Dame Merle Park, (born 8 October 1937) is a British ballet dancer and teacher, now retired. As a

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 ...

with the Royal Ballet during the 1960s and 1970s, she was known for "brilliance of execution and virtuoso technique" as well as for her ebullience and charm. Also admired for her dramatic abilities, she was praised as an actress who "textured her vivacity with emotional details."Anonymous
"Dame Merle Park"
online biography,

Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) is an international dance teaching and examination board based in London, England. The registered educational charity, which was established on 25 July 1904 as the ''Imperial Society of Dance T ...

. Retrieved 14 September 2015.

Early life and training

Born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

, the capital and most populous city of the self-governing British Crown colony of Southern Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe), Merle Park was educated in local schools. As a child she began her dance training with Betty Lamb, a local ballet teacher, and soon showed unusual facility. In 1951, when she was 14, her parents moved the family to England and enrolled her in the

Elmhurst Ballet School Elmhurst Ballet School is an independent boarding school for professional classical ballet in the United Kingdom. It takes students aged 11–19 years who intend to pursue a career in professional classical ballet. Elmhurst provides a full acade ...

. Located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, Elmhurst is an independent vocational school for youngsters intent on pursuing a professional career in classical ballet. During her three years there, Park proved to be an outstanding student. She transferred to the Sadler's Wells Ballet School in London in 1954, and, after only six months of study, was taken into the ''corps de ballet'' of the Sadler's Wells Ballet company, soon to be granted a royal charter and renamed

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 ...

.Barbara Newman, "Park, Merle", in ''International Encyclopedia of Dance'', edited by Selma Jeanne Cohen and others (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), vol. 5, p. 100.

Professional career

Park made her stage debut as a rat in the retinue of the wicked fairy Carabosse in '' The Sleeping Beauty'', the ballet staged by

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 ...

for the reopening of 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 1946, a year after the end of World War II in Europe. From 1955 onward, while still a member of the ''corps'', she was assigned numerous solo roles. At the age of 19, she danced the role of the carefree Milkmaid in

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 ...

's popular ''Façade'' in the opera house's Silver Jubilee gala on 6 May 1956. Soon thereafter, she was noticed by critics in a sparkling performance of

Princess Florine ''The Sleeping Beauty'' ( ) is a ballet in a prologue and three acts to music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, his Opus 66, completed in 1889. It is the second of his three ballets and, at 160 minutes, his second-longest work in any genre. The origin ...

, opposite the Bluebird in act 3 of ''The Sleeping Beauty''. Promoted to soloist in 1958, she danced her first Swanhilde, the saucy village lass in ''Coppélia'', and the title character in

John Cranko John Cyril Cranko (15 August 1927 – 26 June 1973) was a South African ballet dancer and choreographer with the Royal Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet. Life and career Early life Cranko was born to Herbert and Grace Cranko in Rustenburg in ...

's ''

Pineapple Poll ''Pineapple Poll'' is a Gilbert and Sullivan-inspired comic ballet, created by choreographer John Cranko with arranger Sir Charles Mackerras. ''Pineapple Poll'' is based on "The Bumboat Woman's Story", one of W. S. Gilbert's Bab Ballads, w ...

'', set to the merry tunes of

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

. She had notable success in both parts, as "her small, light frame and fleet, sunny style made her a natural soubrette." Named a principal dancer in 1962, she subsequently danced all the ballerina roles in the classical repertory. In 1968, she was cast as Clara in

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 ''The Nutcracker'', dancing with him in the lyrical duet in act 1 and in the spectacular

pas de deux In ballet, a ( French, literally "step of two") is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The ''pas de deux'' is characteristic of classical ballet and can be found in many well-known ...

that is the climax of act 2. It proved to be the role that made her a star. She was greatly admired as Giselle, as Cinderella, and, particularly, as Aurora in ''The Sleeping Beauty''. She gave more performances of ''Giselle'' than any other artiste in the history of the company. In 1973, she danced the dual role of Odette/Odile in ''Swan Lake'' for the first of many acclaimed performances. In the ballets of Frederick Ashton, she shone as Lise in ''La Fille mal gardée'' and as Titania in ''The Dream''. Ashton's ''Symphonic Variations'', a plotless work set to the score by César Franck, provided her opportunity to display her musicality and classical precision, as did the role of the Indian temple dancer Nikiya in ''La Bayadère''. In contrast, her impersonation of

Kate Kate may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American author o ...

in Cranko's wildly funny ''The Taming of the Shrew'', set to music by Domenico Scarlatti, sparkled with roguish humor. She also gave highly dramatic performances in the title roles of

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 ''Romeo and Juliet'' and ''Manon'', set to scores by Serge Prokofiev and Jules Massenet, respectively. Photographs of her in these roles reveal a talented dance actress at work. Park toured widely on the international ballet circuit with the Royal Ballet, often dancing with such dynamic partners as Nureyev, Anthony Dowell, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. In 1970, she toured the major cities of Rhodesia, her home country, with Royal Ballet principal dancer

Petrus Bosman Petrus Bosman (1928 – 19 July 2008) was a South African ballet dancer, teacher, choreographer, and ''répétiteur'', active in England, France, and the United States. Early life and training Jan Petrus Bosman was born in Kuilsrivier, a town i ...

