Lucia Nifontova | |
---|---|
Born | August 30, 1913 Helsinki, Finland |
Died | April 6, 1987 Helsinki, Finland | (aged 73)
Occupation | Ballet dancer |
Years active | 1927–1947 |
Organization(s) | Finnish National Ballet, Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo |
Awards | Pro Finlandia (1955) |
Lucia Nifontova-Saurama (born Russian: Любовь Андреевна Нифонтова, romanized: Lyubov Andreyevna Nifontova; 30 August 1913 – 6 April 1987), better known as Lucia Nifontova, was a Finnish ballet dancer and Finland’s first prima ballerina assoluta. In the 1930s and 40s she and her partner Arvo Martikainen were the leading dancers in Finland and among the foremost artists in Finnish ballet of all time periods.[1][2]: para. 1 [3]: ch. 45 Her performances of Odette and Odile in Swan Lake were especially noted for their artistic accomplishment and emotional interpretation.[4][2]: para. 7
Nifontova was born in Helsinki, then part of the Russian Empire, to Andrei Ivanovich Nifontov (Russian: Андрей Иванович Нифонтов; 1876–1962), a Russian imperial civil servant, and Alexandra Nifontova (née Teresia Emilia Grönros[a]; 1879–1945) of Tuusula. She was called Lucia both at home and in public.[5]: para. 8
She spent six years at a Russian-language elementary school in Helsinki, after which she entered the Hilma Liiman Dance School and then continued her studies at the Helsinki Dance Institute[b]. There she studied under ballerinas from the Mariinsky Theatre Elisabeth Apostoli and Mary Paischeff.[5] Her first public performance was at age 12 in Hollandsflickan ("The Little Dutch Girl") at Helsinki’s Swedish Theatre.[2]
Dancer and choreographer George GéFinnish National Ballet, over which he was the ballet master.[2] There she studied under Gé and other Russian immigrants such as Lyubov Yegorova, Mathilde Kschessinska, Nikolai Legat and Olga Preobrajenska.[5] In 1928 she danced the lead role of Clara in the first performance of The Nutcracker outside Russia.[6] Dancing the role of the Nutcracker Prince was Martikainen, who was to be paired with Nifontova in numerous productions up through the year of his death in 1946.[7] Over the next seven years she danced lead roles in The Sleeping Beauty, Petrushka, Le Spectre de la rose, Swan Lake, Coppélia, Le Bal and Die Puppenfee.[8] She also appeared in a few Finnish films, usually in dancing scenes.[9]
noticed Nifontova’s talent and brought her to theDuring the global depression of the 1930s the Finnish National Ballet suffered great difficulties in paying its artists,[10] and in 1935 Nifontova and Martikainen, along with Gé, Kschessinska and Preobrajenska, left Finland and joined René Blum's Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo.[3]: chap. 14 Nifontova’s coach in the new company was the groundbreaking choreographer Michel Fokine.[5] They performed in Paris, London and South Africa, among other locales.[2]
In 1938 retired soprano Aino Ackté took over direction of the Finnish National Ballet and Nifontova returned for two seasons, performing the lead roles in The Sleeping Beauty, Onnen linna and Le Pavillon d'Armide. After that Nifontova danced periodically as a guest artist at the Finnish National Ballet as well as abroad.[2][8]
In 1941 she directed a production of Les Sylphides using choreography she had learned from Fokine.[11][12][3]: ch. 19 She and Martikainen also taught advanced classes in Fokine’s difficult techniques.[3]: ch. 34 Her final performance was in 1947 as Odette in Swan Lake.[5][13]
In 1938 she married Eero Saurama (1903–1964), a senior official in the National Coalition Party. They had one son, Antti Saurama (1941–2010).[14] She died aged 73 in 1987 at Meilahti Hospital[2] and is buried next to her parents and son in Helsinki Orthodox Cemetery .
In 1945 Nifontova was named the best classical dancer at an international choreography contest organized by Rolf de Maré in Stockholm.[2][3]: ch. 42 In 1955 she was awarded the Pro Finlandia medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland, the country’s highest honor for artists. Her name lives on (as of 2020[update]) in the Lucia Nifontova scholarship distributed by Pro Dance to dance students and teachers.[15]
Ballets, operas and operettas at the Finnish National Opera and Ballet, excluding performances on tour:[8]
Dessa två dansares partnerskap räknas till det förnämsta inom finländsk balettkonst.[The partnership of these two dancers is considered the most distinguished in the art of Finnish ballet.]
Nifontovaa ylistettiin koko Pohjolan prima ballerinana. Hänen liikkeensä ovat puhtaat ja sielukkaat, ja Odetten ja prinssin adagio oli niin kaunis, että kurkkua kuristi, kirjoitti Robin Hood, teräväsanainen ja balettia tunteva kriitikko.[Nifontova was praised as the prima ballerina of the whole of the North. Her movements were pure and soulful, and Odette's and the prince's Adagio was so beautiful my throat choked, wrote Robin Hood, a sharp-witted critic knowledgeable in ballet.]
Toinen piirre oli jatkuva rahapula, joka uhkasi baletin olemassaoloa. Se karkotti ulkomaille ajan huomattavimmat taiteilijat ...[Another trend was the constant shortage of money that threatened the existence of the ballet. It drove away the most prominent artists of the time ...]
18.10.1941 alkaen toteutus Lucia Nifontova.[Starting 1941-10-18 the staging was by Lucia Nifontova.]
Fokinin mukaan uudestaan harjoittanut Lucia Nifontowa-Saurama.
Saurama oli priimaballerina Lucia Nifontovan ja Helsingin kokoomuksen toiminnanjohtajan Eero Sauraman ainoa lapsi.[Saurama was the only child of prima ballerina Lucia Nifontova and Eero Saurama, executive director of the Helsinki district of the National Coalition Party.]