Sarah Gilmour (2 November 1921 – 23 May 2004), was a British ballet dancer, and

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 ...

's "leading ballerina of the 1940s". The ''ODNB'' notes that she was "acclaimed in the 1940s as second only to

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE (''née'' Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn, was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells ...

among British ballerinas".

Early life

Sarah Gilmour was born in Sungai Lembing, Malaya (now Malaysia) on 2 November 1921. Her father, Colin Gilmour, was the Chief Medical Officer there. Aged four or five, she was sent back to boarding school in London, and only visited her parents every two or three years.

Career

Gilmour enrolled at the Rambert School at the age of 12, and her talent was soon recognised by Marie Rambert. She was trained by the choreographer

Antony Tudor Antony Tudor (born William Cook; 4 April 1908 – 19 April 1987) was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer. He founded the London Ballet, and later the Philadelphia Ballet Guild in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., in the mid-195 ...

and the ballerina

Tamara Karsavina Tamara Platonovna Karsavina (russian: Тамара Платоновна Карсавина; 10 March 1885 – 26 May 1978) was a Russian prima ballerina, renowned for her beauty, who was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and lat ...

. She was in the original cast of the 1934 ballet '' Bar aux Folies-Bergère'' by

, alongside

Alicia Markova Dame Alicia Markova DBE (1 December 1910 – 2 December 2004) was a British ballerina and a choreographer, director and teacher of classical ballet. Most noted for her career with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and touring internati ...

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 opposit ...

Pearl Argyle Pearl Argyle (born Pearl Wellman; 7 November 1910 – 29 January 1947) was a South African ballet dancer and actress. Remembered today primarily for her extraordinary beauty, she appeared in leading roles with English ballet companies in the 1930s ...

, Diana Gould, Elisabeth Schooling and Leslie EdwardsVaughan D. ''Frederick Ashton and his Ballets''. A & C Black Ltd, London, 1977, p106. Her first important role created specifically by her was the title role of Andrée Howard's 1939 ''Lady Into Fox''. It became the role with which she was most closely associated. Howard was unable to dance the part herself due to illness, and Marie Rambert suggested Gilmour. Helped by extensive coaching and

Nadia Benois Nadezhda Leontievna Ustinova (russian: Надежда Леонтьевна Устинова; 27 April 18968 December 1975), née ''Benois'' (Бенуа), better known as Nadia Benois, was a Russian-born painter of still lifes and landscapes, and ...

' costume designs, she successfully conveyed the transformation from Mrs Tebrick into a wild vixen. Ballet Rambert toured Australia from 1947 to 1949. Originally scheduled for six months, it extended to 18, due to the absence of bookings back home and the ending of their Arts Council funding. Marie Rambert considered moving the company there permanently. Gilmour was one of several dancers who decided to stay on in Australia. Another was (later Dame) Margaret Scott, who considered Gilmour's first act of ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance cano ...

'' the greatest ever.Jill Sykes, Obituary: "Pivotal artist of sublime skills and rich beauty", ''The Age'', 29 May 2004, p. 23 Gilmour returned to London briefly in 1952. Her final performances were in December 1952 at the

Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London.

, in Walter Gore's ''Confessional''.

Roles created

* Maria in ''Cross-Garter'd'' (

Wendy Toye Beryl May Jessie Toye, (1 May 1917 – 27 February 2010), known professionally as Wendy Toye, was a British dancer, stage and film director and actress. Life and career Toye was born in London. She initially worked as a dancer and choreographe ...

, 1937) * Silvia Tebrick in ''Lady Into Fox'' ( Andrée Howard, 1939) * Anguished girl of ''Confessional'' (

Walter Gore Walter Gore (8 October 1910 – 16 April 1979) was a British ballet dancer, company director and choreographer. Early life Walter Gore was born in Waterside, East Ayrshire Scotland in 1910 into a theatrical family. From 1924, he studied a ...

, 1941), based on the Browning poem * ''Winter Night'' (

, 1948)

Other roles

* Granddaughter in ''Cap over Mill'' * Peter in ''Peter and the Wolf'' * ''Le Boxing'' * ''Czernyana'' * ''Gala Performance''

Personal life

For some years in the 1940s, she was in a relationship with choreographer

. In 1949, she married Dr Allan Wynn (he died in 1987), and they had two sons and one daughter together. They moved to London in 1970, and in 1997 Sally Gilmour, now a widow suffering Alzheimer's disease, returned to Australia. Gilmour died in Sydney, Australia on 23 May 2004, aged 82.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilmour, Sally 1921 births 2004 deaths British ballerinas People from Pahang British emigrants to Australia Rambert Dance Company dancers British people in British Malaya 20th-century British ballet dancers