Leslie Edwards
Encyclopedia
Leslie Edwards was a British ballet dancer and ballet master. He was one of the final links with Ninette de Valois
's original pre-war Vic-Wells Ballet. Apart from two years' military service during the Second World War, his entire 60-year career was effectively spent with what became the Royal Ballet organisation, until his final retirement from the stage in 1993.
after leaving school at the age of 15. He then joined the Vic-Wells Ballet School. He also trained with Margaret Craske, Stanislav Idzikowski and Vera Volkova
. He debuted at Rambert's Ballet Club in 1932.
's Jardin aux Lilas in 1936. He first danced with the Vic-Wells Ballet in 1933, however he only officially joined the company in 1937. With the Vic-Wells Ballet, he was a member of the first cast of Frederick Ashton
's Les Patineurs
. Edwards was known for his character roles rather than classical technique and later enjoyed purely mime roles. He taught mime at the Royal Ballet School
while still a principal with the Royal Ballet. His career began in the supporting male roles before graduating to the villains. His niche, however, was in "the meatier roles in the mime and character repertory" such as the Red King in De Valois
's Checkmate
and as the American tourist in Massine's La Boutique fantasque
. Edwards's success grew, however, after Frederick Ashton
created the amiable role of Arthur for him in his A Wedding Bouquet of 1937. Edwards as the Beggar in Robert Helpmann
's 1944 ballet Miracle in the Gorbals
was deemed irreplaceable and he thus appeared in all 92 performances of the ballet. He was also notable as the farmer Thomas in Ashton's La Fille Mal Gardée
of 1960. He had an unusually long 60-year career, which was interrupted only for two years of war service during the Second World War. However, he returned, after being invalided out, to create many more roles and he appeared in dozens of ballets. His most famous role was as Catalabutte in Sleeping Beauty
.
, Geoffrey Cauley, David Bintley
and Michael Corder. He also served as ballet master for the Royal Opera from 1970 to 1990.
He was described as "gentle, unassuming, kindly, very distinguished in bearing – a senior civil servant among dancers – yet happily possessed of a wicked but never malicious sense of humour". He died at his home in London on 8 February 2001 after suffering from cancer. His autobiography, In Good Company: Sixty Years with the Royal Ballet, was published posthumously in 2003.
Ninette de Valois
Dame Ninette de Valois, OM, CH, DBE, FRAD, FISTD was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet...
's original pre-war Vic-Wells Ballet. Apart from two years' military service during the Second World War, his entire 60-year career was effectively spent with what became the Royal Ballet organisation, until his final retirement from the stage in 1993.
Early years
Edwards was born on 6 August 1916 and trained with Marie RambertMarie Rambert
Dame Marie Rambert DBE was a Polish-Jewish dancer and dance pedagogue who exerted a great influence on British ballet, both as a dancer and teacher.- Early years and background :...
after leaving school at the age of 15. He then joined the Vic-Wells Ballet School. He also trained with Margaret Craske, Stanislav Idzikowski and Vera Volkova
Vera Volkova
Vera Volkova was an influential Russian ballet dancer and dance teacher. Born in Tomsk, she trained in Petrograd at Akim Volynsky's School of Russian Ballet, also studying with the renowned Russian ballet mistress Agrippina Vaganova. She danced professionally with the Imperial Russian Ballet,...
. He debuted at Rambert's Ballet Club in 1932.
Performing career
Edwards was a member of the cast in the original production of Antony TudorAntony Tudor
Antony Tudor was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.-Biography:Tudor, born William Cook, discovered dance accidentally. He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for her Ballet Club the next year...
's Jardin aux Lilas in 1936. He first danced with the Vic-Wells Ballet in 1933, however he only officially joined the company in 1937. With the Vic-Wells Ballet, he was a member of the first cast of Frederick Ashton
Frederick Ashton
Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE was a leading international dancer and choreographer. He is most noted as the founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet in London, but also worked as a director and choreographer of opera, film and theatre revues.-Early life:Ashton was born at...
's Les Patineurs
Les Patineurs (ballet)
Les patineurs is a ballet created in 1937 with choreography by Frederick Ashton, to the music of Giacomo Meyerbeer arranged by Constant Lambert, for the Vic-Wells company, with designs by William Chappell.-Performance history:...