, a native South African, as her partner. Capping her multifaceted career was the role of the Countess Marie Larish in MacMillan's ''Mayerling'' (1978), which depicts the final years of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary. As a lady in waiting to Empress Elizabeth and a former mistress of the prince, played by David Wall, she scored a theatrical triumph. Of all the ballets in which Park appeared in her later years, however, none suited her joyous style of dancing better than ''Voices of Spring'' (1983), a ''pas de deux'' created by Ashton for a New Year's gala performance of ''Die Fledermaus'' at the Royal Opera House. Upon entering the party scene, carried aloft by

Wayne Eagling Wayne Eagling (born 27 November 1950) is a Canadian ballet dancer, now retired. After more than twenty years as a popular member of The Royal Ballet in London, he became well known as an international choreographer and company director. Early li ...

, smiling and strewing flower petals, she and he danced Ashton's buoyant choreography to Strauss's famous waltz. She was a director of the Royal Ballet School in London between 1983 and 1998.

Roles created

* 1963. ''Kingdom of the Shades'' (act 3 of ''La Bayadère''), choreography by Rudolf Nureyev, after Marius Petipa; music by Ludwig Minkus. Role: Shade, solo variation. * 1967. ''Shadowplay'', choreography by Antony Tudor, music by Charles Koechlin. Role: Celestial, with Derek Rencher as Terrestrial and Anthony Dowell as the Boy with Matted Hair. * 1968. '' Jazz Calendar'', choreography by Sir Frederick Ashton, music by Richard Rodney Bennett. Role: Tuesday, a ''pas de trois'' with Anthony Dowell and Robert Mead. * 1968. ''The Nutcracker'', staged by Rudolf Nureyev, music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Role: Clara. * 1972. ''The Walk to the Paradise Garden'', choreography by Frederick Ashton, music by Frederick Delius. Role: principal dancer in a ''pas de trois'' with David Wall and Derek Rencher. * 1974. ''

Elite Syncopations "Elite Syncopations" is a 1902 ragtime piano composition by American composer Scott Joplin, originally published in 1903 by John Stark & Son.Mayerling Mayerling is a small village (pop. 200) in Lower Austria belonging to the municipality of Alland in the district of Baden (district of Austria), Baden. It is situated on the Schwechat river, in the Vienna Woods, Wienerwald (''Vienna woods''), so ...

'', choreography by Kenneth MacMillan, music by Franz Liszt, arranged and orchestrated by John Lanchbery. Role: Countess Marie Larish. * 1979. '' La Fin du Jour'', choreography by Kenneth MacMillan, music by Maurice Ravel. Role: principal dancer. * 1980. ''Adieu'', choreography by David Bintley, music by Andrzej Panufnik. Role: principal dancer. * 1981. ''

Isadora Isidora or Isadora is a female given name of Greek origin, derived from Ἰσίδωρος, ''Isídōros'' (a compound of Ἶσις, ''Ísis'', and δῶρον, ''dōron'': "gift of he goddessIsis"). The male equivalent is Isidore. The name surviv ...

'', choreography by Kenneth MacMillan, music by Richard Rodney Bennett. Role: Isadora. * 1983. ''Voices of Spring'', choreography by Frederick Ashton, music by Johann Strauss II. Role: dancer in ''pas de deux'' with Wayne Eagling.

Selected videography

* 1959. John Cranko: ''

'' danced by the Royal Ballet, with Merle Park as Poll, David Blair as Jasper the Pot Boy, Stanley Holden as Captain Belaye, Brenda Taylor as Blanche and Gerd Larsen as Mrs Dimple. A BBC recording, with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

, conducted by

Charles Mackerras Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; (17 November 1925 – 14 July 2010) was an American-born Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associ ...

. DVD, International Classical Artists; released 2011 (coupled with ''

The Lady and the Fool ''The Lady and the Fool'' is a ballet, created by choreographer John Cranko with lesser-known operatic music by Giuseppe Verdi arranged by Sir Charles Mackerras. The story concerns the love of a poor clown for a society beauty, who finally rejec ...

