Marguerite Thoresen

Rita Tori (born Marguerite Thoresen; 17 June 1908 – 16 August 1967) was an international noted, Norwegian ballet dancer and choreographer.[1]

Rita Tori in 1929, one year before her debut in the Monte Carlo Opera.

She was born to Norwegian parents living in Shanghai, China. Her father, Olaf Thoresen (1870-1937), managed a Chinese-based Norwegian trading company (Det Oversøiske Compagnie). She studied ballet from an early age, training in both London and Paris. Among other dance instructors, she studied under Lyubov Yegorova.

She debuted at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in 1930. She danced in René Blums Ballets de Monte Carlo in 1936 and opened a dance academy in Oslo that same year. From 1953–58, she was the Director of the Norwegian Ballet (Den Norske Ballett).[2] [3]

During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany she was imprisoned in Åkebergveien from 21 September 1944, then in Grini concentration camp from 3 November 1944 until her release on 26 March 1945.[4]

Death

She died in Norway in 1967 and was awarded the Norwegian King's Medal of Merit upon her death.

References
  1. Hans-Christian Arent. "Rita Tori". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  2. Valdemar Hansteen. "Rita Tori - Ballettdanser, Koreograf, Pedagog". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  3. "Det Oversøiske Compagnie". University of Bergen. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  4. Ottosen, Kristian, ed. (2004). Nordmenn i fangenskap 1940–1945 (in Norwegian) (2nd ed.). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. p. 680. ISBN 82-15-00288-9.


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