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Lifar, Serge 1905-86
French dancer and choreographer

Born in Kiev, Ukraine, he became a student and friend of Sergei Diaghilev, whose Ballets Russes he joined in 1923. Following his first important appearance in La Boutique fantasque, he danced with Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina and Spessirtzeva, and was critically acclaimed for his roles in, amongst others, Bronislava Nijinska's Les Facheux (1924), Léonide Massine's Ode (1928), and George Balanchine's Apollon (1925) and The Prodigal Son (1929). He scored his first triumph as a choreographer in Paris with Créatures de Promethée in 1929, the year he became artistic director of the Paris Opera.

Bibliography: Ma Vie from Kiev to Kiev: an autobiography (1970)