. Edwards was known for his character roles rather than classical technique and later enjoyed purely mime roles. He taught mime at the Royal Ballet School
Royal Ballet School
The Royal Ballet School is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the Royal Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Royal Opera House in London...
while still a principal with the Royal Ballet. His career began in the supporting male roles before graduating to the villains. His niche, however, was in "the meatier roles in the mime and character repertory" such as the Red King in De Valois
Ninette de Valois
Dame Ninette de Valois, OM, CH, DBE, FRAD, FISTD was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet...
's Checkmate
Checkmate (Bliss)
Checkmate is a one act ballet created by the choreographer Ninette de Valois and composer Arthur Bliss. The idea for the ballet was proposed by Bliss, and subsequently produced by de Valois for the Vic-Wells Ballet. It was first performed on 15 June 1937 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris...
and as the American tourist in Massine's La Boutique fantasque
La Boutique fantasque
La Boutique fantasque or The Magic Toy Shop was a ballet conceived by Léonide Massine who wrote the choreography and the libretto. Ottorino Respighi wrote the music based on piano pieces by Gioachino Rossini. Its world premiere was at the Alhambra Theatre in London on 5 June 1919 and was performed...
. Edwards's success grew, however, after Frederick Ashton
Frederick Ashton
Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE was a leading international dancer and choreographer. He is most noted as the founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet in London, but also worked as a director and choreographer of opera, film and theatre revues.-Early life:Ashton was born at...
created the amiable role of Arthur for him in his A Wedding Bouquet of 1937. Edwards as the Beggar in Robert Helpmann
Robert Helpmann
Sir Robert Helpmann CBE was an Australian dancer, actor, theatre director and choreographer.-Early years:He was born Robert Murray Helpman in Mount Gambier, South Australia and also boarded at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. From childhood, Helpman had a strong desire to be a dancer...
's 1944 ballet Miracle in the Gorbals
Miracle in the Gorbals
Miracle in the Gorbals is a one-act ballet choreographed by Robert Helpmann to a story by Michael Benthall, with music by Arthur Bliss. The setting is the 1940s slums in the Gorbals area of Glasgow...
was deemed irreplaceable and he thus appeared in all 92 performances of the ballet. He was also notable as the farmer Thomas in Ashton's La Fille Mal Gardée
La Fille Mal Gardée
La Fille mal gardée is a comic ballet presented in two acts, inspired by Pierre-Antoine Baudouin's 1789 painting, La réprimande/Une jeune fille querellée par sa mère...
of 1960. He had an unusually long 60-year career, which was interrupted only for two years of war service during the Second World War. However, he returned, after being invalided out, to create many more roles and he appeared in dozens of ballets. His most famous role was as Catalabutte in Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment, and a handsome prince...
.
Roles created for him
- Arthur in Ashton'sFrederick AshtonSir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE was a leading international dancer and choreographer. He is most noted as the founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet in London, but also worked as a director and choreographer of opera, film and theatre revues.-Early life:Ashton was born at...
A Wedding Bouquet, 1937 - Lawyer in de Valois'sNinette de ValoisDame Ninette de Valois, OM, CH, DBE, FRAD, FISTD was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of classical ballet...
The Prospect Before UsThe Prospect Before UsA folk/rock album by the Albion Dance Band, recorded in 1976.The album was produced by Ashley Hutchings and Simon Nicol and was engineered by Vic Gamm. It was recorded at Sound Techniques Studio and Olympic , London. There are several instrumental tracks...
, 1940 - Archimago in Ashton'sFrederick AshtonSir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE was a leading international dancer and choreographer. He is most noted as the founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet in London, but also worked as a director and choreographer of opera, film and theatre revues.-Early life:Ashton was born at...
The Quest, 1943 - the Beggar in Helpmann'sRobert HelpmannSir Robert Helpmann CBE was an Australian dancer, actor, theatre director and choreographer.-Early years:He was born Robert Murray Helpman in Mount Gambier, South Australia and also boarded at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. From childhood, Helpman had a strong desire to be a dancer...
