Sandra Conley (born 24 October 1943) is a former ballet dancer, a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet.
Conley was born on 24 October 1943 in Hatfield, England. [1]
In 1962, Conley made her debut with the Royal Ballet's touring company, and in 1970 transferred to the Covent Garden company. She was promoted to principal dancer in 1980. [2]
Conley created the lead female role in Kenneth MacMillan's Valley of Shadows. [3] She also created lead roles in Antony Tudor's Knight Errant (1968), Frederick Ashton's Creatures of Prometheus (1969), MacMillan's Manon (1974), and John Neumeier's Gustav Mahler's Fourth Symphony (1977). [2]
Conley danced Empress Elisabeth in the 1983 New York City premiere of MacMillan's Mayerling . In her later career, she was a character artist with the Royal Ballet. [2]
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 in 1931 by Dame Ninette de Valois. It became the resident ballet company of the Royal Opera House in 1946, and has purpose-built facilities within these premises. It was granted a royal charter in 1956, becoming recognised as Britain's flagship ballet company.
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Sir Kenneth MacMillan 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. Earlier he had served as director of ballet for the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. He was also associate director of the American Ballet Theatre from 1984 to 1989, and artistic associate of the Houston Ballet from 1989 to 1992.
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