Dušanka Sifnios ( sr-cyr, Душанка Сифниос; 15 October 1933 – 14 October 2016), also known as Duška Sifnios, was a

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancer ...

and choreographer, considered one of the most distinguished and internationally most successful Serbian ballerinas. The pinnacle of her career was in the 1960s, achieved through her work with

Maurice Béjart Maurice Béjart (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French dancer, choreographer and Theatre director, opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, tac ...

when she was one of the most popular ballerinas in the world.

Early life and education

Sifnios was born on 15 October 1933 in Skoplje, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now Skopje, North Macedonia). She became member of the

National Theatre in Belgrade The National Theatre ( sr-cyr, Народно позориште, Narodno pozorište) is a theatre located in Belgrade, Serbia. Founded in the latter half of the 19th century, it is located on the Republic Square, at the corner of Vasina and Fr ...

in 1951, and in 1953 graduated from the ballet gymnasium in the class of

Nina Kirsanova Nina Kirsanova (1898 – 3 February 1989) was a Russian-born Yugoslavian ballet dancer, one of the most important ballet artists in Belgrade, who distinguished herself as a lead principal dancer, choreographer, head of ballet and ballet teacher. Sh ...

. Later, she was also tutored by great choreographers Leonid Lavrovsky,

Asaf Messerer Asaf Mikhailovich Messerer (; 19 November 1903 – 7 March 1992) was a Soviet ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. He was born in Vilnius, Lithuania. In 1919 he studied privately with Mikhail Mordkin, until Alexander Gorsky placed him in a cl ...

and Victor Gsovsky.

Career

National Theatre

Noticing Sifnios's talent, Kirsanova almost immediately placed her a soloist and soon she became a

prima ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancers ...

. Her early performances were choreographed by Dimitrije Parlić, and included

Eurydice Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice', classical pronunciation: ) was a character in Greek mythology and the wife of Orpheus, whom Orpheus tried to bring back from the dead with his enchanting music. Etymology Several ...

in ''

Orpheus In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...

'' by

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

and

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist Ro ...

Sergey Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

's ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

''. Other roles, choreographed by Pino Mlakar, Milko Šparemblek, Ugo Dell’ara, Vera Kostić and Anica Prelić, include a string of first-class performances like Swanhilde (''

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 ...

'' by

Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and French opera, operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and ''Sylvia (b ...

), Ela (''The Devil in the village'' by Fran Lhotka), ''La reine des iles'' by

Maurice Thiriet Maurice Thiriet (; 2 May 1906 – 28 September 1972) was a French composer of classical and film music. Biography Born in Meulan, Yvelines, Maurice Thiriet attended the Paris Conservatory from 1925 to 1931, studying counterpoint and fugue with ...

and

Les Sylphides () is a short, non-narrative '' ballet blanc'' to piano music by Frédéric Chopin, selected and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. The ballet, described as a "romantic reverie","Ballet Theater", until 1955. A compact disk of ABT's product ...

by Chopin. Her two most successful roles in this period, however, were

Giselle ''Giselle'' ( , ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (; ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

, by

Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets ''Giselle'' (1841) and ''Le corsaire'' (1856), his operas ''Le post ...

, and The Girl in

The Miraculous Mandarin ''The Miraculous Mandarin'' (, ; ) Op. 19, Sz. 73 (BB 82), is a one act pantomime ballet composed by Béla Bartók between 1918 and 1924, and based on the 1916 story by Melchior Lengyel. Premiered on 27 November 1926 conducted by Eugen Szenka ...

, by

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

. Mandarin was choreographed by Parlić in 1957, while Giselle was revived in Belgrade by Lavrovsky and marked a turning point in Sifnios' career. She performed it 177 times in The National Theatre and went on an extensive touring of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, with Giselle becoming a great success in Bolshoy Theatre in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

International career

In 1958 she moved to Paris and became a member of Milorad Mišković ‘s

dance company A dance troupe or dance company is a group of dancers and associated personnel who work together to perform dances as a sport, spectacle or entertainment. There are many different types of dance companies, often working in different list of dance ...

and then

Léonide Massine Leonid Fyodorovich Myasin (), better known in the West by the French transliteration as Léonide Massine (15 March 1979), was a Russian choreographer and ballet dancer. Massine created the world's first symphonic ballet, ''Les Présages'', and ...

’s Ballet Europeo in Rome in 1959.

Boléro and Ballet of the 20th Century

In Rome in 1960 she was noticed by

and became a member of his dance troop

Ballet of the 20th Century Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

and his

muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

. Especially for her, Béjart choreographed

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

Boléro ''Boléro'' is a 1928 work for large orchestra by French composer Maurice Ravel. It is one of Ravel's most famous compositions. It was also one of his last completed works before illness diminished his ability to write music. Composition T ...

, which is today considered a masterpiece of the

modern ballet Contemporary ballet is a dance genre that incorporates elements of classical ballet and modern dance. It employs classical ballet technique and in many cases classical pointe technique as well, but allows a greater range of movement of the upper ...

