Elizabeth Anderton (born 28 May 1938) is a retired English ballet dancer and director. She danced with Sadler's Wells Opera Ballet and The Royal Ballet, and was later artistic director of the London Festival Ballet. She was awarded the Governors of The Royal Ballet Gold Medal in 2010.

Biography

Anderton was born on 28 May 1938 in

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. Anderton studied with Nesta Brooking and at

The Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially ...

and at Sadler's Wells School. In 1955 she joined the Sadler's Wells Opera Ballet. From 1957 to 1974, she worked at

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...

, becoming soloist in 1958 and principal dancer in 1961. Anderton was injured in 1970, and was inspired to teach after her rehabilitation and coaching sessions with Winifred Edwards. In 1975, Anderton worked as a coach for the

Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet (TAB) is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur an ...

. In 1977, she became involved with

London Festival Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Alicia Markova, Dame Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin (ballet dancer), Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham ...

(now the English National Ballet), first as a teacher,

répétiteur A (; from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. The feminine form is . Opera In opera, a is the person responsible for coaching singers ...

and guest dancer then later as assistant artistic director (1979–83 and 1984–90). She returned to the Royal Ballet in the 1990s. Anderton created roles in

John Cranko John Cyril Cranko (15 August 1927 – 26 June 1973) was a South African ballet dancer and choreographer with the Royal Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet. Life and career Early life Cranko was born to Herbert and Grace Cranko in Rustenburg in ...

's ''Sweeney Todd'' (1959),

Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 190418 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Determined to be a dancer despite the oppositio ...

's ''

The Two Pigeons ''The Two Pigeons'' (original French title: ''Les deux pigeons'') is a fable by La Fontaine's Fables, Jean de la Fontaine (Book IX.2) that was adapted as a ballet with music by André Messager in the 19th century and rechoreagraphed to the same mu ...

'' (1961),

Antony Tudor Antony Tudor (born William Cook; 4 April 1908 – 19 April 1987) was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer. He founded the London Ballet, and later the Philadelphia Ballet Guild in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., in the mid-195 ...

's ''Knight Errant'' (1968), and

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev (17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet-born ballet dancer and choreographer. Nureyev is widely regarded as the preeminent male ballet dancer of his generation as well as one of the greatest ballet dancers of all ...

's ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1977). She also played the Queen in the 1988 TV Movie '' Natalya Makarova's Swan Lake''. Her repertory included Aurora,

Giselle ''Giselle'' ( , ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (; ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

Raymonda ''Raymonda'' () is a ballet, grand ballet in three acts, four scenes with an apotheosis, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Alexander Glazunov (his Opus number, opus 57) and libretto by Lydia Pashkova. ''Raymonda'' was creat ...

and Swanilda. Anderton has also judged senior ballet competitions, including the Geoghegan Award. Anderton was awarded the Governors of The Royal Ballet Gold Medal in 2010.

References

External links

Interview with Elizabeth Anderton
in 2011 via the Royal Ballet and Opera on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderton, Elizabeth 1938 births Living people English ballerinas Dancers of The Royal Ballet English National Ballet