| Cleo Nordi | |
| Birth Name: | Клео Норди |
| Birth Date: | 1898 1, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Kronstadt, Russian Empire |
| Death Place: | London, United Kingdom |
| Nationality: | Russian, British |
| Occupation: | Ballerina, ballet master, choreographer |
| Years Active: | 1914–1983 |
| Education: | Nikolai Legat, Lyubov Yegorova, Olga Preobrajenska |
| Movement: | Russian ballet |
Cleo Nordi (Russian: Клео Норди; Kronstadt, Russian Empire – 30 March 1983 London), was a Russo-Finnish ballerina who danced as a soloist with Anna Pavlova's company before becoming a renowned teacher of the Russian ballet tradition in London.[1] She was involved in three dance-related films.
Nordi trained in St.Petersburg with Nicolai Legat, with Lyubov Yegorova, Olga Preobrajenska and Vera Trefilova and in Helsingfors with George Gé.[2] On 13 December 1924 she made her Paris debut at the Théâtre Fémina in a light entertainment. The following year she became a member of the Paris Opera where she stayed until 1926.[3] Later that year she joined Anna Pavlova's company with which she toured and danced solo roles until the latter's death in 1931.[4]
Through her marriage to Walford Hyden, Pavlova's musical director and a light orchestra conductor, she was one of the first ballerinas screened on British television in 1934.[5] She made dance arrangements for the musical theatre, sometimes herself appearing in productions and became involved in cinema.[6] She had supporting roles in two films, in Cafe Colette (1937), Latin Quarter (1945) and was choreographer in the production of Caravan (1946). She travelled widely, including to Australia and Asia where she adopted the practice of Kundalini yoga.[7] [8]
After the Second World War she settled in London where she held classes in West London and latterly in studios in Scarsdale Villas, and in Eldon Road, Kensington. She became an established and esteemed ballet teacher.[9] Among her hundreds of pupils, notable have been Rukmini Devi Arundale, Tamara Tchinarova, Roger Tully, Nadia Nerina[10] Pina Bausch.[11] and Elaine McDonald, dancer and then Principal Dancer with Scottish Ballet 1969 - 1989.
Cleo Nordi died in Fulham, aged 85 in 1983.