| Biography/History |
Born in Warsaw, Poland, she began her study of Ballet at the age of eight at the Warsaw Opera Ballet School, under the guidance of prestigious teachers like Leon Woscikowski and Bronislawa Nijinska. Went to New York in 1948 and joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, directed by S. J. Demham. She became the first soloist, then "Prima Ballerina". Her first choreographic work "Variations Classique" was extremely successful and it occupied a prominent place in the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlos' repertoire. She settled in Caracas, Venezuela and in 1964 began training classical dancers there. She created her own Company, the Venezuelan Classical Ballet Company, with young dancers from that country. Her company performed throughout Venezuela, the USA, Columbia, Costa Rica, Panama, EL Salvador, Trinidad, Aruba and Haiti. In 1982 Nina prepared the young Venezuelan dancer Alexis Zubiria for the Jackson International Dance Competition, where he won the silver medal. On the commemoration of their 20th year in Venezuela, she officially said goodbye in a gala performance of her Company at the Municipal Theatre of Caracas. Nina then joined the Teresa Carreno Complex as Director for the Classical Repertoire in 1985. She received the Conac Award for Classical Dance and The Municipal Award for Dance. In 1987 the President of the Republic bestowed upon Nina Novak the Order of Andres Bello of the First Order. |
| Notes |
Title devised by cataloguer based on caption on reverse.
Autographed: "To the lovely Valrene, my very best wishes - Nina Novak."--On photograph.
Photographer's stamp on verso.
Part of the collection: Valrene Tweedie collection of dance photographs from the Ballets Russes.
Also available in an electronic version via the Internet at: http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn3426781
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