February 1
Born Today:
Mari Bicknell
Dancer Mari Bicknell (1914-2003) performed with Sadler’s Wells Ballet before founding the Cambridge Ballet Workshop, a company that taught young dancers and provided them performance opportunities beginning in 1950 under the name Let’s Make a Ballet. She directed the group until 1980, regularly commissioning scores from British composers.
Also Born Today: Father of a ballet dynasty including dancers Nikolai Legat 1869-1937) and Sergei Legat (1875-1905), Gustav Legat (1837-1895) studied with Marius Petipa (1818 - 1910) and danced with the Maryinsky Theatre from 1857-1869 and with Bolshoi Ballet until 1875. Dancer Waldeen Falkenstein (1913-1993) was born in Dallas, but followed choreographer Seki Sano (1905-1966) to Mexico and established ballet companies there and in Cuba. Ballerina Marina Kondratieva (1934-) performed with the Bolshoi Ballet from 1952-1980 and is best known for creating the role of Katerina in The Stone Flower (1959). Ballerina Ekaterina Maximova (1939-2009), performed with the Bolshoi Ballet from 1958-1980, often partnered by her husband, dancer (and later Bolshoi Director) Vladimir Vasiliev (1940-).
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Movie: The Broadway Melody released in 1929