That which we call a rose....

[maryrosesatonapin]

…. by any other name would smell as sweet.  Or would it? The most famous example of name transformation is, I think, Peggy Hookham – aka Margot Fonteyn.  Would she have been as great a dancer had she not changed her name?  Of course she would have had the same physique, the same unique gift, but I am sure she would have felt more ‘ordinary’ with her real name, and her stage name would have helped inspire her rise to stardom.  She embodied the ‘Margot Fonteyn’ persona just as she did the roles she danced. 

Some people are simply born with a suitable name for ballet.  If you are Russian it helps! But there are a number of other famous people in the dance world who wisely changed their names.  They include:

Marnie Crittle

Berta Springbett

Cyvia Rambam

Sydney Kay

Edris Stannus

Mabinty Bangura

Roberta Sue Fickell

Anver Bey Abdullah Jaffa Khan

Jerome Rabinowitz

Iris Cohen

Lilian Marks

 

Can you think of any others?

 

 

(Pic shows Berta Springbett)

Edited August 26, 2019 by maryrosesatonapin

[Lizbie1]

Nadine Judd is another.

 

Edited to add: and Berta Springbett of course.

Edited August 27, 2019 by Lizbie1

[jmhopton]

Edris Stannus to Ninette de Valois. 

[Jan McNulty]

A lot of dancers may have to change at least part of their names if they become members of Equity and there is too much of an overlap.

 

 

[Anna C]

What an interesting thread!

 

I had to look some of these up 🤭 so in case anyone else is as clueless as I off to google them, here they are:

 

Marnie Crittle - Darcey Bussell

Berta Springbett - Lynn Seymour

Cyvia Rambam - Marie Rambert

Sydney Kay - Anton Dolin

Edris Stannus - Ninette de Valois (as pointed out by jmhopton)

Mabinty Bangura - Michaela DePrince

Roberta Sue Fickell - who is this, @maryrosesatonapin?

Anver Bey Abdullah Jaffa Khan - Robert Joffrey

Jerome Rabinowitz - Jerome Robbins

Iris Cohen - Allegra Kent

Lilian Marks - Alicia Markova

[Anna C]

2 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

Nadine Judd is another.

 

Edited to add: and Berta Springbett of course.

 

Nadia Nerina? Another one I didn’t know! 

[LinMM]

It's the first time I knew Lynn Seymour wasn't her real name!!

[bangorballetboy]

I think Darcey Bussell is a bad example as she changed her surname as a young child when she was adopted by her stepfather; Darcey was one of her middle names and the one by which she was usually known (similarly, I'm known by my middle name).

[LinMM]

Marie Rambert's original name is interesting.

[bangorballetboy]

1 minute ago, LinMM said:

Marie Rambert's original name is interesting.

 

Rambam, thank you mam...

[Pulcinella]

Roberta Sue Ficker became Suzanne Farrell.

 

Also Hilda Munnings who became Lydia Sokolova. An English dancer who lived at at a time when only Russian names were acceptable in ballet, although I think with that name she would have changed it anyway.

Edited August 27, 2019 by Pulcinella

[bangorballetboy]

1 hour ago, Jan McNulty said:

A lot of dancers may have to change at least part of their names if they become members of Equity and there is too much of an overlap.

 

 

 

Time for the reminder that Michael Caine had to choose a stage name as there was already a Maurice Mickelwhite on Equity's books...

[alison]

Ah, I did wonder if that was the case (edit: Farrell, I mean).  Like Anna, I was rather clueless on several of those names.

[Ian Macmillan]

From one who was at the Sadler's Wells/Royal Ballet School with her, I'm assured that Lynn had dropped the Berta by then - the Seymour would come later.

[Anna C]

20 minutes ago, Pulcinella said:

Roberta Sue Ficker became Suzanne Farrell.

 

Also Hilda Munnings who became Lydia Sokolova. An English dancer who lived at at a time when only Russian names were acceptable in ballet, although I think with that name she would have changed it anyway.

