Maina Gielgud

Last updated

Maina Gielgud
AO
Born (1945-01-14) 14 January 1945 (age 79)
London, England
OccupationBallet dancer

Maina Gielgud AO (born 14 January 1945) is a British former ballet dancer and a veteran ballet administrator. She was artistic director of The Australian Ballet from 1983 to 1996. She had a twenty-year career as a dancer in Europe and the United Kingdom. Gielgud directed the Royal Danish Ballet between 1997 and 1999. Until 2005, she held the artistic associate position at the Houston Ballet. She is a daughter of Lewis Gielgud and actress Zita Gordon and niece of actor Sir John Gielgud.

Contents

Early and personal life

Maina Gielgud began dancing when she was six years old while living with her family in Brussels, Belgium. Her teacher at that time was Nadine Nicolaeva-Legat, the wife of renowned ballet dancer Nikolai Legat who taught her Swan Lake at the time. During her childhood she was inspired by such ballet greats as Maya Plisetskaya, Nina Vyroubova, Rosella Hightower and Galina Ulanova. Her favourite authors are Lewis Carroll, Marcel Proust, Iris Murdoch, Charles Dickens and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill. When it comes to choreographers, she likes Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky and Wayne McGregor while her favourite directors are Brook and Hall. She also enjoys listening to Maria Callas and watch acting done by Maggie Smith, Glenda Jackson, Judi Dench, Alec Guinness, Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley, John Hurt, Peter O'Toole and her uncle John. The movies that she is fascinated by are: Amour , Slumdog Millionaire , Quartet and The Bridge on the River Kwai . [1]

Career

From 1952 to 1955, Gielgud trained in London and Paris with such artists as George Gontcharov, Olga Preobrajenska, Tamara Karsavina, Lydia Kyasht, Nadine Nicolaeva-Legat, Stanislas Idzikovski and Rachel Cameron. From 1956 to 1961, Gielgud trained in Cannes, Monte Carlo and Paris with such artists as Julie Sedova, Lubov Egorova, Victor Gsovski, Mischa Reznikov, Paul Goubé, Rosella Hightower and Marika Besobrasova. From 1961 to 1962 she danced in the corps de ballet of the Ballet de Roland Petit. In 1962 she was a member of the corps de ballet of the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas before dancing as a soloist in 1962 with the Ballet de l'Etoile de Milorad Miskovitch. In 1963 she was a soloist for the Hommage au Marquis de Cuevas before joining the Grand Ballet Classique de France as Première Danseuse until 1967. Until 1971 she was the principal artist at the Ballet du XXème Siècle Maurice Béjart. For two years she was the principal artist at the Staatsoper Ballet Berlin. She then joined the London Festival Ballet until 1976. She became a principal artist with the Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet until 1978. In the years 1975-1981 she was the guest artist with the following companies:

Gielgud joined London Festival Ballet as a Principal Artist in 1972. During her four years there her repertoire included Swan Lake , Giselle , The Sleeping Beauty , Don Quixote , The Nutcracker and Le Baiser de la Fée , which was created for her. In 1976 she joined The Royal Ballet's touring company, now Birmingham Royal Ballet, as a guest artist before joining as a Principal Artist in 1977. With this Company her roles included the Black Queen in Checkmate , the Siren in The Prodigal Son , Swanilda in Coppélia and the Gypsy Girl in The Two Pigeons .

From 1977 Gielgud's career as a freelance dancer took her to Hungary, France, Germany, America, Belgium and Australia. She continued to dance until 1981 when she retired from dancing and became Rehearsal Director of London City Ballet.

In 1983, she was appointed Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet. During her 14 years there she introduced over 40 classical and modern works to the company's repertoire. Her very first ballet that was staged with The Australian Ballet was Spartacus in which Martyn Fleming played the lead role. [2]

On 8 February 1991 she was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of her contribution to the performing arts, and particularly ballet. [3] She has also been the recipient of an Advance Australia award.[ citation needed ]

From 1997 to 1999 Gielgud was Artistic Director of The Royal Danish Ballet, where she brought many new works to the company. Since 1999, Gielgud has been freelance and has taught, coached and staged works for several different companies including English National Ballet, Bejart Ballet Lausanne, Tokyo Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Ballet du Rhin.

In 2002, despite a hip surgery, she managed to stage a play Happy Days by Samuel Beckett in which she and Martyn Fleming played husband and wife. The same year, she also worked on a new production of Giselle and was hoping for commission to approve hers' Benjamin Britten's opera, Peter Grimes . [2]

In 2003, Maina Gielgud was hired by Stanton Welch, an artistic director of Houston Ballet. After her two years of performance in such plays as Songs of a Wayfarer , Suite en Blanc, and Giselle, she resigned. She later told the Houston Chronicle that she and Welch had disagreements over her position. The final straw that led her to resign the post, was when Welch cancelled her upcoming performance of Giselle. [4]

In August 2008 she performed her farewell to dancing in The Exquisite Hour at the Theatre Royal in Sydney, Australia. [5] This piece was reworked extensively by Maurice Béjart, specifically for Gielgud.

In 2012, Gielgud staged Rudolf Nureyev's Don Quixote for Boston Ballet, and the same year did Maurice Béjart's Song of a Wayfarer for the National Ballet of Canada. In January 2013 she staged Serge Lifar's Suite en Blanc for San Francisco Ballet and in May of the same year revived Erik Bruhn's La Sylphide for the Rome Opera Ballet. [1]

Since 2018, she is an International Master Teacher at the Youth America Grand Prix. [6]

In 2019, Gielgud staged a ballet Sleeping Beauty, Aurora's Wedding which was produced by the Ballet Academy East. In that ballet, she choreographed Bianca Carnovale to play lead role. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

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 and director Dame Peggy van Praagh as founding artistic director. Today, it is recognised as one of the world's major international ballet companies and performs upwards of 150 performances a year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvie Guillem</span> French ballet dancer (born 1965)

Sylvie Guillem is a French ballet dancer. Guillem was the top-ranking female dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet from 1984 to 1989, before becoming a principal guest artist with the Royal Ballet in London. She has performed contemporary dance as an Associate Artist of London's Sadler's Wells Theatre. Her most notable performances have included those in Giselle and in Rudolf Nureyev's stagings of Swan Lake and Don Quixote. In November 2014, she announced her retirement from the stage in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Kent (dancer)</span> American ballet dancer

Julie Kent is an American ballet dancer; she was a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre from 1993 to June 2015. In 2016, she was named the artistic director of The Washington Ballet. She became co-artistic director at the Houston Ballet in July 2023.

Sara Webb is an American retired professional ballet dancer and a former principal dancer with the Houston Ballet (1997–2018).

The Cape Town City Ballet Company, formerly known as the CAPAB Ballet Company, is a dance company based in Cape Town, South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Élisabeth Platel</span> French prima ballerina (born 1959)

Élisabeth Platel is a French prima ballerina.

Garth de Burgh Welch is an Australian dancer and choreographer.

Jodie-Anne White-Bivona was an Australian dancer, choreographer and artistic director of the Ballet Theatre of Queensland.

Nicolas Le Riche is a French ballet dancer, choreographer and ballet director.

Lorena Feijóo is a Cuban former ballet dancer. Her dance career started in 1988 at the Cuban National Ballet, but left Cuba two years later for more opportunities. After stints at Ballet de Monterrey, Royal Ballet of Flanders and Joffrey Ballet, she joined the San Francisco Ballet in 1999 as a principal dancer, and retired in 2017. She then became an associate artistic director of Bay Area Houston Ballet & Theatre. Her sister, Lorna Feijóo, was also a ballet dancer.

Greg Horsman is an Australian ballet choreographer, teacher, and retired dancer. In 2022, Dance Magazine Australia described him as "formerly one of the Australian Ballet's most poetic and classical of principal artists." He and his then-wife Lisa Pavane were a popular partnership during the 1980s and early 1990s, with the Washington Post referring to their "conspicuously poised, elegant dancing" and the New York Times calling them "two perfectly trained and appealing first-class dancers" during a performance of Giselle. Horsman was appointed Acting Artistic Director Queensland Ballet in July 2024. Horsman has been Assistant Artistic Director Queensland Ballet since 2023 and was previously the Chief Ballet Master and Director of Artistic Operations for the Queensland Ballet since 2013.

Kelvin Coe OBE was an Australian ballet dancer and the first male artist to be promoted from the corps de ballet in the Australian Ballet principal dancer. He died of AIDS-related illness in 1992.

Ty King-Wall is a New Zealand ballet dancer, an ex principal dancer with The Australian Ballet and current Artistic Director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ako Kondo</span> Japanese ballet dancer

Ako Kondo is a Japanese ballet dancer. She is a principal artist at The Australian Ballet.

Kevin Jackson is an Australian ballet dancer and choreographer, a principal artist with The Australian Ballet.

Lana Jones is an Australian retired ballet dancer. She was a principal dancer with The Australian Ballet, and danced with the company for 16 years.

Cynthia Harvey is an American former ballet dancer, ballet mistress and educator. She joined the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in 1974 and was promoted to principal dancer in 1982. In 1986, she joined The Royal Ballet, becoming the company's first American principal dancer. She returned to ABT two years later, and retired in 1996. She then started teaching and staging ballets across the world. Between 2016 and 2022, she was the artistic director of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, the affiliated school of ABT.

Monique Loudières is a French ballet dancer and teacher. A member of the Paris Opera Ballet from 1967, she received the status of principal dancer in 1982. After retiring from the stage in 1996, she continued to accept invitations until 2010. From 2001 to 2008, she was artistic director at the École supérieure de danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agnes Oaks</span> Estonian ballet dancer (born 1970)

Age Oks known professionally as Agnes Oaks, is an Estonian former ballet dancer, who was a principal dancer with English National Ballet.

Joseph Caley is an English ballet dancer. He joined the Birmingham Royal Ballet and became a principal dancer in 2011. He left in 2017 to join the English National Ballet and was promoted to lead principal months later. Caley joined the Australian Ballet in 2022 as a principal artist.

References

  1. 1 2 "Maina Gielgud answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers' Edition". Gramilano. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  2. 1 2 "The prime of Miss Gielgud". The Age . 12 March 2002. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  3. ↑ "Miss Maina Gielgud". It's an Honour.
  4. ↑ Mattison, Ben (10 August 2005). "Maina Gielgud Resigns Houston Ballet Post". Playbill .
  5. ↑ Sykes, Jill (15 August 2008). "The Exquisite Hour". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  6. ↑ "Maina Gielgud". Youth America Grand Prix. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  7. ↑ "Interview with Maina Gielgud and BAE International Student Bianca Carnovale". Ballet Academy East. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.