Georgina Parkinson

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Georgina Parkinson
Sadler's Wells Ballet School
Occupations
  • ballet dancer
  • ballet mistress
Organizations
SpouseRoy Round
Children1

Georgina Parkinson (20 August 1938 – 18 December 2009) was an English ballet dancer and

ballet mistress. She joined The Royal Ballet in 1957 and was promoted to principal dancer in 1962. Best known for dancing 20th-century works, she was a frequent collaborator of choreographer Kenneth MacMillan, and had also created roles for Frederick Ashton. In 1978, she accepted the invitation to become a ballet mistress at the American Ballet Theatre
for a year, before assuming the position permanently in 1980. She also performed character roles with the American Ballet Theatre.

Early life

Parkinson was born on 20 August 1938 in

The Royal Ballet School) on scholarship, after an audition with Ninette de Valois, the founder of The Royal Ballet.[1][2] At her graduation performance, she danced the role of Odette in Swan Lake.[3]

Career

1957–1978: Royal Ballet

Parkinson joined The Royal Ballet in 1957, at age 19. When she joined the company, it was run by

Les Noces.[4] The same year, she created a role in Ashton's Monotones I.[6]

In 1967, Parkinson was requested by MacMillan, who had become a close friend, to withdraw from the Royal Ballet's Canadian tour to take over as the lead in his new work

Manon (1974).[6]

Parkinson had also danced in the Royal Ballet premieres of Balanchine's

The Two Pigeons, Howard's La Belle Dame sans Merci, as the Aristocrat in Massine's Mam'zelle Angot, Robbins' The Concert.[3] Despite being known for performing 20th-century works, she had also danced classical ballets such as Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, the title role in Raymonda, solos in La Bayadère, Myrtha in Giselle and Les Sylphides.[1][3]

Parkinson was asked to teach MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet to Mikhail Baryshnikov and Leslie Browne, for Herbert Ross' 1977 film The Turning Point.[3][6] In 1978, she created her last role for MacMillan, as Empress Elisabeth of Austria in Mayerling.[4]

1978–2009: American Ballet Theatre

In 1978, Nora Kaye, a former ballet dancer and Herbert Ross' wife, invited Parkinson to teach classes at the American Ballet Theatre.[1] She returned to London in 1979 to stay with her family, before moving to New York in 1980 to assume the position permanently.[1] She primarily worked with principal dancers and soloists.[6] Julie Kent, a principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre, said she "learned everything from" Parkinson.[1]

At the American Ballet Theatre, she had also performed character roles, including the Queen in The Sleeping Beauty, Madam Larina in Cranko's Onegin, and the Stepmother de Mille's Fall River Legend. She also created the role of Mrs. Harriman in Tharp's Everlast and the soldier's mother in Ratmansky's On the Dnieper.[6]

In 2009, due to financial hardship, she was let go by the company.[3] Prior to her death, she coached actresses Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis for the film Black Swan.[6]

Personal life and death

Parkinson was married to photographer Roy Round. Their son, Tobias, is married to Leanne Benjamin, a former Royal Ballet principal dancer.[4]

In 2009, Parkinson was diagnosed with cancer. On 18 December the same year, she died from the disease in Manhattan. She was 71.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Kisselgoff, Anna (18 December 2009). "Georgina Parkinson, Star at Royal Ballet, Dies at 71". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b c "Georgina Parkinson". The Telegraph. 20 December 2009. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Georgina Parkinson: Ballerina". The Times. 26 December 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Clarke, Mary (1 February 2010). "Georgina Parkinson obituary". The Guardian.
  5. ^
    ISBN 9780571274512
    .
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Meisner, Nadine (15 February 2010). "Georgina Parkinson: Ballerina best known for her performance as La Garconne in Nijinska's 'Les Biches'". The Independent.
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