American ballerina Valerie Valentine from Salt Lake City, Utah, started her career as a fourteen year old aspirant with the famous William Christensen’s Ballet West. After her professional studies at the London Royal Ballet School she joined the Dutch National Ballet (Het Nationale Ballet) in Amsterdam in 1973 as a corps member. Five years later she was promoted to soloist, and in 1985 to principal.

In her long career at the Dutch National Ballet she danced in many ballets by Dutch modern choreographers like Hans van Manen, Rudi van Dantzig, Toer van Schayk. Quite a few choreographies were created on her. She had leading roles in almost all modern ballets by George Balanchine (Apollon Mussagète, Agon, The Prodigal Son), as well as in his classical repertoire (Theme and Variations, Symphony in C, Serenade, Tsjaikovsky Pas de Deux).

In 1988 Valerie Valentine joined the Ballet of the German Opera in Berlin as principal where she was seen as Rosa, the main role in Roland Petit’s Der Blaue Engel, and in Who Cares (Balanchine, on music by Gershwin) , Gala Performance (Anthony Tudor), Twilight and Sarcasmen (both by Hans van Manen). During her second season in Berlin she guested with the Dutch Scapino Ballet in The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy) and in modern ballets by Ed Wubbe and Nils Christe.

Her return to the Dutch National Ballet was marked by her outstanding performance as Odette/Odile in Rudi van Dantzig’s version of Swan Lake. Her classical repertoire includes Myrthe in Giselle, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Good Fairy in Cinderella, and Les Sylphides.

She danced the principal roles in Martha Graham’s Acts of Light, Lamentation, en in Diversion of Angels. She worked with Carolyn Carlson in Shamrock, danced solo’s as well as the pas de deux in Billy Forsyth’s Artifact, and did The Partisan in Kurt Jooss’ Green Table.

Next to her work for the Dutch National Ballet Valerie Valentine was invited to dance in the new interpretation of the opera Dido and Aeneas (Henry Purcell) in 1994, and with the Nederlandse Opera (Dutch Opera) in Arnold Schönberg’s Die Glückliche Hand directed by Pierre Audi in 1995. In 1996 she was the soloist in Quando la Terra si Rimette in Movimento, Jan Fabre’s spectacular ballet created for her. With the 20 minute solo of that ballet Valerie Valentine toured all over Europe.

In 1997 Valerie Valentine was awarded the Golden Dance Theatre Award, and on June 20 1998 she was knighted by the Queen in the Order of the Dutch Lion in recognition of 25 years of significant contribution to the art of dance: "Admired for her energy and dedication to her work, Valerie Valentine’s beautiful sense of line, strong technique and expressive, magical stage presence have inspired not only choreographers, but photographers and filmmakers as well."

She acted in three films: Butterflies in the Wind ( Gerben Hellinga), For A Lost Soldier , and A Fair Play (both directed by Roeland Kerbosch).

For a number of years Valerie Valentine has been actively involved in the Duchenne Parent Project for Muscular Dystrophy Research, an international non profit organization collecting funds for scientific research into treatments for children with that still incurable disease. She organised several Dance Gala’s to raise funds. For that and other purposes of children in need she eventually established her own fundraising Valentijn Foundation.

At her farewell Gala, leaving the National Ballet, on February 14 ( Valentine’s Day) 2000, she hosted a night of her favourite opera and dance excerpts in the Amsterdam Carré Theatre, performed by the best artists from around Europe, once again dedicated to the Duchenne Parent Project.

In May 2001 she presented her own programme “The Four of Us”, an attractive mix of dancing, acting and music. It received very good reviews, had a four week run in the Panama Theatre Amsterdam, and one week in the Stuttgart Wilhelm Theater. In 2003/04 she did “Little Ballerina”, a childrens programme initiated by the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

In September 2004 Valerie Valentine opened her own dance centre called DanceStreet, Europe’s modern centre for dance and movement, where ballet and modern dance is taught next to streetdance, belly dance, martial arts, and yoga (www.dancestreet.net).

In 2005 she did the solo dance part in a modern version of Die Fledermaus with the Nederlandse Reisopera, and she produced the open air dance performances at De Haere Castle of excerpts from Rudi van Dantzig’s Swan Lake with the Residentie Orchestra