Bruce Edward Sansom (born September 1963) is a British former ballet dancer, and assistant artistic director and ballet master at
San Francisco Ballet.
Bruce Sansom was born in September 1963
in
Newbury, trained at the
Royal Ballet School, and joined the
Royal Ballet in 1982, following performances as Colas in ''
La Fille mal gardée'' at the Royal Ballet School's Annual Performance in 1981, and a solo in ''Here We Come'' in 1982.
He became a principal dancer in 1987. He retired from dancing in 2000.
In his early years with the Royal Ballet Sansom danced small roles such as a cavalier in ''
The Sleeping Beauty'', a cast member in ''Dances of Albion: Dark Night Glad Day'' and ''Voluntaries'', a Mountaineer in ''
Façade'', Sailor Boy in ''
Enigma Variations'', Mandolin Dance in ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'' and a soldier in the premiere of ''
Different Drummer''.
[Royal Opera House Performance Database "Bruce Sansom"](_blank)
retrieved 4 January 2017.
He then progressed to more prominent roles such as Colas in ''La Fille mal gardée'', Oberon in
The Dream
A dream is an experience during sleep.
Dream, The Dream, Dreams, etc. may also refer to:
Art
Paintings
* ''Le Rêve'' (Detaille), an 1888 painting by Édouard Detaille
* ''Le Rêve'' (Picasso) (''The Dream'' in French), 1932 oil painting by ...
and a cast member in ''
Symphonic Variations'' as well as participating in the premieres of ''Number Three'', ''Half the House'' and ''Galanteries''.
From 1990 Sansom expanded his repertoire with principal roles in ''
Gloria
Gloria may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music
* Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise
* Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise
** Gloria (Handel)
** Gloria (Jenkins) ...
'', ''
Song of the Earth
''Song of the Earth'' is a novel by Alexander Cordell, first published in 1969. It is the final book of Cordell's "Mortymer Trilogy".
The novel is Cordell's third book in the lives of the Mortymer family, after ''Rape of the Fair Country'' and ...
'' (The Messenger of Death), ''The Nutcracker'' (The Prince), ''
Manon
''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was first ...
'' (Des Grieux), ''
A Month in the Country'' (Beliaev) and the Princes in ''Swan Lake'' and ''Cinderella''. He created further roles in ''Bloodlines'', ''The Planets'', ''Cyrano'' (Christian), ''Tombeaux'', ''Tidelines'', ''The Turn of the Screw'' (Miss Jessel), ''A Stranger's Taste'' (Dancer) and ''There Where She Loves'' (Five songs).
His final performance was his first as Lescaut in ''Manon'', on 25 July 2000.
In May 2000 Sansom took
Nijinsky's old role in a reconstruction at the Royal Opera House of the original ''
Jeux
''Jeux'' (''Games'') is a ballet written by Claude Debussy. Described as a "poème dansé" (literally a "danced poem"), it was written for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes with choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky. Debussy initially objected to the ...
''.
He retired, after 16 years with the Royal Ballet company, described at the time as "the company's most classical dancer... always reliable, always committed to his roles, he had a wider range than might be expected, taking the leads in almost all the old classics and in many ballets by
Ashton
Ashton may refer to:
Names
*Ashton (given name)
*Ashton (surname)
Places Australia
* Ashton, Elizabeth Bay, a heritage-listed house in Sydney, New South Wales
*Ashton, South Australia
Canada
*Ashton, Ontario
New Zealand
* Ashton, New Zealand
...
,
MacMillan
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People
* McMillan (surname)
* Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan
* Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician
* James MacMillan, Scottish composer
* William Duncan MacMillan ...
,
Bintley,
Balanchine
George Balanchine (;
Various sources:
*
*
*
* born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...
and
Tetley. No fewer than a dozen choreographers picked him to create new roles."
[Is there life after dance? Bruce Sansom, the Royal Ballet's most classical dancer, quits the stage for good at the end of this season. '' Independent'', 24 July 2000.]
In 2006, he was appointed as director of London's
Central School of Ballet
Central School of Ballet is a classical ballet school based in London, with students from countries all over the world.
The school was established in 1982 by Ann Stannard and Christopher Gable. It established a touring company, ''Ballet Centra ...
, but after three and a half years in post, returned in July 2009 to San Francisco Ballet as Ballet Master and Assistant to the Artistic Director.
[
On film he may be seen in a Gala for Tchaikovsky ('' Anastasia'': Pas de deux), '' Still life at the Penguin Café'' (Texan Kangeroo Rat) and ''The Prince of the Pagodas'' (The King of the East).Filter for Bruce Sansom at Worldcat]
accessed 6 January 2017. He also appeared in the 1985 television broadcast of ''The Nutcracker'', and the television programme ''Bintley's Mozart'' (the ballet ''Galanteries'') in 1987, both on the BBC.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sansom, Bruce
1963 births
British male ballet dancers
Living people
People from Newbury, Berkshire