The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award is an honour presented annually by the

Royal Academy of Dance "Health and happiness" , predecessor = , successor = , formation = 1920 , extinction = , type = NGO , status = Registered charity , purpose = Examination board – dance education and training , headquarters = 36 Battersea SquareSW11 3 ...

, to people who have made a significant contribution to the ballet and dance industry. The award was instituted by Dame Adeline Genee in 1953, to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and her appointment as Royal Patron of the Academy. The first winner of the award was

Dame Ninette de Valois Dame Ninette de Valois (born Edris Stannus; 6 June 1898 – 8 March 2001) was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, ...

, founder 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 in ...

, Birmingham Royal Ballet and

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 ...

. The award has since been presented to a number of notable people, and is recognised as the highest honour awarded by the Academy.

Winners

The award was shared in 1963, 1966 and 2009, and in 2014 was awarded to a

ballet company A ballet company is a type of dance troupe which performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-round ba ...

, rather than an individual. The full list of winners i
available at the RAD website.
*1954 -

Ninette de Valois Dame Ninette de Valois (born Edris Stannus; 6 June 1898 – 8 March 2001) was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russ ...

*1955 -

Tamara Karsavina Tamara Platonovna Karsavina (russian: Тамара Платоновна Карсавина; 10 March 1885 – 26 May 1978) was a Russian prima ballerina, renowned for her beauty, who was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and l ...

*1956 -

Marie Rambert Dame Marie Rambert, Mrs Dukes DBE (20 February 188812 June 1982) was a Polish-born English dancer and pedagogue who exerted great influence on British ballet, both as a dancer and teacher. Early years and background Born to a liberal Lithuan ...

*1957 - Anton Dolin *1958 -

Phyllis Bedells Phyllis Bedells (9 August 1893 – 2 May 1985) was a British ballerina and dance teacher. Early life Ethel Phyllis Bedells was born in Knowle, Bristol. Her father was a clerk for the Bristol Gas Company; both parents were musical. Her fat ...

*1959 - Frederick Ashton *1960 -

Robert Helpmann Sir Robert Murray Helpmann CBE ( Helpman, 9 April 1909 – 28 September 1986) was an Australian ballet dancer, actor, director, and choreographer. After early work in Australia he moved to Britain in 1932, where he joined the Vic-Wells Ballet ( ...

*1961 -

Ursula Moreton Ursula Moreton (13 March 1903 – 24 June 1973) was a British ballerina and teacher, director of the Royal Ballet School from 1952 to 1968. Early life She was born in Southsea on 13 March 1903. Career Dancer Moreton studied with Cecchetti and deb ...

*1962 -

Cyril Beaumont Cyril W. Beaumont OBE (1 November 1891 – 24 May 1976) was a British dance historian, critic, technical theorist, translator, bookseller, and publisher. Author of more than forty books on ballet, he is considered one of the most important danc ...

*1963 - Phillip J. S. Richardson (posthumously) *1963 -

Alicia Markova Dame Alicia Markova DBE (1 December 1910 – 2 December 2004) was a British ballerina and a choreographer, director and teacher of classical ballet. Most noted for her career with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and touring internation ...

*1964 - Kathleen Gordon *1965 -

Peggy van Praagh Dame Margaret van Praagh (1 September 1910 – 15 January 1990) was a British ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher, repetiteur, producer, advocate and director, who spent much of her later career in Australia. Early life Peggy van Praagh ...

*1966 - Serge Grigorieff *1966 - Lubov Tchernicheva *1967 -

Lydia Sokolova Lydia Sokolova (1896–1974) was an English ballerina. She trained at the Stedman Ballet Academy and learned from accomplished dancers including Anna Pavlova and Enrico Cecchetti, and was a prominent member of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes fr ...

*1968 - Stanislas Idzikowski *1969 - John Hart *1970 - John Gilpin *1971 - Louise Browne *1972 - Ruth French *1973 -

Norman Morrice Norman Alexander Morrice (10 September 1931 – 11 January 2008) was a British dancer, choreographer and artistic director of both Ballet Rambert from 1966 to 1974 and the Royal Ballet from 1977 to 1986, the UK's two major ballet companies. Earl ...

*1974 -

Brian Shaw Brian Keith Shaw (born March 22, 1966) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He could play both guard positions, but wa ...

*1975 - Robin Howard *1976 - Pamela May *1977 - Winifred Edwards *1978 -

Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. E ...