 

Ah, thank you Pulcinella. ☺️

[Toria]

1 hour ago, bangorballetboy said:

I think Darcey Bussell is a bad example as she changed her surname as a young child when she was adopted by her stepfather; Darcey was one of her middle names and the one by which she was usually known (similarly, I'm known by my middle name).

 

The same goes for Michaela DePrince, as DePrince is the name of her adopted parents and her adopted sister is also called Mabinty so they both took another additional name when moving to America to avoid confusion. I think she was about 3 years old when she changed her name.  

[bridiem]

11 hours ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

…. by any other name would smell as sweet.  Or would it? The most famous example of name transformation is, I think, Peggy Hookham – aka Margot Fonteyn.  Would she have been as great a dancer had she not changed her name?  Of course she would have had the same physique, the same unique gift, but I am sure she would have felt more ‘ordinary’ with her real name, and her stage name would have helped inspire her rise to stardom.  She embodied the ‘Margot Fonteyn’ persona just as she did the roles she danced. 

 

Very interesting question! I remember she said in her autobiography that it was when she was at the height of her stardom that she felt least 'herself' (or words to that effect - it's a long time since I read it). Perhaps changing her name was part of that sense of having moved away from who she was. (Come to think of it, I saw a TV programme about Cary Grant quite recently that described how his new name was part of the reason that he had no sense of identity and was always 'trying on' new persona.) But I can't remember what Fonteyn said about her name change and whether she had any sense of it having affected her or her dancing. Perhaps if she'd kept her name (been allowed to keep it), and if Markova had kept hers, British ballet would have had a slightly different flavour from the start since it would have sounded less foreign/exotic/glamorous etc. (Or perhaps it wouldn't have developed at all without that very sense that attracted audiences?). But would Ashton have choreographed any differently for Fonteyn if she's stayed as Peggy Hookham?! Who knows.

 

There's also the question of whether people who kept their names may have suffered for doing so. I remember Deborah Bull saying that de Valois told her she should change her name because Bull was no name for a dancer; but she declined to do so. But I think/hope that by her time, it made no real difference.

[LinMM]

Who would have thought there could be two Maurice Mickelwhites....let alone on Equity's books

 

Mind you it's always a big of an initial shock when you know how many people have the same name as you.

In fact in Brighton there is someone else with the exact same middle name as well....freaky! 

 

[Ianlond]

It’s interesting from a historical perspective. However, although many performers change their name for Equity and personal reasons (& everyone of course we all have the right to be known by whatever name we chose: I am certainly not implying that there is anything ‘wrong’ with changing a name) I do find it somewhat unsettling that there are (still??) only certain types of names that are are appropriate for ballet (or indeed any other profession from that matter).

btw I’m certainly not suggesting that anyone here is indicating that dancers should change their name!  

As an aside, I’m sure I read that Dame Ninette de Valois changed the stage name of Fonteyn (or possibly Pamela May??) without asking? I may have made that up! 

Edited August 27, 2019 by Ianlond

[bridiem]

33 minutes ago, Ianlond said:

It’s interesting from a historical perspective. However, although many performers change their name for Equity and personal reasons (& everyone of course we all have the right to be known by whatever name we chose: I am certainly not implying that there is anything ‘wrong’ with changing a name) I do find it somewhat unsettling that there are (still??) only certain types of names that are are appropriate for ballet (or indeed any other profession from that matter).

btw I’m certainly not suggesting that anyone here is indicating that dancers should change their name!  

As an aside, I’m sure I read that Dame Ninette de Valois changed the stage name of Fonteyn (or possibly Pamela May??) without asking? I may have made that up! 

 

I think that in general nowadays, it's no longer the case that only certain types of names are appropriate for ballet. (As was mentioned above, Darcey Bussell changed her name for different reasons.)

