Lifar

American  

[lyi-fahr] / lyɪˈfɑr /

noun

1. Serge 1905–86, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer, in Paris after 1923.

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Lifar British  

/ ljiˈfar /

noun

1. Serge (sɛrʒ). 1905–86, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer: ballet master at the Paris Opera Ballet (1932–58). His ballets include Prométhée (1929), Icare (1935), and Phèdre (1950)

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Example Sentences

Ms. Charrat met Mr. Lifar during the making of “La Mort du Cygne”; he was the film’s choreographer and, more significantly, the director of the Paris Opera Ballet.

From New York Times • Sep. 1, 2017

In the 1990s, Devi traveled to Moscow to give a talk, accompanied by David and Iana Lifar, the Argentine couple who were her constant companions during the last years of her life.

From Time • Jun. 10, 2015

My favorite dance is a delicious parody of French postwar avant-garde ballet—a Serge Lifar sort of business, with flexed feet and gold lamé spaceman costumes—that is performed at a swanky party that Jerry attends.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 13, 2015

The film includes rare performance footage of this Paris Opera Ballet étoile in works by Gene Kelly, Serge Lifar and Maurice Béjart.

From New York Times • Dec. 30, 2010

Lifar angrily told his friends he had forbidden his ballet to the marquis because it was the exclusive property of the Paris Op�ra, where Lifar is the top choreographer and dancing master.

From Time Magazine Archive