Nadia Nerina

Nadia Nerina, who was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, was one of the young Commonwealth dancers who revitalized the then-Sadler's Wells Ballet in the years following WWII. Nerina was also totally lovely as the title character in Ashton's Ondine, conceived in 1964 for Margot Fonteyn, who was deemed irreplaceable at the time. She worked her way up through the corps de ballet, but De Valois quickly recognized her distinctiveness when she saw Nerina perform the pas de trios in Swan Lake, recognizing and promoting what Nerina characterized as "my natural style."

A superb Royal Ballet main ballerina whose bravado earned her praise in Russia. She became immortal after having Frederick Ashton's masterpiece La Fille mal gardée produced by her. She was renowned as Covent Garden's top technical in the 1950s and 1960s, and she both impressed and humbled Rudolf Nureyev when he attempted to show off in a performance of Giselle with a series of 16 entrechats six (leap with fast changes of foot). A few nights later, with Nureyev watching from the stalls, Nadia Nerina (replacing the normal fouettés) doubled his accomplishment to 32 - an unheard-of feat for a female dancer - and an angry Nureyev rushed out of the theater.

Born: 1927
Died: 2008
Nationality: African