Dame Beryl Elizabeth Grey (née Groom; 11 June 1927 – 10 December 2022) was a British ballet dancer.

Early life

Born in

Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organis ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, she began dance classes at the age of four while attending Sherbourne Preparatory School, and by age eight was being taught by Phyllis Bedells. By the age of nine she had become the star pupil of her school, had been presented a silver medal by

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 lat ...

and had passed all the examinations of the Royal Academy of Dancing it was possible for her to take. Her talent was recognised by Ursula Moreton and

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, ...

, who offered her a scholarship for four years at the age of ten, with the option of joining their dance company for a further four years. She began to attend the

Sadler's Wells 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, especiall ...

in 1937Fisher, Hugh. ''Beryl Grey''. Adam and Charles Black: London (1955), pp. 5-21 where her teachers were

and Vera Volkova.

Career

In August 1941, she was taken into the company at the age of fourteen and joined them during a provincial tour, at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...

. Her first appearance with the company was in the ''corps de ballet'' of ''Le Lac des Cygnes''. She progressed through the company at a steady rate. Her first solo role was as one of the Blue Skaters in

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 opposit ...

's '' Les Patineurs''. Her first lead role was as the Serving Maid in ''The Gods Go A-Begging'' "with a charm and style remarkable for a child of fourteen and a half". On her fifteenth birthday, Dame

gave her an inscribed copy of Gordon Anthony's book on Dame

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE (''née'' 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 the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells ...

and the opportunity of dancing Odette-Odile in the full-length '' Le Lac des Cygnes''. In 1942,

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 ...

created the first role for her in his second ballet ''The Birds'' where she was The Nightingale. In April 1943, she created her first dramatic role as Duessa in Ashton's ballet, ''The Quest'', which was based on Edmund Spenser's ''

The Faerie Queene ''The Faerie Queene'' is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books IIII were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books IVVI. ''The Faerie Queene'' is notable for its form: at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 st ...

''. On 1 March 1944, she first portrayed the main role of ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance cano ...

'' in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...

. She then performed the role in London for the first time on her seventeenth birthday. Grey is also known for her interpretation of ''Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis'', which she first performed in 1946. She first performed the role of Princess Aurora in '' The Sleeping Beauty'' on 20 June 1946 at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal ...

, Covent Garden. From 1957 until the mid-1960s, Grey was an international guest ballerina across Europe, South America, Australasia, the Far East, the United States and Canada. In 1957, she became the first English dancer to appear as a guest ballerina with the Kirov and Bolshoi Ballet. Grey was the first Western guest artist to dance with the Bolshoi Ballet (1957–1958), and to appear with the Peking Ballet and Shanghai Company (with a Chinese partner) in 1964. She was the subject of ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'' in April 1974 when she was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...

at the London Festival Ballet's Donmar rehearsal studios in London's Covent Garden.

Awards, titles and positions

She held numerous honorary doctorates and had been Vice President of the Royal Academy of Dancing since 1980, was President of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing and a Director of the

Birmingham Royal Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the co ...

. In September 1997 she was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award by 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 ...

. The Award is given by the Royal Academy of Dancing to individuals in recognition of great contribution to the world of ballet. She was appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

for services to dance. *Honorary Life President,

Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) is an international dance teaching and examination board based in London, England. The registered educational charity, which was established on 25 July 1904 as the ''Imperial Society of Dance Te ...

* Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (1973) * Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, DBE (1988) * Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award (1997), presented 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 ...

* Carl Alan Award (2010)

References

External links

''Dance Magazine''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, Beryl 1927 births 2022 deaths Prima ballerinas 20th-century British ballet dancers Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Dancers of The Royal Ballet English National Ballet English ballerinas People from Highgate Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour