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Beryl Grey
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Beryl Grey was the first ballerina I knew by name, from a performance on television. When I discovered that she was to give a guest performance in Swan Lake at Covent Garden on 11 May 1960, I badgered my parents to get tickets to see her. I shall never forget my heart thumping in those moments before Odette makes her entrance, Siegfried's crossbow taut, aimed into the wings...... I was not to be disappointed. Even at that tender age, I glowed in the radiance of her warmth as Odette, and tingled at her sparkling virtuosity as Odile - qualities that had become her hallmark.
The beginning of Beryl Grey's dance career is enshrined in legend: a
legend which bears repetition. At the age of only nine, when she was a
pupil at the Vic-Wells Ballet School in 1937, her teacher is supposed to
have phoned the Director, Ninette de Valois, pleading "I think you'd
better look at this child, Miss de Valois". After watching the class
de Valois said "Well, what's wrong with her?" "What's wrong
with her?" the teacher replied, "She can do everything!
That's what's wrong!"
The term 'child prodigy' is no misnomer in the case of Beryl Grey. As the youngest pupil in the Vic-Wells School (aged 11) she presented a bouquet to Queen Mary at the charity gala premiere of De Valois' new production of The Sleeping Princess on 2 February 1939. On her 15th birthday she danced the full-length Swan Lake and 'sailed through' Odile's 32 fouettées. Her career spanned 25 years, dancing over 40 roles, although only two choreographers, Helpmann and Massine, created leading roles for her. Her interpretations of Odette/Odile, Aurora and the Lilac Fairy are legendary. Despite the difficulties inherent in following in the foot-steps of Margot Fonteyn, she developed a style that was clearly her own and 'acquired a technical mastery so effortless that the audience didn't even notice it'. Dame Beryl Grey has been bestowed with numerous honours and has written three books. She has been influential in encouraging young dancers, both in attitude and technique, and for eleven years was Artistic Director to the Festival Ballet. To those of us fortunate enough to have seen this great ballerina dancing, she is surely remembered for her warmth, her ability to communicate with an audience, and her effortless style.
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