Ballet instructor.
Born at Paris, France on 5 April 1926 to Germaine and René Grandpierre, her career in ballet started with her first performance there at the young age of five, and she was recognized as a prodigée at the age of eight with her performance of La mort du Cygne (The Dying Swan). When she was nine, she was chosen to perform at the Palais de l’ Elysée for the President of France. She danced with the Paris Opera from the age of 11 until she was 15, and then joined the Russian Ballet with her mentor and partner, Serge Lifar. Her career continued with the Bordeaux, Lyon, and Marseille Operas, where she was Prima Ballerina, as well as many other Parisian theatres, including the Lido and the Moulin Rouge. In 1939, she received a world gold medal for France.
During the summer of 1944, she and a group of performers were sent to Germany to uplift the spirits of the French factory workers during the Second World War. In 1946, after the liberation of France, she married Max C. Kantor (1918-2007) at Paris. They then established their home and careers at Winnipeg, where her husband had been born, with their infant son Ronald Kantor.
She continued to perform in Winnipeg and taught ballet classes in the McIntyre Block before opening a conservatory in her home, Moss House at 218 Roslyn Road, in 1956. There she was known to her students as Madame Grandpierre. Students appreciated her for her passion and her devotion to art, as well as her creativity and generosity. The last lesson she taught was to her niece, Isabelle Grandpierre, on the evening of 29 April 2008, the day before she moved into a care home, Foyer Valade (now called Actionmarguerite St. Vital).
She died at Winnipeg on 8 June 2008.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Moss House / Kantor House (218 Roslyn Road, Winnipeg)
Obituary [Max C. Kantor], Winnipeg Free Press, 31 January 2007.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 11 June 2008.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 13 December 2024
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