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Nina Popova

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Nina Popova
Born(1922-10-20)October 20, 1922
DiedAugust 7, 2020(2020-08-07) (aged 97)
OccupationBallet dancer

Nina Popova (October 20, 1922 – August 7, 2020)[1] was a Russian-born American ballet dancer.

Biography

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Popova was born in Novorossiysk, Russia. Her family left for Paris shortly after her birth. She studied ballet with other Russian émigrés and, as a teenager, performed with Lyubov Yegorova's Ballet de la Jeunesse.[1] In the late 1930s she performed with the Original Ballet Russe in Australia and Cuba. In 1939, she joined the Ballet Theatre, now called the American Ballet Theatre, in New York.[1] Popova danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo from 1943 to 1945.[2] She performed on the television program Your Show of Shows and on Broadway.

From 1954 to 1967, Popova taught at New York's High School of Performing Arts.[1] From 1967 to 1975 she was the Artistic Director of the Houston Ballet, where she established a professional dance company.[3][4]

Popova died from COVID-19 complications in St. Augustine, Florida, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Leland, John (August 21, 2020). "Nina Popova, Dancer Who Fled Bolsheviks and Nazis, Dies at 97". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  2. ^ "Nina Popova". Oxford Reference. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  3. ^ Cunningham, Cal. "Houston Ballet 1955-1967". www.houstonballet.org. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  4. ^ Cunningham, Cal. "Houston Ballet 1967-1976". www.houstonballet.org. Retrieved August 23, 2020.