Dame Ninette de Valois, ballet dancer and choreographer, was born June 6, 1898 in Blessington, County Wicklow, Ireland.

She worked with The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet. In 1926 she founded the Royal Ballet School in London, UK.
Among her many awards were the CBE, DBE, Companion of Honour and Order of Merit. 

Celebrating the Millennium. Dame Ninette de Valois
Issued in 2000 by Irish post office as part of their
New Millennium (4th issue). The Arts series.

Ninette de Valois was a stage name, but everyone she taught or worked with simply called her Madam. As a child, however, she went by Edris Stannus.

In June 1898, Edris Stannus was born at Baltyboys House a couple of miles from Blessington in County Wicklow. She was the second daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Stannus and glassmaker Lilith Graydon-Smith.

Edris’s father wanted a male heir and didn’t celebrate her arrival by ringing the bell or lighting a bonfire. This family custom took place when his eldest, Thelma, was born but it wouldn’t resume until he had a son a few years later. In fact, he dismantled the wood that had been gathered together for the bonfire.

Edris grew up idolising her father and, years later, she wrote:

“It was not until my ninth birthday that I heard the story and was deeply hurt. Later, when reprimanded for some misdeed, I announced that one day I might light my own bonfire.”
The Irish woman behind The Royal Ballet | EPIC Museum (This is a good biography)