A dancer, teacher, choreographer, and company director known in the ballet world as “Madam”, De Valois preached the Diaghilev aesthetic — respect for 19th century traditions but with a commitment to working with the finest modern artists. “I’m not one of those people who say, ‘They don’t know how to dance these days’,” she said on her 100th birthday. “Because they do know, and they’re much better than we ever were. I hate these oldies who say there aren’t any good dancers now.”
Her 1949 production of The Sleeping Beauty was so exceptional that in 1956 Queen Elizabeth II became the official patron of de Valois’ company and school, granting it a charter as “The Royal Ballet”. Dame Ninette was born in County Wicklow, Ireland, and died March 8 at home in London at age 102.