Patricia Elizabeth Rianne (born 1943) is a retired New Zealand ballet dancer and choreographer. [1] [2]
Rianne was born and raised in Palmerston North. She danced with the New Zealand Ballet and then in 1962 won a New Zealand government scholarship to attend the Royal Ballet School in London. After graduating, she danced as a soloist in the Marseilles Ballet, France and then joined Ballet Rambert in London as a principal dancer. In 1969 she joined Western Theatre Ballet and later became a founding member of Scottish Ballet. [1] [3]
Rianne also choreographed original ballets such as Bliss, based on Katherine Mansfield's short story, for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and in 1980 she produced The Nutcracker for the company. [1] [4]
Rianne married Michael Lloyd, an orchestral conductor, and the couple had two children. [1]
Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE, known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn, was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet, eventually being appointed prima ballerina assoluta of the company by Queen Elizabeth II. Beginning ballet lessons at the age of four, she studied in England and China, where her father was transferred for his work. Her training in Shanghai was with George Goncharov, contributing to her continuing interest in Russian ballet. Returning to London at the age of 14, she was invited to join the Vic-Wells Ballet School by Ninette de Valois. She succeeded Alicia Markova as prima ballerina of the company in 1935. The Vic-Wells choreographer, Sir Frederick Ashton, wrote numerous parts for Fonteyn and her partner, Robert Helpmann, with whom she danced from the 1930s to the 1940s.
The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca as the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 by artistic director Hope Muir. Renowned for its diverse repertoire, the company performs traditional full-length classics, embraces contemporary work and encourages the creation of new ballets, as well as the development of Canadian choreographers.
The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada's oldest ballet company and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America.
Dame Darcey Andrea Bussell, is an English retired ballerina and a former judge on the BBC television dance contest Strictly Come Dancing.
Tamara Rojo CBE is a Spanish ballet dancer. She is the English National Ballet's artistic director (2012–2022) and a lead principal dancer with the company. She was previously a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. She will become the artistic director of San Francisco Ballet in late 2022.
John Brian Gilpin was a leading English ballet dancer and actor.
Alessandra Ferri is an Italian prima ballerina. She danced with the Royal Ballet (1980–1984), American Ballet Theatre (1985–2007) and La Scala Theatre Ballet (1992–2007) and as an international guest artist, before temporally retiring on 10 August 2007, aged 44, then returning in 2013. She was eventually granted the rank of prima ballerina assoluta.
The Washington Ballet (TWB) is an ensemble of professional ballet dancers based in Washington DC. It was founded in 1976 by Mary Day, and has been under the artistic directorship of Julie Kent since 2016. Septime Webre was artistic director for 17 years starting in 1999 and stepped down as artistic director at the conclusion of the 2015/2016 season.
Dame Beryl Elizabeth Grey is an English retired ballet dancer.
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is a ballet company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was originally known as The New Zealand Ballet Company.
Zenaida Yanowsky, Lady Keenlyside, is a French-born Spanish ballet dancer and a former principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in London.
Leanne Faye Benjamin is a retired Australian ballet dancer who was a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in London.
Vanessa Hooper, FIDTA, ARAD, is a retired English ballerina and theatre dancer who now works as a dance teacher, freelance choreographer, lecturer and examiner. She is the principal of the Skelton-Hooper School of Dance, which was founded by her mother, Vera Skelton.
Roma Jean Egan was a child actress on Australian television, and an Australian ballet dancer and teacher. She was notably a senior soloist for The Australian Ballet, and variously performed for the Queensland Ballet, Basel Ballet, Ballet Victoria and Royal New Zealand Ballet.
Jelko Yuresha was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He and his wife, ballerina Belinda Wright, toured internationally as “Ambassadors of Dance” for the United Kingdom from 1966 to 1977.
Rachel Cameron was an Australian ballet dancer and teacher. She was one of the leading dancers in early Australian ballet in the 1940s, performing with the Borovansky and Kirsova ballet companies, and was one of the first ballet dancers in Australia to reach the rank of principal. After emigrating to Great Britain she was an inspirational educator of ballet teachers at the Royal Academy of Dance in London for over forty years. In 2010, she received the Royal Academy of Dance's prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award in recognition of her outstanding services to ballet.
Anne Elizabeth Rowse is a retired New Zealand dancer and was director of the New Zealand School of Dance for 25 years.
June Kerr was an English-born New Zealand ballet dancer who danced for 11 years with the Royal New Zealand Ballet.
Margaret Esme Dickinson was an Australian ballet dancer, a popular performer in J. C. Williamson's pantomimes. She married a dancing partner, who was already engaged to his previous dancing partner, creating a scandal.
Dorothea Ashbridge was a South African-born New Zealand ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher and international ballet judge.