 

I've just looked up Meredith Daneman's biography of Fonteyn - she says that the name change evolved over discussions between Peggy, her mother and de Valois. Interestingly, she quotes de Valois as saying 'We have at last found and created a British ballerina. For heaven's sake, don't let her sound Spanish.' I'm not sure that Fonteyn sounds particularly British, but it was evidently considered more so than some of the possible alternatives.

[Tony Newcombe]

Deborah Bull tells the amusing story, that during a performance she overheard a comment from de Valois who used to sit in the stage side box with Pamela May. ‘’Who is it dancing tonight. Is it Collier? ‘’. To which Pamela May replied ‘’No it’s Deborah Bull’’

de Valois replied ‘’ Oh what a wonderful dancer, shame about the name’’

[Ianlond]

Many thanks bridiem. How very kind of you to look that up. 

[FLOSS]

Of course some name changes can be explained by the desire to lose a name that won't look good on a poster or by Equity's requirements, others by a desire to acquire or impose a  more dancer-like name. If de Valois had succeeded in changing  Deborah Bull's name it would have been only one of many occasions on which she had done so. Much as we may think it regrettable that someone feels the need to change their name in order to pursue their chosen career on stage or films there are occasions when the combination of given name and family name creates an unfortunate impression. How far do you think that Marion Mitchell Morrison or as he later became Marion Robert Morrison would have got in any form of film career if he had not changed his name to John Wayne, or had it changed for him ?

 

We are discussing name changes many of which took place many years ago from the perspective of the second decade of the twenty first century and it is so easy to overlook the social pressures which applied at the time or how much expectation a name can create. In a world in which the theatre poster was the main form of publicity for most performers ,their name , its length and the impression and expectations it created were significant factors to be considered.when deciding what you wished to be called as a stage performer. De Valois would almost certainly have seen names in terms of billing and the expectations they create from the perspective of one who began her career as a performer in  the years before the first World War. We have to remember that during the first half of the last century there were plenty of performers both here and in the US who thought it would help their careers if they lost or adjusted their surnames to disguise their origins, no doubt antisemitism was a significant factor in such decisions as it was rampant in so many countries. Jerome Robbin's choice of stage name was almost certainly influenced by a desire not to sound too foreign, if not too Jewish. Nora Koreff was another dancer  who chose to change her name. She became Nora Kaye.

 

As far as Marie Rambert is concerned I seem to recall her saying that it was quite usual for Jewish families in Poland to register each son's birth with a slightly different form of the family name so that they each appeared to be only sons in order to avoid conscription into the Russian army. This suggests that there was a degree of fluidity within individual families as to whether there was a correct form of the family name and individual might choose what form to use when it came to pursuing a career, particularly if that career was one which involved appearing on stage. In some communities the imperative for a name change may well have been to avoid anyone connecting the stage performer with their family. We know that Edris Stannus changed her name. As she was the daughter of a Lieutenant Colonel in the British army I can't help wondering  whether her acquisition of a stage name had more to do with  distancing herself from her father, her family and the Ascendancy class to which she belonged than to discarding a name which would not look good on a poster. Although Adeline Genee had done much raise the social standing of professional dancers there were still many in society who would have thought that a career as a professional dancer was not a suitable one for the daughter of a senior professional soldier . Perhaps the desire not to cause her father embarrassment was another factor in de Valois' decision.

 

It would be interesting to know whether Rambert's transition from Rambam to Rambert occurred when she was in France to study medicine or whether it came later? I seem to recall that Lydia Sokolova refers to her as "Ramberg" in the John Drummond film about the Ballets Russes. Many of the non Russian members of Diaghilev's company went through a transitional phase before they acquired a more suitably exotic one  but not everyone finally acquired a Russian name. Hilda Munnings was initially known as Munningsova before Diaghilev gave her the name "Lydia Sokolova" by which  she is best known. Mr Healey-Kay went through a phase of being known as Patrikieff before he became Dolin. Perhaps "Ramberg" was also a transitional name. 

