Nini Theilade

Theilade was born in Purwokerto on the island of Java, then in the Dutch East Indies, now in Indonesia. She was an only child. Her father, Hans Theilade, was a Danish engineer. Her mother, Joanna Catarina, Wijnschenk-Dom, was from the Netherlands but was of Polish, German, French and Indian extraction; she had trained as a dance instructor at Émile Jaques-Dalcroze's school in Switzerland. She was named "Nini", which means "99", because she was reportedly the 99th descendant of a maharajah. In her autobiography, published in 2006, she noted how her mother's ambition shaped the rest of her life. but the school only admitted adults at the time and she instead studied with Nadya Bryusova. ==Career==

Dancer and choreographer In 1929, aged 14, Theilade made her début in The Hague in a solo programme of various pieces choreographed by Asta Mollerup. It was such a success, she toured Europe and the United States. After the outbreak of war in 1939, the company toured in the Americas. and later in Portugal. In the 1950s, she left her husband and returned to Copenhagen as a choreographer. Among her productions were Metaphor with music by Niels Viggo Bentzon with Mona Vangsaae in the highly erotic leading role, and Concerto with music by Robert Schumann. In 1965, she settled in Denmark, producing Græsstrået, one of the earliest ballets for television, by composer Else Marie Pade and author El Forman. From 1969 to 1978, she founded a ballet academy in Thurø with a ballet company that toured Europe. She also began her involvement as ballet instructor at Odense Theatre's school, which was to last 30 years. After running into financial difficulties at Thurø, she and her second husband, Arne Buchter-Larsen, accepted an invitation to set up a three-year course of study in Lyon, the Académie de Ballet Nini Theilade. The school remains active. She left Lyon in 1990 at the age of 75 to return to Denmark, where she continued to be active in drama and dance productions. In particular, until the age of 98 she taught dance at Oure Sport & Performing Arts School on the island of Funen. ==Personal life==

Theilade's first marriage, to Piet Loopuyt, who was several years older than her, where she died on 13 February 2018 at the age of 102. ==References==