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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Royal Ballet
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The company which dances at *Covent Garden. It descends from the Vic-Wells Ballet, founded by Ninette *de Valois in 1931 (so named because it performed both at the *Old Vic and at *Sadler's Wells). From the start *Ashton was the main choreographer alongside de Valois, *Lambert the chief conductor, and *Markova, *Dolin and *Helpmann were among the earliest leading dancers. After the war the company was renamed the Sadler's Wells Ballet but in 1946 it moved to Covent Garden, leaving Sadler's Wells theatre vacant (a new company formed there to fill the vacuum eventually became the *Birmingham Royal Ballet). A royal charter in 1956 transformed the Sadler's Wells Ballet into the Royal Ballet.
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In the years after the war the undisputed star of the company was Margot *Fonteyn, who had been dancing leading roles since 1935. Her career had a glorious final chapter in her famous partnership with Rudolf Nureyev (1938–93). He defected from the Kirov Ballet when it was performing in Paris in 1961, and from 1962 he made the Royal Ballet his base – creating with Fonteyn in the following years one of the most famous partnerships of the 20C.
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Among choreographers the 1950s saw the emergence of *Cranko and *Macmillan, and leading dancers of a slightly younger generation have included Lynn Seymour, Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell. Recent years have seen the emergence of Viviana Durante and Darcy Bussell, and the arrival from Paris of Sylvie Guillem.
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