Valerio Cesio

Brazilian ballerina and choreographer. Born in the state of Rio de Janeiro in 1939 (according to some sources, in 1937), Márcia Haydée Salaverry Pereira da Silva began her dance studies with Vaslav Veltchek and Tatiana Leskova before joining the Royal Ballet School.

In 1957 she participated in the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas, but her major professional career would be at the Stuttgart Ballet, which she joined in 1961, and where she became principal dancer just one year later. In that company, under the direction of choreographer John Cranko, she performed most of the roles in productions that made her famous worldwide, such as Romeo and Juliet (1962), Onegin (1965), Présence (1968), Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung (The Taming of the Shrew) (1969), Carmen (1971), Initialen R.B.M.E (1971), and Spuren (1973).

Márcia Haydée also inspired other choreographers besides Cranko, performing numerous works created for her, such as: The Sisters (1963), Lied von der Erde (1965), Fräulien Julie (1970) and Requiem (1977) by Kenneth MacMillan; Voluntaires (1973) by Glen Tetley; Hamlet Connotations (1976), Die Kameliendame (1978), and Endstation Sehnsucht (1983) by John Neumeier.

Maurice Béjart also created several ballets for her, such as Divine (1981), Wien, Wien, Nur du Allein (1982), and Die Stühle (1984); her performances in Leda and the Swan and Mama Roma, by the same choreographer, were acclaimed. Their last production together was Madre Teresa et les enfants du monde (2002).

Márcia Haydée was considered by international critics a kind of Maria Callas of dance, with strong dramatic presence and a wide range in her roles, from comedy to tragedy. Her partners included Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Paolo Bortoluzzi, Jorge Donn, Vladmir Malakhov, and especially Richard Cragun, with whom she danced much of her career in Germany.

As a choreographer, she debuted in 1987 in Stuttgart with The Sleeping Beauty. She was director of the Stuttgart Ballet from 1976 to 1996, a period in which she introduced works by major guest choreographers, such as Jirí Kílian and Hans van Manen, into the company’s repertoire.

She also participated in the direction of the Ballet de Santiago (Chile) since 1992. In 2009 she was awarded the Cross of Merit in Germany, and in 2019 received the Life Time Achievement Award from the Prix de Lausanne. She is an honorary citizen of Stuttgart, where she lives.

Author: V. Cesio