Dorothea Ashbridge (née Zaymes; 4 March 1928 – 30 December 2021) was a South African-born New Zealand ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher and international ballet judge.

Early life

Ashbridge was born in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, South Africa, in 1928, one of eight children. She studied ballet from an early age. At age 17 she left South Africa for London after an invitation from the

Sadler's Wells 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 ...

Career

Ashbridge joined the

Sadler's Wells 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 ...

three months after arriving at the Ballet School. There she danced with famous dancers including

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 ...

Robert Helpmann Sir Robert Murray Helpmann (né 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 (no ...

and

Moira Shearer Moira Shearer King, Lady Kennedy (17 January 1926 – 31 January 2006) was a Scottish ballet dancer and actress. She was famous for her performances in Powell and Pressburger's ''The Red Shoes (1948 film), The Red Shoes'' (1948) and ''The Tales ...

and New Zealand dancer Rowena Jackson. In 1966, after emigrating to New Zealand, Ashbridge branched out from ballet to choreograph pop music television shows ''C'mon!'' and ''Happen Inn.'' Ashbridge taught a number of New Zealand dancers and choreographers including Douglas Wright, Mark Baldwin and dancers in the

Limbs Dance Company The Limbs Dance Company was formed in Auckland, New Zealand in May 1977 and disbanded in Wellington in September 1989. Limbs was "the first contemporary dance company in New Zealand to win a general following", and performed alongside notable New Z ...

where she was the resident ballet mistress from 1979 to 1989. She taught at ballet schools in Auckland, at summer schools, the New Zealand Ballet Company and from 1991 to 2001 she was a classical ballet coach at UNITEC in Auckland. Ashbridge served on the jury of World Ballet Competitions held in France, China and Japan. In 2007 Ashbridge performed in a duet with Debra McCulloch at the Tempo Dance Festival; the dance was choreographed by Mary Jane O'Reilly. She was honoured by the Festival in 2011.

Honours and awards

Ashbridge was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

, for services to ballet, in the

2019 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2019 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 ...

. Ashbridge died on 30 December 2021.

Personal life

Ashbridge married her husband New Zealander Bryan Ashbridge in 1958. He was a dancer with the Royal Ballet. They had one son born in 1965 and shortly after his birth they moved to New Zealand. They divorced in the 1970s.

Early life

Career

Honours and awards

Personal life

References

Further reading