Talk:List of prima ballerina assolutas

The list
Any name on this list MUST be rigorously checked. The name should only be put on the list, if the year of award and who awarded it can be checked. Wallie (talk) 12:43, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

As far as I can see, the following is true:

There are eight people on the list. Seven appear on most recognized lists. Spira deosn't. However, it is clear that she did receive the award.

The BIG FOUR (Undisputed)


 * Mathilde Kschessinska RUSSIA
 * Pierina Legnani RUSSIA
 * Maya Plisetskaya USSR
 * Galina Ulanova USSR

VERIFIED:


 * Margot Fonteyn GB Awarded 1979 by the Queen
 * Phyllis Spira SA Awarded 1984 by the President

UNSURE OF DATE:


 * Alicia Alonso CUBA Awarded date ???? by the President

NEEDS TO BE CHECKED:


 * Alicia Markova GB


 * As I have said elsewhere, I absolutely deny that Markova was ever officially awarded PBA, and I challenge anyone who says so to produce documentary evidence. I guarantee no-one can find a Court announcement of any such appointment. This is not to say she wasn't worth it.


 * Also, I draw atention to the contribution of MrLopez2682 to the talk page of Ballerina. Macdonald-ross (talk) 09:36, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

Anneli Alhanko
I have stumbled upon an article about Anneli Alhanko, a ballerina whose name I know as she danced Birgit Cullberg's version of Strindberg's Miss Julie at the Royal Swedish Ballet. The article is based on a Swedish Wikipedia entry begun five years ago, which contains the statement (added four years ago) that she was an assoluta. The Swedish and English articles are quite short, and the latter is a translation of the former (I updated it a wee bit but otherwise do not take a stand one way or the other.) It occurs to me that one of the editors of the Swedish may have equated the expression hovdansare (court dancer) with assoluta, which might be overstating the case a bit, as there have been nine including Alhanko, who was the first, appointed by the king in 1990. — Robert Greer (talk) 22:22, 5 May 2010 (UTC)