Gailene Stock
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Gailene Stock
CBE 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 ...
AM (28 January 194629 April 2014) was an Australian-born ballerina, teacher and Director of 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 ...
in
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
.


Early years

Gailene Patricia Stock was born in
Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...
, Victoria. She was the second of three daughters to Roy and Sylvia. She began dancing from the age of three. However, she contracted polio at the age of 8, which left her hospital in an iron frame for 18 months. Remarkably, she was back dancing again by the time she was 12, attending the school of Paul Hammond, formerly a leading soloist with the
Borovansky 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 and ...
. Two years later, however, she had another setback when she suffered serious injury - a fractured skull and jaw - following a collision between a cement lorry and her father's car; she was left in a coma for three days. She had been due to take her
Royal Academy of Dance The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is a UK-based examination board specialising in dance education and training, with an emphasis on classical ballet. The RAD was founded in London, England in 1920 as the Association of Teachers of Operatic Danci ...
exam. Incredibly, she recovered and passed her exam with "commendation".


Rise to Principal Dancer

In 1962, at the age of 16, Stock was awarded a Royal Academy of Dance scholarship to London's Royal Ballet School, but at the same time, Dame Peggy van Praagh had just founded
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 a ...
and she decided to offer Gailene a job and so she deferred her London jaunt to the following year. After a year in London, she was offered a position with The Royal Ballet. She decided, however, to return to The Australian Ballet, where she spent 7 years, rising to
principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be either gender. The position is similar to that of ''Soloist (ballet), solois ...
under director Robert Helpmann. When The Australian Ballet embarked on its first European tour in 1965, Stock was part of the company, and toured on subsequent tours, including one to the United States, during which many dancers sustained injuries. On that tour, Stock recalled, she did 69 performances in 69 days. She later went on to dance for three years in Canada as principal ballerina with the
National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca, the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...
and the
Royal Winnipeg Ballet The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada's oldest ballet company and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America. History It was founded in 1939 as the "Winnipeg Ballet Club" by Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally (who also fou ...
. She was pursued to North America by an Australian colleague, Gary Norman, whom she married. The pair returned to Australian Ballet and resumed their dancing careers. After having their daughter in 1978 she moved into teaching and management. Stock then was named director of the National Ballet School, Victoria, and took on other administrative positions before being made director of the Australian Ballet School from 1990 to 1998. In 1999 she was head-hunted to take over from Dame Merle Park as Director of the Royal Ballet School. She accepted the post with the proviso that her husband taught the boys at the school.


Return to London

Gailene Stock moved to The Royal Ballet School in 1999, with her family. She immediately set to work changing the curriculum in order to make the student dancers more employment-ready upon graduation. When she joined, employment rates were around 48% and steadily rose to over 98% during her tenure. She opened the doors to students from all over the world, which angered many of the establishment within the English ballet. Over her 15 years, she oversaw the splendid refurbishments of the school's junior and senior sections, achieving a much-praised move of the Royal Ballet School's senior section from dowdy
Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...
premises to an award-winning conversion next to the
Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...
in Covent Garden, and upgrading the younger section's accommodation in
White Lodge White Lodge is a Grade I listed Georgian house situated in Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Formerly a royal residence, it now houses the Royal Ballet Lower School, instructing students aged 11–16. Early histor ...
,
Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, Cha ...
. She served twice as the president of the jury at the
Prix de Lausanne The Prix de Lausanne () is an international dance competition held annually in Lausanne, Switzerland. The competition is for young dancers seeking to pursue a professional career in classical ballet, and many former prize winners of the competition ...
(2003 and 2011) and also as a jury member for the Young America Grand Prix.


Family

Gailene married fellow Australian and principal dancer Gary Norman while they were touring North America in 1977. Their daughter Lisa was born in 1978.


Honours

In 1997, she was appointed a Member of the
Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
(AM) for services to ballet. In the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 5 June 2013 Stock was made 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). The insignia was brought to her hospital bed, where she was being treated for cancer.


Awards

In 1998, Stock became the first Australian representative on the Executive and Artistic Committees of the
Royal Academy of Dance The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is a UK-based examination board specialising in dance education and training, with an emphasis on classical ballet. The RAD was founded in London, England in 1920 as the Association of Teachers of Operatic Danci ...
, London. In 2013, she received the Governors of The Royal Ballet Gold Medal.


Health and death

In 2013 Stock was diagnosed with a
brain tumour A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cancero ...
and took leave from The Royal Ballet to receive treatment. She died a year later on 29 April 2014, aged 68. Upon hearing of her death, David McAllister, artistic director of the Australian Ballet, paid tribute to her. "She was a passionate, intelligent and dynamic dancer whose career saw her dance across the globe. Rising from one of the youngest dancers in the company to the rank of ballerina, she danced in all the major classical repertoire (and was) a part of the many important new creations during her time with the company." McAllister added, "Her success continued after leaving the stage, as a teacher of note and an innovative ballet school director, notably at both the Australian Ballet School and more recently the Royal Ballet School. Her legacy lives on in the thousands of dancers whose careers she touched and nurtured during these prestigious positions."


References


External links


Obituary
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
, 2 May 2014.
Gailene Stock and Students
Interview at The Ballet Association, March 2009.
Royal Opera House Tribute
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
, 30 April 2014.
Obituary
The Brisbane Times, 2 May 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stock, Gailene 1946 births 2014 deaths Australian ballerinas Australian expatriates in England Ballet teachers Administrators of The Royal Ballet Deaths from brain cancer in England Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Order of Australia People from Ballarat