Lise la Cour

Lise la Cour (21 August 1944 – 13 August 2016) was a Danish ballerina, choreographer and dance teacher. After training at the company's ballet school, she premièred at the Royal Danish Ballet in 1961 and went on to star in a series of ballets including Bournonville's Napoli, Balanchine's The Four Temperaments and Flemming Flindt's The Young Man Must Marry. From the late 1970s, she was principally a choreographer, creating ballets based on the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen's, starting with Hyrdinden og skorstensfejeren (The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep) in 1988. She was Viceballetmester (Associate artistic director) of the Royal Danish Ballet from 1988 to 1995 and was involved in several large theatre productions in the following years until she was appointed administrative director of the Royal Danish Opera from 1999 to 2001, ensuring a smooth transition between the former opera director Elaine Padmore and newcomer Kasper Holten. In 2002, she moved to San Jose, California, where she was appointed school director of the Ballet San Jose until she established her own school, Lise la Cour's LaCademy of Ballet, in 2012.

Biography Born on 21 August 1944 in Copenhagen, Lise la Cour was the daughter of Mogens la Cour (1905–1991) and Elga Gurli Nielsen (born 1911). When she was nine, she entered the Royal Danish Ballet School where she received support from Børge Ralov (1908–1981). In 1961, she made her début as Anne Frank in Kenneth MacMillan's The Burrow, after which she performed a series of significant roles, including the young girl in Léonide Massine's Le beau Danube (1962), the pas de six in Napoli (1963) and Balanchine's The Four Temperaments (1963).

In 2002, she moved to San Jose, California, where she was appointed school director of the Ballet San Jose until she established her own school, Lise la Cour's LaCademy of Ballet, in 2012. She died in San Jose on 13 August 2016.

Awards In 1989, la Cour was honored as a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog.