John Field (22 October 1921 in

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

– 3 August 1991 in

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in the borough of Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole, Surrey, River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London, close to the London–Surrey border; with Esher Commons at its ...

) was an English

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

, director and teacher. He was a renowned member of the

Vic-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 ...

and Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet and was also artistic director of the

La Scala Theatre Ballet The La Scala Theatre Ballet () is the resident classical ballet company at La Scala in Milan, Italy. One of the oldest and most renowned ballet companies in the world, the company pre-dates the theatre, but was officially founded at the inaugura ...

Biography

Born John Greenfield in

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, in 1921, Field began training in

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

with Edna Slocombe and Shelagh Elliott-Clarke in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. He made his stage debut with the Liverpool Ballet Club in 1938, before moving to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where he trained at the Sadler's Wells Ballet School under

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 ...

. He joined the Vic-Wells Ballet in 1939 and danced with the company for two years before leaving to serve in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. On returning to the company, he was promoted to the rank of Principal Dancer, partnering many of the leading British ballerinas of the 20th century, including Dame Beryl Grey, Dame Margot Fonteyn and Svetlana Beriosova. In 1946, the Vic-Wells Ballet relocated from

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre buil ...

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 ...

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 ...

, becoming known as 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 1956. To continue ballet performances at Sadler's Wells, a sister company was formed known as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, with Field appointed as its founder Artistic Director. The company would be the predecessor of today's

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 ...

. After a number of years directing the Sadler's Wells company, in 1970 Field was appointed co-director of the Royal Ballet alongside Sir Kenneth MacMillan. He held the position for a year, but his relationship with MacMillan deteriorated and he eventually resigned, after being invited to take the post of artistic director at

and the La Scala Theatre Ballet School in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He was artistic director of La Scala for three years from 1971 to 1974. On returning to England in 1975, Field was appointed director of the Royal Academy of Dancing and was a director of the British Ballet Organization. He also taught at the Arts Educational School in London. His last post with a professional ballet company was as artistic director of the London Festival Ballet, today's

English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scott ...

. Following his death in 1991, it was decided to hold a regular summer school in his memory, so the John Field Memorial Ballet Seminars were established in 1993 and ran for a number of years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Field, John Administrators of The Royal Ballet Administrators of the Birmingham Royal Ballet Principal dancers of The Royal Ballet People educated at the Royal Ballet School English male ballet dancers English theatre directors English choreographers 1921 births 1991 deaths People from Doncaster Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force airmen Military personnel from Doncaster