. It premiered on 10 January 1961, featuring Sifnios dancing on the tabletop, first stepping to the tune's simplicity, surrounded by seated men, who, in turn, slowly participate in the dance, adding complexity to the building in the orchestration, culminating in a climactic union of the dancers atop the table. Sifnios became world-famous. After her, the role was later performed by

Maya Plisetskaya Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya (; 20 November 1925 – 2 May 2015) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer, choreographer, ballet director, and actress. In post-Soviet times, she held both Lithuanian and Spanish citizenship.

, Sylvie Guillem, Grazia Galante, Angèle Albrecht and, in the male version, by Jorge Donn. As a

principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be either gender. The position is similar to that of ''Soloist (ballet), solois ...

of the company, she toured Europe (France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Belgium), Africa (Tunisia), Asia (Israel, Lebanon) and Latin America (Mexico, Argentina, Cuba), performing the roles in ''Les quatre fils Aymon'' by Fernand Schirren (1961), ''Matiére'' by

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( ; ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

(1962), '' The Wedding'' (1962) and ''

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 ...

'' (1964) by Stravinsky, '' Symphony No. 9'' by

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

(1964), ''L’art de la barre'' by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

(1965), ''Cantates'' by

Anton Webern Anton Webern (; 3 December 1883 – 15 September 1945) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and musicologist. His music was among the most radical of its milieu in its lyric poetry, lyrical, poetic concision and use of then novel atonality, aton ...

(1966) and ''Abraxas'' by

Werner Egk Werner Egk (, 17 May 1901 – 10 July 1983), born Werner Joseph Mayer, was a German composer. Early career He was born in the Swabian town of Auchsesheim, today part of Donauwörth, Germany. His family, of Catholic peasant stock, moved to Augsb ...

. She appeared in televised ballet '' La Boutique fantasque'' by

Gioacchino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

Ottorino Respighi Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions ra ...

, in TV dance versions of ''

The Blue Danube "The Blue Danube" is the common English title of "An der schönen blauen Donau", Op. 314 (German for "By the Beautiful Blue Danube"), a waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866. Originally performed on 15 Februar ...

'' by

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...

and ''

The Tales of Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in ...

'' by

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...

(for Bavarian Television) and in the movie ''Boléro''.

Later career

Sifnios was a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

dancer from 1970, but she continued to work with the Ballet of the 20th Century as a guest artist. She retired at the age of 47. In the early 2000s she co-choreographed several ballets in Belgrade, including the revival of ''The Miraculous Mandarin'' in 2001 in the National Theatre and ''Liederabend'' by

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

in 2002 in Madlenianum Opera and Theatre. She published an autobiography ''Beleške slavne balerine'' in 2013 (''Notes of a famous ballerina'') even though she stated in an interview that she does not think of her as a ballerina but as a "woman who dances".

Awards

She received an award for life achievement, the highest accolade of the "Association of the ballet artists of Serbia" in 1998 and was a recipient of the "Special recognition for artistic contribution to the national culture of Serbia", colloquially styled ''national pension'' in 2007. Madlenianum Opera has named one of its halls "Sifnios Hall", in ballerina's honor. The hall is mainly intended for educational ballet work."Sifnios Hall , Opera & Theatre Madlenianum"
''operatheatremadlenianum.com''.

Style

Already at the beginning of her career she presented exceptional talent, expressing a superb command over classical ballet technique, sweetness and ease with which she performed even the most complicated choreographies. Her dancing was characterized by secure technique, beauty of the lines and a specific charm. Later she danced only the modern ballet repertoire and gradually grew into a strong dancing individuality which, apart from brilliant technique, possessed inner impulsiveness which gave unusual strength to her creations. On the very first rehearsal for ''Boléro'', Béjart’s told her to take off her shoes. She continued to perform often without shoes, earning the nickname “barefoot ballerina”.

Personal life

On meeting her husband, Belgian conductor

André Vandernoot André Vandernoot (born 2 June 1927, Brussels; died 6 November 1991, Brussels) was a Belgium, Belgian conducting, conductor. He studied at the Royal Music Conservatory in Brussels, and later flute and conducting at the Hochschule für Musik, Vienn ...

, Sifnios said in an interview that ''Boléro'' gave her a husband, too: ”Before one of the performances, Béjart told me not to pay attention on anyone else and to look only at the conductor. I listened to him, watched at the conductor, the Belgian, and later married him, had two children and lived through so many things”. They had two children, daughter

Alexandra Vandernoot Alexandra Vandernoot (born 19 September 1965) is a Belgian film and television actress. Career Vandernoot was born in Brussels in 1965. She is the daughter of Yugoslavia-born ballerina Dušanka Sifnios and Belgian conductor André Vandernoot. ...

, an actress, and son, Patrick Vandernoot, a golf instructor. She died on 14 October 2016, one day before her 83rd birthday, in Brussels, after four months of illness.

References

External links

BoléroThe Firebird
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sifnios, Dušanka 1933 births 2016 deaths People from Skopje Modern dance Serbian ballerinas Serbian choreographers Serbian women choreographers Muses (persons)