Lucette Aldous (26 September 1938 – 5 June 2021) was an Australian

prima ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the 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. Ballet dancers ...

during her performing years. She was the resident principal dancer with

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 well known for performing the role of Kitri in the film of

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev (17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet-born ballet dancer and choreographer. Nureyev is widely regarded as the preeminent male ballet dancer of his generation as well as one of the greatest ballet dancers of all ...

's production of ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'', receiving many honours for her years of performance including being appointed AC in the

2018 Australia Day Honours The 2018 Australia Day Honours are appointments Australian honours system, to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2018 by the Governor General of Australia, Pet ...

list.

Early life

Lucette Aldous was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, in September 1938 and moved to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, when she was four months old. She started her training at the age of 3 in 1941 and studied under Australian teacher

Phyllis Danaher Phyllis May Danaher MBE FRAD (27 July 1908 – 31 May 1991) was an Australian dancer, teacher of dance and choreographer. Early life and education Danaher was born on 27 July 1908 in Bulimba, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, to William ...

. In 1955 Aldous received a scholarship to attend 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 ...

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 ...

. She later performed in a European tour as part of 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 ...

partnering

in ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

''. Aldous later moved to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

for further ballet training, where in addition she attended Randwick High School. She claimed to have had a photographic memory, excelling in English, physiology, and business. As such she became the dux of the school and later won a business scholarship which she chose not to accept, as after three years training in Sydney she won the Frances Scully scholarship to attend the Royal Ballet School in 1955. In order to improve her flexibility she would often have lessons with a teacher named De Voss, who taught her

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer, whose style, the Graham technique, reshaped the dance world and is still taught in academies worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over s ...

floor work in order to get looser before barre work. When she reached London she and her family lived in

Notting Hill Gate Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in Inner London. Historically the street was a location for Tollbooth, toll gates, from which it derives its modern name. Location At Ossingto ...

Career

London

Aldous began her professional career dancing '' Variations on a Theme'' in Britain's oldest dance company,

Ballet Rambert Rambert (known as Rambert Dance Company before 2014) is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it exerted a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingd ...

, in 1957 under Dame

Peggy van Praagh Dame Margaret van Praagh (1 September 1910 – 15 January 1990) was a British ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher, repetiteur, producer, advocate and director, who spent much of her later career in Australia. Early life Peggy van Praagh ...

at the Theatre Royal. While performing at Rambert she danced many major roles, including '' Night Shadow, Façade, and The Wise Monkey''. Her notable roles included Mazurka in ''

Les Sylphides () is a short, non-narrative '' ballet blanc'' to piano music by Frédéric Chopin, selected and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. The ballet, described as a "romantic reverie","Ballet Theater", until 1955. A compact disk of ABT's product ...

'' and Kitri in ''

''. Aldous also toured with Ballet Rambert in 1957 to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

after

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

opened the country up. The British Consulate acknowledged that the tour would be one of the first introductions of western ballet to the Chinese people and as such informed Ballet Rambert that they were representing the country in their performances. Aldous left Ballet Rambert in 1963. Following her departure from Ballet Rambert, Aldous danced with the

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

The Australian Ballet

Aldous returned to Australia in 1970 and made her debut with 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 an ...

as a guest artist, being appointed resident principal artist in 1971. She performed '' Fool on the Hill'', Dame Gillian Lynne's production for the Australian Ballet and

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

in 1976. In 1973 she performed the lead role in '' The Sleeping Beauty'' at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

. Later in 1975

Ronald Hynd Ronald Hynd (born 22 April 1931) is an English choreographer, and in his youth was a ballet dancer. In the Royal Ballet in the late 1940s he began to dance with Annette Page, whom he later married. Page died on 4 December 2017. They have a daugh ...

created the role of Valencienne for Aldous for his production of ''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' ( ) is an operetta by the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The Libretto, librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein (writer), Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's ...

'' for the Australian Ballet.

Don Quixote

had partnered Aldous in various productions of ''

'' in Europe, and when he created a production for the Australian company she was his natural choice for Kitri. The production was filmed in 1973 and remains in the Australian Ballet's repertoire.

Post-performance career

Floor barre

In the mid-1970s Aldous retired from full-time performing and began to teach at the

Australian Ballet School The Australian Ballet School is the premier ballet training facility in Australia, located in Melbourne. History The Australian Ballet School was founded in 1964 as the primary training facility for The Australian Ballet by Dame Margaret Scot ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. She was an advocate of Boris Knyazev's floor barre as a system of training and taught it at the Australian Ballet School. Aldous recorded and documented the exercises involved in the system of training for future generations as she considered this system a valuable conditioning and injury preventative regime. She was concerned with the longevity of the style and that if not properly documented it would then be forgotten and as such saw it as her duty to ensure that the style was properly preserved. To further study the philosophy and teaching methods behind the Vaganova system she went to

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

with her husband Alan Alder where the system is supported by the

Vaganova Academy The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet is a school of classical ballet in St Petersburg, Russia. Established in 1738 during the reign of Empress Anna, the academy was known as the Imperial Ballet School until the Soviet era, when, after a brief hi ...

Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts

In 1982 Aldous and Alder both took opportunities at the

Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a performing arts school in Perth, Western Australia. Established in 1980, it is notable for being the most comprehensive performing arts school in Aus ...

(WAAPA) at

Edith Cowan University Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public research university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Parliaments of the Australian states and territories, Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is, , t ...

. WAAPA is one of the major performing arts schools in Western Australia. Alder was given the role of managing the new dance department and Aldous was a teacher in the academy. While there she directed a ballet rendition of ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' and oversaw pieces such as ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' ( , ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (; ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

'', ''Sacred Space'', ''The Sisters'', and ''Summer Solstice''. By 2018 Aldous had retired from full time work at WAAPA although she continued as a guest teacher.

Personal life

Lucette Aldous was married to barrister Maurice Fitzmaurice from 1960, divorcing in 1972. She then married fellow ballet dancer Alan Alder in 1972, and they had one daughter, Floeur, also a dancer. The couple were both independently recognised in 2004 as Western Australian State Living Treasures, being recognised for their outstanding contribution to dance and dedication as advocates for the development of dance in Western Australia. On 5 June 2021, Aldous died in

, Western Australia, at the age of 82.

Awards

*Honorary Doctorate of Letters –

1999 *Services to Dance –

Australian Dance Awards The Australian Dance Awards recognise excellence and promote dance in Australia. They are awarded under the auspices of the Australian Dance Council (Ausdance) for performance, choreography, design, dance writing, teaching and related professions. ...

2001 *Lifetime Achievement Award –

2009

Honours

Aldous was made a Companion 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 ...

(AC), the highest award in Australia, in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in 2018

References

External links

*
Archive film of Lucette Aldous dancing Gala Performance in 1959 at Jacob's Pillow

Bibliography

*(n.d.). Retrieved from https://michellemahrerfilms.com/tag/lucette-aldous *(n.d.). Retrieved from https://trove.nla.gov.au/people/492056?c=people *Aldous, Lucette. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195173697.001.0001/acref-9780195173697-e-0025 *Aldous, Lucette. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199563449.001.0001/acref-9780199563449-e-43 *Ausdance, & Ausdance. (n.d.). Lucette Aldous made Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) " Ausdance: Dance Advocacy. Retrieved from https://ausdance.org.au/news/article/lucette-aldous-made-companion-of-the-order-of-australia-ac *Australia Dancing – Aldous, Lucette (1938 – ). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20100426120454/http://australiadancing.org/subjects/77.html *Dame Lucette Aldous A.C. (12 September 2020). Retrieved from https://www.maarts.com.au/patrons/dame-lucette-aldous/ *Lendle, G. (n.d.). Double Reality in Roberto Gerhard's ballet Don Quixote. 1st International Roberto Gerhard Conference. Retrieved from http://www.robertogerhard.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/5-Lendle.pdf *Liebert, M. (1991). Improving growth-Kniaseff, Boris and his technique. Ballet International, 54–55. *Lucette Aldous. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://michellepotter.org/tag/lucette-aldous *Lucette Aldous. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095401427 *Phillips, M., Pacific, W. D., Author Maggi Phillips Associate Professor Maggi Phillips PhD (1944–2015) was coordinator of Research and Creative Practice at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Maggi Phillips Associate Professor Maggi Phillips PhD (1944–2015) was coordinator of Research and Creative Practice at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Phillips, M., Associate Professor Maggi Phillips PhD (1944–2015) was coordinator of Research and Creative Practice at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, & Phillips, V. M. (1 June 2002). 'Crazy link-ups all over the place' " Ausdance: Dance Advocacy. Retrieved from https://ausdance.org.au/articles/details/crazy-link-ups-all-over-the-place *Radbourne, J. (n.d.). The Australian Ballet – A Spirit of Its Own. International Journal of Arts Management. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/41064702.pdf. *ROMANCE FOR LUCETTE AND ALAN – The Australian Women's Weekly (1933–1982) – 14 July 1971. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/44556432 *University, W. (1974). Alumni Magazine April 1974. Whitworth Alumni Magazine. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.whitworth.edu/alumnimagazine/316. *Radbourne, J. (n.d.). The Australian Ballet – A Spirit of Its Own. International Journal of Arts Management. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/41064702.pdf. {{DEFAULTSORT:Aldous, Lucette 1938 births 2021 deaths People educated at the Royal Ballet School Australian ballerinas Ballet teachers Australian Ballet principal dancers New Zealand emigrants to Australia Companions of the Order of Australia Dames of the Order of St John Rambert Dance Company dancers Entertainers from Auckland