''). * 1960. ''Choreography by Bournonville''. The ''pas de deux'' from ''The Flower Festival in Genzano'', danced by Merle Park as Rosa and Rudolf Nureyev as Paolo. A BBC recording. DVD, International Classical Artists; released 2013 (coupled with ''

La Sylphide ''La Sylphide'' (; ) is a romantic ballet in two acts. There were two versions of the ballet; the original choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, and a second version choreographed by August Bournonville in 1836. Bournonville's is the only ve ...

''). * 1968. ''

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 ...

'', staged by Rudolf Nureyev, directed by John Vernon, and danced by the Royal Ballet, with Nureyev and Merle Park in the starring roles. DVD, Kultur Video; released 2000. * 1972. '' The Special London Bridge Special'', directed by David Winters and starring Tom Jones, Jennifer O'Neill, and Kirk Douglas. Includes a dramatic ''pas de deux'' choreographed by Rudolf Nureyev and danced by him and Merle Park impersonating The Carpenters. DVD, Winters Hollywood Entertainment Holding Corporation. * 1981-1982. In the title role of the ballet ''Isadora'', featured in the 50th anniversary BBC programme 'Right Royal Company', in May 1981, and filmed by

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

with the original cast, broadcast in 1982, and issued on DVD in 2011 by Odeon Entertainment (with the 1968 feature film ''

''. * 1983. '' An Evening with the Royal Ballet'', a documentary directed by

Anthony Asquith Anthony Asquith (; 9 November 1902 – 20 February 1968) was an English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on ''The Winslow Boy'' (1948) and '' The Browning Version'' (1951), among other adaptations ...

and

Anthony Havelock-Allan Sir Anthony James Allan Havelock-Allan, 4th Baronet (28 February 1904 – 11 January 2003) was a British film producer and screenwriter whose credits included '' This Happy Breed'', '' Blithe Spirit'', '' Great Expectations'', '' Oliver Twist'', ...

. Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, David Blair, Antoinette Sibley, Graham Usher, and Merle Park appear as themselves. Includes the ''pas de deux'' from ''Le Corsaire'', with Fonteyn and Nureyev, and excerpts from ''Les Sylphides, Aurora's Wedding'', and ''La Valse''. DVD, Kultur Video; released 2001. * 1984. ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original literary source for ' was ...

'', a TV movie of the operetta by Johann Strauss II, directed by

Humphrey Burton Sir Humphrey McGuire Burton (born 25 March 1931) is an English classical music television presenter, broadcaster, director, producer, impresario, lecturer and biographer of musicians. Burton was knighted in the 2020 New Year Honours for servic ...

, conducted by Placido Domingo, and starring

Kiri Te Kanawa Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". On 1 December ...

and

Hermann Prey Hermann Prey ( Berlin, 11 July 1929 – Krailling, 22 July 1998) was a German lyric baritone, who was equally at home in the Lied, operatic and concert repertoires. His American debut was in November 1952, with the Philadelphia Orchestra and ...

. Includes ''Voices of Spring'', a ''pas de deux'' choreographed by Frederick Ashton and danced by Merle Park and Wayne Eagling. DVD, Warner Music Group Germany; released 2003. * 1991. ''

'', a documentary produced and directed by Patricia Foy. Merle Park is among Nureyev's colleagues who appear as themselves. DVD, Kultur Video; released 2013.

Teaching activities

In 1977, while still the senior ballerina of the Royal Ballet, Park opened her own school in London and became a popular teacher, as she was able to imbue her students with the joy of dancing as well as instructing them in the basics and fine points of classical technique. A member of the

, she was named a director of the Royal Ballet School in 1983. With her mastery of technique and knowledge of style, she was instrumental in maintaining the high standards that made it the preeminent school of classical ballet in the United Kingdom.

Honors and awards

Park was named Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1974 Queen's Honours List. In 1982, she was the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award, the highest award bestowed by the Royal Academy of Dance. Four years later, in 1986, she was honored with the title of Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her services to ballet in the United Kingdom.

Personal life

Park was married twice. Her first husband was James Monahan, whom she wed in 1965 and with whom she had one child. As the dance critic of ''The Guardian'' newspaper in London, he had admired her since early in her career. After their divorce in 1970, she married Sidney Bloch and was widowed upon his death in 2000. We can read pieces of interview with her on Gramilano website, where her personality is shown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Merle 1937 births Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Living people British prima ballerinas Dancers of The Royal Ballet People educated at the Elmhurst School for Dance People from Harare