*1979 - Arnold Haskell *1980 -

Glen Tetley Glen Tetley (February 3, 1926 – January 26, 2007) was an American ballet and modern dancer as well as a choreographer who mixed ballet and modern dance to create a new way of looking at dance, and is best known for his piece ''Pierrot Lunaire ...

*1981 -

Michael Somes Michael George Somes CBE (28 September 191718 November 1994), was an English ballet dancer. He was a principal dancer of The Royal Ballet, London, and the frequent partner of Margot Fonteyn. Early years Somes was born in Horsley, Gloucestersh ...

*1982 - Merle Park *1983 -

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

*1984 - Leslie Edwards *1985 -

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 ...

*1986 - Rudolf Benesh *1986 - Joan Benesh *1987 - Peter Darrell *1988 -

John Lanchbery John Arthur Lanchbery OBE (15 May 1923 – 27 February 2003) was an English-Australian composer and conductor, famous for his ballet arrangements. He served as the Principal Conductor of the Royal Ballet from 1959 to 1972, Principal Conductor ...

*1989 - Mary Clarke *1990 - Peter Wright *1991 -

Ivor Forbes Guest Ivor Forbes Guest DUniv MA FRAD (14 April 1920 – 30 March 2018) was a British historian and writer, best known for his study of ballet. He was chairman of the Royal Academy of Dance for twenty three years (1970–93) and has been a Vice-Pr ...

*1992 -

Clement Crisp Clement Andrew Crisp OBE (21 September 1926 – 1 March 2022) was a British dance critic. He served as dance critic for the ''Financial Times'' from 1956 to 2020. Life and career Crisp was born in Romford, Essex, in 1926, although for many years ...

*1993 -

Julia Farron Julia Farron (22 July 1922 – 3 July 2019) was an English ballerina, best known as one of the earliest and all-time youngest members of The Royal Ballet, the leading ballet company based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. ...

*1994 -

Anthony Dowell Sir Anthony James Dowell (born 16 February 1943) is a retired British ballet dancer and a former artistic director of the Royal Ballet. He is widely recognized as one of the great ''danseurs nobles'' of the twentieth century. Early life and tra ...

*1995 - Beryl Grey *1996 -

Irina Baronova Irina Mikhailovna Baronova FRAD (; 13 March 1919 – 28 June 2008) was a Russian ballerina and actress who was one of the Baby Ballerinas of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, discovered by George Balanchine in Paris in the 1930s. She created ...

*1998 - Anya Linden, Lady Sainsbury *1999 -

Maina Gielgud Maina Gielgud (born 14 January 1945) is a British former ballet dancer and a veteran ballet administrator. She was artistic director of The Australian Ballet from 1983 to 1996. She had a twenty-year career as a dancer in Europe and the United Ki ...

*2000 -

Gillian Lynne Dame Gillian Barbara Lynne (née Pyrke; 20 February 1926 – 1 July 2018) was an English ballerina, dancer, choreographer, actress, and theatre-television director, noted for her theatre choreography associated with two of the longest-runnin ...

*2003 - Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (posthumously) *2005 -

John Tooley Sir John Tooley (1 June 1924 – 18 March 2020)Tooley profile
announcements.telegraph. ...

*2007 - Alexander Grant *2009 - Victor Hochhauser *2009 - Lilian Hochhauser *2010 - Rachel Cameron *2011 - Monica Mason *2012 -

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 ...

*2014 -

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 in ...

*2016 -

Matthew Bourne Sir Matthew Christopher Bourne (born 13 January 1960) is an English choreographer whose work includes contemporary dance and dance theatre. Choreographer In 2007, Bourne contemplated a gay version of ''Romeo and Juliet''. Despite the succ ...

*2018 -

Carlos Acosta Carlos Yunior Acosta Quesada (born 2 June 1973) is a Cuban-British ballet director and retired dancer who is director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. He danced with many companies including the English National Ballet, National Ballet of ...

*2019 -

Karen Kain Karen Alexandria Kain (born March 28, 1951) is a Canadian former ballet dancer, and was the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada from 2005 - 2021. Early training and childhood Kain's mother enrolled her daughter in ballet training ...

*2021 -

David McAllister David James McAllister (born 12 January 1971) is a German politician who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union, part of the European People's Party. He is the current Vice Pre ...

*2022 - Mikhail Baryshnikov

References

{{Reflist Dance awards Awards established in 1953 English awards 1953 establishments in the United Kingdom Coronation of Elizabeth II Dance in the United Kingdom British performing arts awards