Nesta Toumine was a dancer, choreographer, artistic director and teacher in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

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She was born Nesta Williams in Thonrhill Heath, Croydon

Croydon

Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, the daughter of Alfred Edward Williams and Agmes Mary Seivers, and was educated in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

. She studied ballet in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, with Nikolai Legat, Serafina Astafieva

Serafina Astafieva

Serafina Astafieva was a Russian dancer and ballet teacher.Astafieva was a pupil at the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre School and in 1895 graduated from the Mariinsky Ballet School. In 1896 she married Jozef Kshessinsky a famous character dancer. From 1909-1911 Astafieva performed with Sergei Diaghilev's...

 and Margaret Craske in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and with Julia Sedova in Nice. Williams performed as Nesta Markova with the Ballets Russes

Ballets Russes

The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...

 de Paris and Léonide Massine's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo

Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo

Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo was a ballet company created by members of the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo in 1938 after Léonide Massine and René Blum had a falling-out with the co-founder Wassily de Basil...

. In 1941, she married Sviatoslov Toumine. The couple settled in New York but moved to Ottawa after the birth of their sons, Peter and Lorne. With Yolande Leduc, Toumine founded the Ottawa Ballet Company in 1947. She taught ballet in her school in Ottawa, in Scranton, Pennsylvania

Scranton, Pennsylvania

Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...

 and in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

. Toumine died in Ottawa.

Dancers trained by Toumine include

• David Lee Moroni
  David Lee Moroni
  David Lee Moroni is a former Canadian dancer and teacher.He was born in Ottawa, studied dance with Nesta Toumine and performed with her local company. In 1964, he joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, becoming principal dancer in 1966. In 1970, he became head of the company's professional training...
  
  , founding principal of the professional division of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School
• David Peregrine
  David Peregrine
  David Peregrine, OC was a Canadian dancer and actor.He was born David Alan Evans in Llay, Wales and grew up in Ottawa. Peregrine studied ballet with Nesta Toumine in Ottawa, going on to study at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet school with David Moroni and at the Banff School of Fine Arts...
  
  , former principal dancer for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet

Toumine developed the choreography for a number of ballets including:

• Maria Chapdelaine
• Les Sylphides
• Les Valses
• Pas de Quatre

She also choreographed shows for the Orpheus Musical Theatre Society

Orpheus Musical Theatre Society

One of North America's oldest amateur musical theatre societies, Ottawa, Ontario based Orpheus Musical Theatre Society was founded in 1906.Orpheus performs three shows annually at the Centrepointe Theatre in Ottawa, Ontario. Past performers in Orpheus shows include Alanis Morissette, Peter...

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The Society of Russian Ballet established the Nesta Toumine Memorial Award in 1996.