David Gayle

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

is a former dancer with The Royal Ballet and founder of the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars and first co-ordinator of the Royal Ballet Summer School.

Early career

David Gayle was born and brought up in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, and trained under Mrs Margaret Allenby-Jaffé in Skipton, North Yorkshire."Tribute night to Ilkley dance legend"
''Ilkley Gazette & Observer'', 9 June 2008. He was a dancer with The Royal Ballet, performing alongside the likes of Rudolf Nureyev and Dame Margot Fonteyn. He was the first boy to be taken on to the teacher training course at the Royal Ballet School."David Gayle MBE: Former Royal Ballet dancer and teacher, David Gayle, founded the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars at Ilkley College in 1975."
175 Heroes Exhibition,

Bradford College (England) Bradford College is a further and higher education college in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, with approximately 25,000 students. The college offers a range of full and part-time courses from introductory level through to postgraduate le ...

. Retrieved 31 March 2011.

Yorkshire Ballet Seminars

Gayle founded the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars to give young people the chance to learn ballet without having to go to London. The first residential summer ballet course was officially opened at Ilkley College on 4 August 1975 by Dame

Ninette de Valois Dame Ninette de Valois (born Edris Stannus; 6 June 1898 – 8 March 2001) was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, ...

, founder of the Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School. The first master class was then taught by Dame Alicia Markova."About us: David Gayle MBE - Founder"
Yorkshire Ballet Seminars website. Retrieved 31 March 2011. "Our reputation spread nd students came from all over the world," Gayle said in an interview in 2009. "So many of the students went on to be professional dancers: in ballet companies, in musicals and in contemporary dance." The Yorkshire Ballet Seminars left Ilkley when the college closed in 1999 and are now held at York St John University in York. Following the success of the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars, prima ballerina

Merle Park Dame Merle Park (born 8 October 1937) is a British ballet dancer and teacher, now retired. As a prima ballerina with the Royal Ballet during the 1960s and 1970s, she was known for "brilliance of execution and virtuoso technique" as well as for h ...

invited Gayle to set up similar seminars in London as the Royal Ballet Summer School in 1987. Gayle retired from the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars in 2005, handing over the directorship to

Marguerite Porter Marguerite Porter MBE (born 30 November 1948) is an English former principal ballet dancer, turned actress and choreographer. Biography Born in Doncaster, Porter trained in Yorkshire and at the Royal Ballet School in London, where she was taught ...

, a former senior principal ballerina and guest artist with the Royal Ballet. Gayle was made an

in 1991."Footsteps of the first Billy Elliot"
'' Yorkshire Post'', 26 August 2010.

References

External links

Yorkshire Ballet Seminars official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gayle, David Dancers of The Royal Ballet English male ballet dancers Living people People from Ilkley Members of the Order of the British Empire Year of birth missing (living people)