 

 

Edited August 27, 2019 by FLOSS

[capybara]

I believe that the RB soloist Chloe Davies, who left far too quickly for my liking, was actually Nicola Davies. That was an Equity clash, I think. 

[Tony Newcombe]

2 minutes ago, capybara said:

I believe that the RB soloist Chloe Davies, who left far too quickly for my liking, was actually Nicola Davies. That was an Equity clash, I think. 

I remember going to one of a Mukhamedov and Friends performances and wondering who is this Nicola Davies listed in the programme. Question was answered of course as soon as she came onto the stage. Yes she did leave to quickly. Something to do with marrying a guy from down under I seem to remember

[DrewCo]

I'm afraid I only know the bare bones of Rambert's life story but reading that her family name was originally Rambam made me curious. The New York Times obituary for Rambert says that the family name was was "Rambam" but her father had already taken the name Ramberg at the time of her birth and her uncle had taken "Rambert." The articles gives the reasons Floss mentions above:

 

"Marie Rambert was born in Warsaw in 1888, the daughter of a bookseller. Her original given name was Cyvia, and the family surname was Rambam. However, men in the family occasionally took other names to escape military conscription by pretending that they were only sons. Her father called himself Ramberg, and one of her uncles was known as Rambert, the surname she later adopted."  Regarding her first name the obituary tells the following story:

 

"After a friend told her that she moved with the fervor of Myriam [after she began studying in Paris], the Old Testament prophetess, she changed her name from Cyvia to Myriam."

 

(I have no idea what the origin of the family name "Rambam" was -- and I am curious -- but, as it happens, "Rambam" in Hebrew letters is the acronym of the Hebrew name of Maimonides who is one of the most important of Medieval biblical commentators and philosophers. And that acronym is the name he is known by in Hebrew -- one reads or cites the "Rambam" -- which I suspect would have been known by more or less every Jewish person in Poland when Rambert grew up.  Imagine, say, if your last name were Aquinas.)

 

 

Edited August 27, 2019 by DrewCo

[Lizbie1]

Thank you, DrewCo - so interesting!

[Odyssey]

There is a nice little anecdote that gives some irony to earlier comments about Darcey Bussell’s name. Sir Peter Wright, in his autobiography,  comments that early on in her career when she joined Sadler Wells, he advised her to change her name from Darcey Bussell, only to later decide “it is the perfect name for a ballerina.” 

[Springbourne3]

Very interesting topic.  I can think of a couple of my favourite ballerinas that had their names changed on becoming professional dancers;

 

Dame Beryl Grey was born Beryl Groom before her rapid rise through the ranks of De Valois’s Sadler’s Wells company in the early 1940s.

 

Anya Linden (Baroness Sainsbury) was born Anya Eltenton before joining Sadlers Wells in 1951. 

Sainsburys named a variety of potato after her - called the ‘Anya’ apparently!

 

 

[bangorballetboy]

11 minutes ago, Springbourne3 said:

 

Sainsburys named a variety of potato after her - called the ‘Anya’ apparently!

 

 

 

And a very nice salad potato it is too.

[bridiem]

24 minutes ago, Springbourne3 said:

Anya Linden (Baroness Sainsbury) was born Anya Eltenton before joining Sadlers Wells in 1951. 

Sainsburys named a variety of potato after her - called the ‘Anya’ apparently!

 

In the light of our previous discussion, maybe it should have been the 'Anyakova'...

[Amelia]

Violetta Prokhorova joined the Sadler’s Wells Ballet (later the Royal Ballet) under her maiden name but Ninette de Valois insisted on her changing it to her married surname Elvin.

https://www.google.com/search?q=violetta+prokhorova+elvin&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=3c_V_ghqik-LFM%3A%2CMSVW2Qw-pLjOeM%2C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kSuRHttLwEuYVdmtXQPw1q8cSWSJQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjkttzo7aXkAhVgRBUIHSFUDMcQ9QEwAHoECAkQBg#imgrc=3c_V_ghqik-LFM:&vet=1