She was the muse of Serge Lifar, of the Marquis de Cuevas Ballet, of Roland Petit. The tiny Russian from Meudon who became an Etoile at the Opéra de Paris noted in schoolgirl exercise books the drawings of the choreographies created for her. Based on these books, Dominique Delouche takes Nina Vyroubova on a journey through her roles.

Throughout the film, images of archives from the Spectre de la danse and Giselle alternate with those of Nina Vyroubova today, transmitting her roles to young dancers. We also follow her to Saint Petersburg, a sentimental journey that takes her from her grandfather’s dacha to the Russian Ballet Academy where she is acclaimed. Her memories punctuate the images with anecdotes, particularly when she evokes her arrival at the Opéra de Paris. Serge Lifar had asked her to replace the “irreplaceable” Yvette Chauviré and, overnight, Nina Vyroubova found herself rocketed into the Paris society of the 1940s. A modern fairy tale that still makes the dancer’s eyes shine.

Source : Patrick Bossatti

After Beaux-Arts (Fine Art School) studies and musical classes (piano and classical singing), Dominique Delouche met Federico Fellini and became his assistant ("Nights of Cabiria"). In 1960, he directed his first film « Le Spectre de la Danse ». Until 1985, he produced and directed short films, like « Aurore » et « La dame de Monte Carlo ». In 1968, he staged Danielle Darieux in “Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman", a Stefan Sweig novel 's adaptation selected for the 1968 Cannes Film Festival, and the musical theatre “Divine” (1975). He filmed other features like « Une étoile pour l’exemple » (1988), « L’homme de désir » (1970). He produced and filmed the opera “La voix humaine” (The Human Voice) for French television (text by Cocteau and music by Poulenc; directed by Georges Prêtre), with the soprano Denise Duval. His last film is "Balanchine in Paris" (2011). He also directed, created decors and costumes for the Opéra de Paris and for the Festival of Aix en Provence: “Werther”, “Le Roi malgré lui” (The Reluctant King) (1978), “Didon et Énée” (Dido and Æneas) (1972).

Source: Dominique Delouche's website

More information

dominique.delouche.pagesperso-orange.fr

The Paris Opéra Ballet is the official ballet company of the Opéra national de Paris, otherwise known as the Palais Garnier, though known more popularly simply as the Paris Opéra. Its origins can be traced back to 1661 with the foundation of the Académie Royale de Danse and the Le Ballet de l'Opéra in 1713 by King Louis XIV of France.

The aim of the Académie Royale de Danse was to reestablish the perfection of dance. In the late seventeenth century, using 13  professional dancers to drive the academy, the Paris Opéra Ballet  successfully transformed ballet from court entertainment to a  professional performance art for the masses. It later gave birth to the  Romantic Ballet, the classical form of ballet known throughout the world. The Paris Opéra Ballet dominated European  ballet throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and  remains a leading institution in the art of ballet today.

Source: New World Encyclopedia