Farida Oetoyo, the nation'€™s premier ballet dancer and choreographer, died of a heart illness on Sunday at Premier Bintaro Hospital in South Jakarta. She was 75.

Born on July 7, 1939, Farida started learning ballet and modern dance at the age of 9 in Singapore and took the stage for the first time at the Albert Hall in Canberra, Australia, in 1953.

Farida, whose father was a diplomat, worked as a professional dancer in the Netherlands from 1956 to 1958 and continued her studies on scholarship at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow in 1961.

For her graduation in 1965, she performed at the famous Bolshoi Theater a pas de deux that had been specially choreographed for her.

It was in Moscow where she met her husband, an Indonesian film student named Sjumandjaja, who would go on to become one of the nation'€™s most lauded directors.

Farida remained married for about 10 years to Sjumandjaja, who directed 14 films and won five best movie awards, the local equivalent of an Oscar, at the Festival Film Indonesia.

Before the couple separated, Farida starred in several movies, including the acclaimed Apa Yang Kau Cari, Palupi? (What Are You Looking for, Palupi?), directed by Asrul Sani, in 1969; the 1971 war film Perawan di Sektor Selatan (A Maid in the South Sector); and Dendam Si Anak Haram (The Bastard'€™s Vengeance).

Farida also won Fulbright scholarships to study choreography and modern dance at the Martha Graham School in New York, returning to Indonesia to open her own ballet school, Sumber Cipta (Source of Creativity), in 1976 and leading the troupe Kreativität Dance Indonesia, for the school'€™s graduates who wanted to become professional dancers.

Memento mori: Farida Oetoyo (right) accompanies her students from the Sumber Cipta dance school in 2007. RIA Novosti/Mikhail Tsyganov

In her career, Farida choreographed more than 100 dances, including narrative pieces and works for children

Farida'€™s dedication to the development of classical and modern dance in Indonesia never waned.

A fellow lecturer at the Indonesian Arts Institute, the actor Didi Petet, said that Farida was still teaching until she was admitted to the hospital a week ago. '€œShe spent her last days teaching ballet and modern dance. It'€™s incredible for someone her age. We really lost a maestro,'€ he said.

The ballerina Anindya Krisna, herself an alumna of Farida'€™s
Sumber Cipta ballet school, echoed Didi'€™s sentiments.

'€œThe most memorable thing about Ibu Fari was how she dedicated her life to ballet, the ballet school and our performances. She fully dedicated her life to ballet. Her life was about ballet; her life was about the school and the students and their performances,'€ Anindya, who is also a teacher and manager at Sumber Cipta, said.

'€œEven in her last days, she still worried about how the school was going to continue, who'€™s going to teach there. There was so much that she wanted to achieve through the school, so many performances to do,'€ Anindya added.

Dangdut singer and model Liza Natalia said that she studied under Farida for six years, starting when she was in the third grade. She remembered Farida Feisol (a screen name) as a strict teacher who emphasized basic techniques.

'€œBallet is not only the basic you need as a dancer but it gives you the right postures to stand, to sit, even to move your head,'€ Liza said. '€œYou may not see it now, but you will see how it makes you in the future. I was born a dancer from Tante [Aunt] Fari'€™s rigorous training.'€

Farida is survived two sons: the dancer Aridya Yudistira Sjuman and the musician Sri Aksan Sjuman, popularly known as Wong Aksan, the erstwhile drummer for rock band Dewa.