Jonathan Cope (born 1963) is a British ballet dancer. He was a principal dancer at

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 ...

until his retirement in 2006, then served as a ''

répétiteur A (; from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. The feminine form is . Opera In opera, a is the person responsible for coaching singers ...

'' with the company until 2019.

Early life

Cope was born in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. He started ballet at age six and trained in Wales. He later enrolled in The Royal Ballet School in London.

Career

He joined

in 1982, at age 19, was promoted to soloist in 1985 was named a principal dancer in 1986. He created the role of The Prince alongside

Darcey Bussell Dame Darcey Andrea Bussell (born Marnie Mercedes Darcey Pemberton Crittle; 27 April 1969) is a retired English ballet dancer, ballerina and a former judge on the BBC television dance contest ''Strictly Come Dancing''. Trained at the Arts Educ ...

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. Ea ...

's '' The Prince of the Pagodas'' in 1989. In 1990, at age 27, Cope retired from the Royal Ballet due to physical stress. He went to pursue "a lifestyle more in tune with that of the majority of the population" and a career in property development, but returned to the Royal Ballet in 1992. His repertoire include works by MacMillan and

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 oppositio ...

, and originated works by choreographers including MacMillan,

David Bintley Sir David Julian Bintley (born 17 September 1957) is an English former ballet dancer, the artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, and co-artistic director of the New National Theatre Tokyo ballet company. Early life Bintley was born ...

and

Christopher Wheeldon Christopher Peter Wheeldon (born 22 March 1973) is an English international choreographer of contemporary ballet. Early life Born in Yeovil, Somerset, to an engineer and a physical therapist, Wheeldon began training to be a ballet dancer at th ...

. His most notable partnerships are with Bussell and Sylvie Guillem. Cope was appointed a

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 ...

(Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2003 Queen's New Year's Honours List for his services to Ballet. In September 2005, Cope, at age 42, announced he would retire from dancing after two performances of ''

The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (; ) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Michel Fokine, who c ...

'' in February 2006, with Miyako Yoshida as his final partner, and withdrew from all performances prior to ''The Firebird''. He became a ''

'' with the Royal Ballet that year. However, he broke a leg in a car accident in January 2006. Cope had briefly returned to the stage from retirement several time. In 2007, Cope appeared in Bussell's pre-retirement gala at

Sadler's Wells Theatre 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 ...

and danced Wheeldon's ''Tryst''. In Bussell's farewell at 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 ...

, Cope presented live coverage alongside

Martha Kearney Martha Catherine Kearney (born 8 October 1957) is a British-Irish journalist and broadcaster. She was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's lunchtime news programme '' The World at One'' for 11 years. In April 2018, Kearney joined the presenting ...

and interviewed Bussell backstage. In 2009, during the Royal Ballet's first tour in Cuba, he stepped in for an injured Rupert Pennefather, who Cope had coached, in '' A Month In The Country''. In 2012, Cope performed at the London Olympics closing ceremony, in a sequence titled 'Spirit of the Flame', choreographed by Wheeldon and composed by

David Arnold David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is an English film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films (1997-2008), as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), ''Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998), '' Shaft'' (2000), '' 2 Fast 2 F ...

. Bussell, who also came out from retirement, flew to the stage on a flaming phoenix and when landing was met by Cope, Gary Avis, Edward Watson, Nehemiah Kish and over 200 ballet dancers, after which the

Olympic Flame The Olympic flame is a Olympic symbols, symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony s ...

was extinguished. In 2019, he left his role as a full-time ''répétiteur''.

Kevin O'Hare Kevin Patrick O'Hare, CBE, (born 14 September 1965) is a British retired ballet dancer and current Director of The Royal Ballet. He succeeded Monica Mason in the role in 2012. Early life O’Hare was born in Kingston upon Hull to Northern Iris ...

, the artistic director of the company, said he hoped Cope would return and coach from time to time.

Personal life

Cope is married to former Royal Ballet principal dancer Maria Almeida. They have two children.

Selected repertoire

Cope's repertoire with the Royal Ballet includes:

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cope, Jonathan 1963 births People from Devon Living people British male ballet dancers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Principal dancers of The Royal Ballet People educated at the Royal Ballet School 20th-century British ballet dancers 21st-century British ballet dancers