Christiane Vaussard (17 November 1923 – 4 August 2011) was a French ballet dancer, teacher and

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

, and an Etoile with the

Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded a ...

. Christiane Vaussard was born on 17 November 1923 at

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...

. During her career, she worked with such ballet dancers as

Zizi Jeanmaire Renée Marcelle "Zizi" Jeanmaire (29 April 1924 – 17 July 2020) was a French ballet dancer, actress and singer. She became famous in the 1950s after playing the title role in the ballet ''Carmen'', produced in London in 1949, and went on to a ...

Roland Petit Roland Petit (13 January 192410 July 2011) was a French ballet company director, choreographer and dancer. He trained at the Paris Opera Ballet school, and became well known for his creative ballets. Life and work The son of shoe designer Ro ...

Olga Preobrajenska Olga Iosifovna Preobrajenska (; born Preobrazhenskaya; – 27 December 1962) was a Russian ballerina of the Russian Imperial Ballet and a ballet instructor. Biography She was born in Saint Petersburg as Olga Preobrazhenskaya (the final sy ...

Boris Knyazev Boris Knyazev (; 1 July 1900 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire – 7 October 1975 in Paris) was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer. Biography Boris Knyazev was born on 1 July 1900 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire. He studied at the S ...

, Alexandra Balashova,

Serge Lifar Serge Lifar (, ''Serhіy Mуkhailovуch Lуfar'') ( 15 December 1986) was a Ukrainian dancer, choreographer, and one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century. Lifar was also a choreographer, director, writer, theoretician abou ...

and Attilio Labis. Her career began in 1945 when she danced ''

Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...

'' with

Bolshoi Ballet The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest Ballet company, ballet companies. In the early 20th century, it ca ...

. In 1950 she appeared in ''Le Chevalier Errant'' and three years later danced in ''

Variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...

'', which was followed by her appearance in ''

The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (; ) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Michel Fokine, who c ...

'' in 1954. Other ballet appearances followed including the

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...

's ''

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

'', '' Symphony in C'' and '' Le baiser de la fée''. In 1963 she retired from dancing and instead pursued career as a dance teacher and served as such from 1964 to 1993. From 1969 to 1989 Vaussard also served as a dance instructor at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

and graduated such ballerinas as

Élisabeth Platel Élisabeth Platel (born 10 April 1959) is a French prima ballerina. Career After studying at the conservatoire in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, she entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1971, graduating with First Prize, which allowed her to complete ...

, Isabelle Guerin, and Isabelle Ciaravola. She died on 4 August 2011, aged 88.

References

1923 births 2011 deaths French ballerinas French choreographers Paris Opera Ballet étoiles Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 20th-century ballet dancers {{France-dance-bio-stub