Born: 20 November 1907, Russia
Died: 13 July 1997
Country most active: International
Also known as: Александра Дионисьевна Данилова
The following is republished from the Library of Congress. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
1907 Born in Peterhof, Russia, near St. Petersburg, on Nov. 20, 1907
1911 Accepted by the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg
1920 Entered the Maryinsky Ballet, the company now known as the Kirov Ballet
1922 Became a soloist in the Maryinsky Ballet
1924 Joined a small ensemble led by George Balanchine for a tour of Western Europe
1924 Joined Sergey Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes (December 1924)
1924-1929 Performed with that company until it disbanded following Diaghilev’s death in 1929
1931-1932 Appeared in operas and stage musical Waltzes from Vienna in London’s West End
1933 Joined Les Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo and made her American debut.
1938-1952 Performed with of Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, becoming prima ballerina in 1938
1954-1956 Performed her own Great Moments of Ballet
1957 Gave her final ballet performance at a gala honouring her at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera House
1957 Returned to the stage for the Broadway musical Oh, Captain!
1964 Became a full-time faculty member at the School of American Ballet and she staged excerpts from classical ballets for the annual workshops
1974-1975 Staged, with Balanchine, the full Coppélia for the New York City Ballet
1977 Appeared in the motion picture The Turning Point in a role based largely on herself
1986 Published her memoirs entitled Choura (with Holly Brubach)
1989 Retired from her faculty position at the School of American Ballet
1989 Recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors
1997 Died July 13, 1997 in New York City