Miracle in the GorbalsMiracle in the GorbalsMiracle in the Gorbals is a one-act ballet choreographed by Robert Helpmann to a story by Michael Benthall, with music by Arthur Bliss. The setting is the 1940s slums in the Gorbals area of Glasgow...
, 1944 - Chauffeur in Ashton'sFrederick AshtonSir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE was a leading international dancer and choreographer. He is most noted as the founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet in London, but also worked as a director and choreographer of opera, film and theatre revues.-Early life:Ashton was born at...
Les Sirènes, 1946 - Bilby in Howard's A Mirror for WitchesA Mirror for WitchesA Mirror for Witches is a 1928 novel by American author Esther Forbes, dealing with the witch hunt in 17th Century New England. The book is still popular and is in print. It has also been adapted for the stage...
, 1952 - Hypnotist in MacMillan'sKenneth MacMillanSir Kenneth MacMillan was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977.-Early years:...
NoctambulesNoctambulesNoctambules is a ballet created in 1956 by Kenneth MacMillan for the Sadler's Wells Ballet. The ballet was choreographed to Humphrey Searle's Noctambules, Op. 30 written for the ballet. The set and costumes were designed by Nicholas Georgiadis...
, 1956 - OedipusOedipusOedipus was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. He fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family...
in Cranko'sJohn CrankoJohn Cyril Cranko was a choreographer with the Sadler's Wells Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet....
AntigoneAntigoneIn Greek mythology, Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, Oedipus' mother. The name may be taken to mean "unbending", coming from "anti-" and "-gon / -gony" , but has also been suggested to mean "opposed to motherhood", "in place of a mother", or "anti-generative", based from the root...
, 1959 - farmer Thomas in Ashton'sFrederick AshtonSir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE was a leading international dancer and choreographer. He is most noted as the founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet in London, but also worked as a director and choreographer of opera, film and theatre revues.-Early life:Ashton was born at...
La Fille Mal GardéeLa Fille Mal GardéeLa Fille mal gardée is a comic ballet presented in two acts, inspired by Pierre-Antoine Baudouin's 1789 painting, La réprimande/Une jeune fille querellée par sa mère...
, 1960 - Basil G. Nevinson in Ashton'sFrederick AshtonSir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE was a leading international dancer and choreographer. He is most noted as the founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet in London, but also worked as a director and choreographer of opera, film and theatre revues.-Early life:Ashton was born at...
Enigma VariationsEnigma VariationsVariations on an Original Theme for orchestra , Op. 36, commonly referred to as the Enigma Variations, is a set of a theme and its fourteen variations written for orchestra by Edward Elgar in 1898–1899. It is Elgar's best-known large-scale composition, for both the music itself and the...
, 1967
Later years
Edwards worked as a rehearsal director for the Royal Ballet from 1959 to 1970. He was the first director of the newly formed Royal Ballet Choreographic Group from 1967 to 1987. Here he assisted many emerging British choreographers, notably, perhaps, Ronald HyndRonald Hynd
Ronald Hynd is an English choreographer, .Ballets Ronald Hynd has choreographed include: The Merry Widow.-External links:*...
, Geoffrey Cauley, David Bintley
David Bintley
David Bintley, CBE, is a former English ballet dancer, the current artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet and co-artistic director of the New National Theatre Tokyo ballet company.- About :...
and Michael Corder. He also served as ballet master for the Royal Opera from 1970 to 1990.
He was described as "gentle, unassuming, kindly, very distinguished in bearing – a senior civil servant among dancers – yet happily possessed of a wicked but never malicious sense of humour". He died at his home in London on 8 February 2001 after suffering from cancer. His autobiography, In Good Company: Sixty Years with the Royal Ballet, was published posthumously in 2003.
Obituaries
- http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E0DF1131F931A25751C0A9679C8B63&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/D/Deaths%20(Obituaries)NY Times by Jack AndersonJack Anderson (dance critic)Jack Anderson is an American dance critic and author. Since 1978, he has been a contributor of dance reviews and other articles in The New York Times...
, 12 February 2001] - Dance Magazine Obituary
- Musical Opinion Obituary