June 18
Born Today:
Leonid Lavrovsky
Ballet dancer and choreographer Leonid Lavrovsky (1905-1967) performed with the Maryinsky Ballet and in a group with the young George Balanchine (1904-1983). In the late 1930s, Lavrovsky directed the Kirov Ballet (previous name of the Maryinsky Ballet) and worked with the composer Sergei Prokofiev to finally produce the ballet Romeo and Juliet (1940), a prime example of a Soviet dramatic ballet. In 1944, Lavrovsky was named the head balletmaster of the Bolshoi Ballet and held that post until 1964.
Also Born Today: Modern dancer Ethel Winter (1924-2012) danced with Martha Graham (1894-1991) from the 1940s-1960s and taught dance at Juilliard for 50 years before retiring in 2003. Hungarian choreographer and ballet teacher Ágnes Roboz (1926-2021) led folk dance groups in the 1950s and was a founding teacher at the Hungarian Dance Academy before joining the Royal Ballet teaching staff. Italian singer/actor/dancer Raffaella Carrà (1943-2021) studied at the National Academy of dance in Rome and continued singing and dancing on TV shows in the 1970s. Ballet dancer Derek Deane (1953-) danced for the Royal Ballet in the 1970s-1980s and was the Artistic Director of the English National Ballet from 1993-2001.