Born: 21 October, 1927, in South Africa. Died: 6 October, 2008, in the south of France, aged 80.
NADIA Nerina, who began taking ballet lessons as a child because of her weak feet, became one of the outstanding ballerinas of the Royal Ballet (RB) in what has been hailed a golden era. The company was led by Margot Fonteyn and Nerina, and many
other dancers (Lynn Seymour, Antoinette Sibley, Deanne Bergsma etc,) vied for principal roles. With her brilliant technique and facility through the air, Nerina proved a remarkable interpreter of classic roles and many contemporary works.
Choreographer Frederick Aston created one of his greatest masterpieces, La Fille Mal Gardee, on her virtuosity and charming stage presence. Immediately after Rudolf Nureyev's arrival with the RB it was expected Nerina would be his official partner, but things were to turn out very differently.
Nerina often came to Scotland when the RB toured here in the 1960s. Memorable performances at the King's theatres in Edinburgh and Glasgow made her popular with Scottish audiences and her dancing of La Fille in 1966 is fondly remembered by many. She came to four Edinburgh festivals with the RB and thrilled audiences in The Firebird (1952 and 1954), Birthday Offering (1956) and Petrushka (1960).
Nadia Nerina (born Nadine Judd) came to London in 1944 and trained at the Rambert and Sadler's Wells ballet schools before joining the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet (later the Royal Ballet) in 1946, becoming a principal in 1952. She had outstanding agility and spontaneity from an early age and was soon taking important roles in all the great classical ballets.
She was also cast in new ballets – in 1946 she created the role of the Circus Dancer in Andrée Howard's Mardi Gras, and in Ashton's celebrated Birthday Offering Nerina had a solo which showed her virtuosity in the air.
In 1948 she danced the title role of the new production of Cinderella, taking over from an indisposed Moira Shearer. In 1960 Ashton created his glorious pastoral romp La Fille Mal Gardee, the principal role of which Nerina made her own. Her delightful stage manner captured the essence of the ballet and in what is a tremendously demanding role. One critic wrote: "Each of her leaps is like a shower of stars."
Her historic interpretation and that of her partner, David Blair, was filmed by the BBC and is still available on DVD. Later that year she danced in Moscow and Leningrad, where she was hailed as a major star.
Nureyev's defection in 1961, however, would somewhat disrupt her career. Fonteyn, who was soon expected to retire, found her career reinvigorated by the young Russian's presence and although Nerina often danced with Nureyev (famously some Giselles at Covent Garden) she also danced with the great Danish dancer Erik Bruhn. The unrest between the four stars backstage was manifold, not helped by the intense affair between Nureyev and Bruhn.
Nerina remained with the RB until 1968 and continued to partner Nureyev.
In 1969 Nerina and her husband, the banker Charles Gordon, (who survives her) retired to France but she returned to Covent Garden in 1996 for the anniversary performance of Sleeping Beauty to mark the company's 50 years in the theatre.
When she took her solo bow from among other stars from the 1946 performance she was given an especially warm reception.
The full article contains 565 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
