Ninette de Valois
妮内特·德瓦卢瓦
Dame Ninette established ballet in a Britain that had no ballet tradition. Her Royal Ballet School became the cradle of an English ballet style, and her dance company evolved into the renowned Royal Ballet of Covent Garden.
妮内特·德瓦卢瓦夫人在英国创建了芭蕾舞团，而当时的英国人从未接触过芭蕾舞。她的皇家芭蕾舞学校是英式芭蕾舞的摇篮，她的舞蹈团最终发展成科文特加登的著名皇家芭蕾舞团。
Ninette de Valois was the stage name of Edris Stannus, born into an Anglo-Irish military family in County Wicklow, Ireland, June 6，1898. The family moved to England when she was 7，and at age 13 she was performing in Lila Field’s Wonder Children in commercial theater. She went on to ballet, performed at seaside resorts when she was a teenager,and “danced the Dying Swan on every pier in England, she said. At that time, ballet in Britain was just a novelty turn in the variety theaters.
妮内特·德瓦卢瓦是她的艺名，她的真名是爱德莉·斯坦奴，1898年6月6日出生于爱尔兰维克罗郡的一户英裔爱尔兰军人家庭。她7岁的时候，全家搬到了英格兰，13岁时，她就在一家商业剧院出演芭蕾舞剧《莱拉原野的神奇孩子》。青少年时期，她继续跳芭蕾舞，经常在海滨的度假胜地演出。“我几乎在英国每一个码头上表演《垂死的天鹅》”，她说。当时，芭蕾舞在英国的杂耍剧院里只不过是一个新颖的节目。
De Valois took lessons from Italian dance master Enrico Cecchiti, and joined Diaghilev’s Ballets Russian company for two years. She gave up dancing at 26 when she learned she had been struggling with the effects of undiagnosed childhood polio. “It was no tragedy, ” she said. “I wasn’t that great.” In 1926, de Valois opened her London Academy of Choreographic Art, and formed a small group of dancers. She began a collaboration with Lilian Baylis at the Old Vic theater, teaching movement to the actors and giving ballet performances. In 1931 she moved to Baylis，second theater, Sadler’s Wells, persuaded Frederic Ashton from the Marie Rambert ballet company to join her company as choreographer. It grew steadily and became the Sadler’s Wells Ballet.
德瓦卢瓦师从于意大利舞蹈大师恩里科·切凯蒂，并在现代芭蕾创始人佳吉列夫领导的俄罗斯芭蕾舞团效力两年。直到26岁，当得知她一直与之抗争的病是童年时未经确诊的小儿麻痹症后遗症时，她才不得不告别舞蹈生涯。“这算不上悲剧，我也没那么伟大，”她说。 1926年德瓦卢瓦开办了伦敦舞蹈艺术学院，组建了一个小舞蹈团。同时她也开始在老维多利亚剧院与莉莲·贝蕾斯合作，教授舞蹈演员舞蹈动作并上演芭蕾舞剧。1931年她迁到贝蕾斯的第二剧院——赛德勒·维尔斯剧院，并劝请玛丽·兰伯特（注：英国著名舞蹈家，创办英国第一所舞蹈学校）芭蕾舞团的佛瑞德里克·阿什顿加入她的舞蹈团担任舞蹈指导。该团不断稳步发展，后壮大成为赛德勒·维尔斯芭蕾舞团。
She was strict, imperious, and did not accept laziness or incompetence in her dancers. “If she walked into classroom, our backs would stiffen and our knees would start to shake. A word from her could make or break you, ” a former student said.
她严格、甚至苛刻，从不姑息迁就舞蹈学员的懒情和不合格。“每当她走进教室，我们就觉得背开始发僵, 两腿开始颤抖。因为她的一句话可以成就你，也可以毁掉你。”她以前的一个学生说。
She was made a dame, the equivalent of a knight, in 1951, and France made her a chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur in 1950. In 1980，Queen Elizabeth II made her a member of the exclusive Order of the Companions of Honor, for men and women who have done “conspicuous national service.”
1951年，她被授予女爵士头衔，这是与骑士同级的爵位，1950年法国授予她法国勋级会荣誉军团骑士勋位。1980年女皇伊丽莎白二世册封她为勋爵士荣誉评审团成员，该团在英国具有无上的荣誉，并且该团的荣誉勋章一般只授给那些对国家有杰出功勋或业绩的人们。