Michael George Somes CBE (28 September 191718 November 1994), was an English ballet dancer. He was a principal dancer of

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 ...

, London, and the frequent partner of

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, DBE ( Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn (), was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with th ...

Early years

Somes was born in Horsley,

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, England, the son of Edwin Joseph Somes (1882–1973), a professional musician, and Ethel M. M. Pridham (1889–1972), a schoolmistress. He had an elder brother, Laurence Joseph Somes (1913–1987).

Career

In 1934, he was awarded the first scholarship given to a male by the Royal Ballet (then known as the Vic-Wells Ballet). In 1938, he and Fonteyn created the principal rôles in the

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 ...

Constant Lambert Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founding music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Dame Ninette de Valois and Sir Frederick Ashton) he was a major figu ...

ballet ''

Horoscope A horoscope (or other commonly used names for the horoscope in English include natal chart, astrological chart, astro-chart, celestial map, sky-map, star-chart, cosmogram, vitasphere, radical chart, radix, chart wheel or simply chart) is an ast ...

'', after which he was described as "potentially the finest British male dancer of the half century". He originated rôles in 24 ballets choreographed for the company by Ashton, and was the lead male dancer for the company from 1951 until the arrival of

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 ...

in 1962. From then on, Somes appeared in character rôles, most notably as Lord Capulet in ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

''. Somes was assistant director of the company under Ashton from 1963 to 1970.The Stage, December 15th 1994, p. 11
/ref> Somes appeared on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

'' in 1954, and in television versions of ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'' (1954), '' The Sleeping Beauty'' (1955) and ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

'' (1958), as well as a film version of Prokofiev's ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1966). All three productions starred

. In 1959, Somes was named a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE).

Personal life

In 1954, Somes married the ballet dancer Deirdre Annette Dixon (1934–1959), a junior soloist for the Royal Ballet. Dixon died in a London hospital on May 28, 1959, aged 25, from a cerebral abscess and meningitis, although her obituary in The Stage states that her death was from the effects of a car accident two years previously.Obituary – Deirdre Dixon, The Stage, Thursday June 4th 1959
/ref> Somes then married fellow ballet dancer Dame

Antoinette Sibley Dame Antoinette Sibley (born 27 February 1939) is a British prima ballerina. She joined the Royal Ballet from the Royal Ballet School in 1956 and became a soloist in 1960. She was celebrated for her partnership with Anthony Dowell. After her re ...

in 1964; they divorced in 1973."British Dancer Michael Somes Dies" – Washington Post, November 27th 1994
/ref> He later married ballet dancer Wendy Ellis. He died of a brain tumour in London in 1994. Somes was a distant relative (1st cousin 3 times removed) of

Joseph Somes Joseph Somes (9 December 1787 – 25 June 1845) was a Great Britain, British shipowner and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician. Family Born in Stepney, London, Somes was the youngest son of Samuel Somes (1758–1816) and Sarah né ...

, (1787–1845), British shipowner, Conservative politician and Governor of the

New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model that was focused on the systematic colonisation of New Ze ...

.Robin Somes, private genealogical research
/ref> He was also related to the latter's namesake

(1819–1871), Conservative M.P. for Kingston upon Hull from 1859 to 1865.

References

External links

Dance magazine obituary, February 1995
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Somes, Michael 1917 births 1994 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deaths from brain cancer in England English male ballet dancers Principal dancers of The Royal Ballet Entertainers from Gloucestershire