundale https://sruti.com/index.php?route=archives/artist_details&artId=299
  8. Swamy, K. R. N. (22 September 2002) Pavlova steered Uday Shankar towards Indian dancing. The Tribune.
  9. Elfrida Eden Fallowfield. The Dancing Débutante: The adventures of a society beauty on and off the stage. London: Mereo Books. 2014. ISBN 978-1861513335 retrieved 30-01-2019
  10. Roger Salas, "Obituary of Nadia Nerina, ballerina", El País 10 October 2008 https://elpais.com/diario/2008/10/10/necrologicas/1223589601_850215.html (in Spanish) retrieved 03.02.2019
  11. Omita Goyal, ed. (2014). Interrogating Women's Leadership and Empowerment. SAGE Publishing India. ISBN 978-9-3515-0-471-9. Retrieved 4 February 2019.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
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