Ballet dancer Veronica Bruce studied in Paris with Egorova and Kirsanova and later in London with Tamara Karsavina (the wife of her uncle), Anton Dolin and Cleo Nordi. She made her debut with Egorova's Ballet de la Jeunesse under the name of Maria Nadezdinova.
Before the Second World War she gave solo recitals in Paris and in cities in the UK and appeared with Ballet Sokolova, Ballet Kirsanova, Ballet Russe de Paris, Ballet Pavinoff, and International Ballet. She appeared in some of the first ballet broadcasts on BBC TV, including Le Spectre de la Rose and Les Sylphides. During the war she abandoned her career to do war work near her home in Morayshire, but made occasional appearances for Ensa and CEMA, becoming latterly official organiser for troop concerts in Scotland's north-east.
After the war she formed a small professional company Cygnet Ballet which toured the country from the Channel Islands to Orkney and Shetland, the Hebrides and Northern Ireland. She was director and ballerina with Cleo Nordi as artistic adviser. Karsavina and Idzikowsky helped to stage productions of such works as Le Spectre de la Rose and Swan Lake Act Two. The Cygnet Ballet was one of the first companies to bring ballet to out of the way spots. It also gave two seasons in London. She choreographed for pantomime and opera and the company appeared with the Glyndebourne Opera at early Edinburgh Festivals from 1947.
Falling victim to arthritis of the hip, she ended the company and started the Cygnet Ballet School in Forres. She was a wonderful teacher and brought out the best in her pupils.
The school soon flourished with pupils from Forres and district, Aberdeen and Inverness. Many were accepted in ballet schools in the South: Royal Ballet White Lodge School, Arts Educational, Legat, and Elmhurst (the Dance School of Scotland did not exist then).
In order to give her pupils more opportunity of working with professional dancers she converted a squash court into a small theatre. It seated 70 and had a stage 24ft square. Robin Anderson who became general administrator for Scottish Ballet was responsible for building a lighting board system and painting scenery and acted as stage manager for several years. The Intimate Ballet Theatre summer festivals began in 1961 and were attended by local pupils plus more from dance schools in Glasgow and Edinburgh, with professional dancers invited as guest artists.
After a period of classes, coaching, and rehearsals, one week of performances were given. Audiences were brought by buses from Forres and district and a special buffet supper was served after the performances where the dancers mingled with the public.
There were even tours to Forres, Elgin, Nairn, Aviemore, and Pitlochry Festival Theatre which gave all the pupils a real experience of what a dancer's life was really like. These annual ballet festivals continued for more than 15 years.
I was privileged to help her for most of the summer seasons and she gave me the opportunity to choreograph several ballets and to dance principal roles which greatly helped me in my own career as a dancer and ballet master.
Veronica Bruce had a wonderful affect she had on the lives of many in the North-east of Scotland and beyond. The careers of many of her former pupils in the professional theatre would have been impossible without her. She was a very special person.
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