Ludmilla Chiriaeff

Ludmilla Chiriaeff moved to Quebec in 1952 and formed her own dance company, Les Ballets Chiriaeff, which got off the ground thanks to 300 TV shows she collaborated on with Radio-Canada.

In 1958, Les Ballets Chiriaeff became Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. The professional training academy she founded the same year became, due to her lofty ambitions, the Académie des Grands Ballets Canadiens, with Ludmilla Chiriaeff at the helm.

During the 1966–67 season, at the request of Quebec’s cultural arts ministry, the Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec, Ludmilla Chiriaeff created the École supérieure de danse. A natural extension of the Académie des Grands Ballets Canadiens, the school’s purpose was to train teachers, choreographers and professional dancers.

With the two schools in place, recruiting the best dancers from across Quebec, the future of dance was assured, because any Quebec resident who met the requirements could receive their education for free.

Ludmilla Chiriaeff’s interest in dance went beyond teaching. From 1971 to 1976, she was the general chairperson of the dance federation, the Fédération des Loisirs-Danse du Québec. She also served regularly as a jury member for the international ballet competition in Varna, Bulgaria (1972–1976). She was a frequent lecturer on dance, both in Montréal and abroad.

Ludmilla Chiriaeff began to receive prestigious honours and awards in 1957. In1980, she received the Prix Denise-Pelletier for performing arts, awarded by the Quebec government. She was also named a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1984.

In 1981, two projects marked the culmination of a 25-year-old dream: the May 12 opening of the Maison de la Danse, the cornerstone of a concept integrating training, creation and production, and, in October, the creation of the Ludmilla Chiriaeff Foundation to award dance scholarships. A true pioneer in dance in Quebec, Ludmilla Chiriaeff created a future for dance in Quebec through her tireless efforts that stretched over more than 30 years and through the choreography of over 300 works.

Ludmilla Chiriaeff died in 1996. She was inducted into the Academy of Great Montrealers in the Cultural category in 1978 and was named a Commander of the Ordre de Montréal in 2016.