Cleo Nordi (; – 30 March 1983) was a Russian-Finnish ballerina who danced as a soloist with Anna Pavlova's company before becoming a renowned teacher of the Russian ballet tradition in London."Nordi, Cleo (b. 1899)." Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. . Encyclopedia.com. 29 Jan. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>. She was involved in three dance-related films.
Biography Nordi trained in Saint Petersburg with Nicolai Legat, with Lyubov Yegorova, Olga Preobrajenska and Vera Trefilova and in Helsinki with George Gé.Chronological List of written histories of dance in Finland, Appendix 1. Cleo Nordi features from 1922 to 1924 in different parts of Finland, her father's homeland. https://asiakas.kotisivukone.com/files/...com/appendices.pdf On 13 December 1924, she made her Paris debut at the Théâtre Fémina in a light entertainment. The following year she became a member of the Paris Opera where she stayed until 1926.L'Ouest Éclair, newspaper, 18-11-1925 announces Cleo Nordi of the Paris Opéra in the role of Camille Saint-Saëns' Gipsy https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4967452/f4.image.r=Cleo%20Nordi%20danseuse?rk=557942;4 Retrieved 31-01-2019 Later that year she joined Anna Pavlova's company with which she toured and danced solo roles until the latter's death in 1931.
Through her marriage to Walford Hyden, Pavlova's musical director and a light orchestra conductor, she was one of the first ballerinas screened on British television in 1934.Davis, Janet Rowson. "Ballet on British Television, 1932-1935: A Supplement." Dance Chronicle, vol. 7, no. 3, 1984, pp. 294–325. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1567654. Retrieved 02.02.2019 She made dance arrangements for the musical theatre, sometimes herself appearing in productions and became involved in cinema.Walford Hayden, founder of the noted Café Colette Orchestra retrieved 01-02-2019 She had supporting roles in two films, in Cafe Colette (1937), Latin Quarter (1945) and was choreographer in the production of Caravan (1946). She travelled widely, including to Australia and Asia where she adopted the practice of Kundalini yoga.Rukmini Devi Arundale https://sruti.com/index.php?route=archives/artist_details&artId=299Swamy, K. R. N. (22 September 2002) Pavlova steered Uday Shankar towards Indian dancing. The Tribune.
After the Second World War, she settled in London where she held classes in West London and latterly in studios in Scarsdale Villas, and in Eldon Road, Kensington. She became an established and esteemed ballet teacher.Elfrida Eden Fallowfield. The Dancing Débutante: The adventures of a society beauty on and off the stage. London: Mereo Books. 2014. retrieved 30-01-2019 Among her hundreds of pupils, notable ones include Rukmini Devi Arundale, Tamara Tchinarova, Roger Tully, Nadia Nerina,Roger Salas, "Obituary of Nadia Nerina, ballerina", El País 10 October 2008 https://elpais.com/diario/2008/10/10/necrologicas/1223589601_850215.html (in Spanish) retrieved 03.02.2019 and Pina Bausch.
Cleo Nordi died in Fulham, aged 85 in 1983.
Bibliography Davis, Janet Rowson. "Ballet on British Television, 1932-1935: A Supplement." Dance Chronicle, vol. 7, no. 3, 1984, pp. 294–325. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1567654. Nordi appeared dancing the Tarantella in an early UK television broadcast of ballet in 1934. Retrieved 02.02.2019
See also List of Russian ballet dancers
References
External links Article from Andros on Ballet Alastair Macaulay. "Anna Pavlova, global missionary for ballet classicism: Women’s History Month in Dance, 2021" BFI entry Cleo Nordi Photographs by GBL Wilson of Cleo Nordi with some of her pupils from the Royal Academy of Dance Archive Topfoto - Preview ARP1300390 - CLEO NORDI; 1899 - 1983 Finnish dancer and teacher; Her last dance class in London; September 1964; Credit : G.B.L. Wilson / Royal Adacemy of Dance / ArenaPAL Cleo Nordi recollects Anna Pavlova in Katharine Kanter: Pavlova Recollections by her Associates in Dansomanie Dansomanie :: Voir le sujet - Timely recollections of Anna Pavlova, by her associates Retrieved 30-01-2019 Wolfgang Hainisch 1950 portrait of Cleo Nordi held by National Arts Educational Archive, Yorkshire Sculpture Park: Leonard Bartle’s Selection retrieved 02.02.2019