One of Spain's most prestigious dance artists, Mariemma, died at the age of 91 on Tuesday after a long illness.

MADRID - One of the top representatives of Spanish dance, Guillermina Martínez Cabrejas, died in Madrid on Tuesday aged 91 after a long illness that required medical care for the last two years of her life.

Better known as Mariemma, the dancer, choreographer, teacher and director was considered one of the most prestigious Spanish dance artists, and her work was recognised with top national awards and the Gold Medal at the New York World Fair in 1964.

In 1984, she founded her own dance school, Mariemma Ballet de España, where she taught several generations of dancers until her retirement. In her previous post as head of the Madrid Royal Conservatory, she was instrumental in creating four specific dance categories for teaching purposes: escuela bolera, folklore, flamenco and stylised dance.

Some of her best-known work as a choreographer includes Guridi's Diez Melodías Vascas, Soler's Fandango and Danza y tronío by Boccherini, all of which she produced for the prestigious Ballet Nacional de España.

Born in 1917 in Iscar, Valladolid, Mariemma moved to Paris with her family aged two, and soon began studying at the Ballet School of the Théâtre du Châtelet. Her debut performance came during a tour of France and Switzerland.

In 1940 she returned to Spain, but went on frequent tours of Latin America, the United States and northern Europe.

Some of her stellar performances as a dancer came with Leonide Massine, the Russian dancer and choreographer of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, at the Rome Opera Theatre. She was also a guest dancer with the Gran Ballet del Marqués de Cuevas.

In 2005, the town where she was born founded a museum devoted to Mariemma, which opened in 2007. The artist donated eight crates full of costumes, shoes, posters, castanets, books, drawings and other material relating to her life as a dancer.

text by El Pais / Expatica
photos by google