Derek Deane (born 18 June 1953) is a British dancer and choreographer.
Biography
Derek Deane was raised in
Redruth
Redruth ( , kw, Resrudh) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England. The population of Redruth was 14,018 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, which also inc ...
,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
and trained in the
Royal Ballet School
The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially ...
. As a dancer, he eventually became a Principal Dancer with
The Royal Ballet
The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...
, later retiring from the stage and working as Deputy Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer at
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Rome Opera House) is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat ''Costanzi Theatre'', it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements. The pre ...
and Artistic Director of
English National Ballet
English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish ...
(1993-2001). He was awarded the OBE (
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
) in the
2000 Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to dance as artistic director of the English National Ballet.
[United Kingdom: ]
Dance career
After his training at The Royal Ballet School, Derek Deane went on to join The Royal Ballet in 1972. Deane was promoted to Soloist in 1977, Principal Dancer in 1980 and then to Senior Principal Dancer in 1982. There, Deane danced some of ballet's most memorable roles, including Prince in ''
Swan Lake
''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...
'';
Romeo
Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest ...
,
Benvolio
Benvolio is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. He is Lord Montague's nephew and Romeo's cousin. Benvolio serves as an unsuccessful peacemaker in the play, attempting to prevent violence between the Capule ...
, and
Tybalt
Tybalt () is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet''. He is the son of Lady Capulet's brother, Juliet's short-tempered first cousin, and Romeo's rival. Tybalt shares the same name as the character Tibert / Tybalt ''"the ...
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 Prince Rudolf in ''
Mayerling
Mayerling is a small village (pop. 200) in Lower Austria belonging to the municipality of Alland in the district of Baden. It is situated on the Schwechat river, in the Wienerwald (''Vienna woods''), southwest of Vienna. From 1550, it was in the ...
''. Deane worked with some of the era's most respected choreographers, including
Kenneth MacMillan
Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. Ea ...
,
Frederick Ashton
Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 190418 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue.
Determined to be a dancer despite the oppositi ...
,
George 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 ...
,
Hans van Manen
Hans Arthur Gerard van Manen (; born 11 July 1932) is a Dutch ballet dancer, choreographer and photographer.
He studied under Sonia Gaskell and Françoise Adret. Van Manen wrote many ballets. He worked for the Dutch National Ballet from 1973 to ...
,
John Neumeier
John Neumeier (born February 24, 1939) is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He has been the director and chief choreographer of Hamburg Ballet since 1973. Five years later he founded the Hamburg Ballet School, which also in ...
,
Glen Tetley
Glen Tetley (February 3, 1926 – January 26, 2007) was an American ballet and modern dancer as well as a choreographer who mixed ballet and modern dance to create a new way of looking at dance, and is best known for his piece ''Pierrot Lunaire ...
,
Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...
,
Peter Wright, and
David Bintley
Sir David Julian Bintley (born 17 September 1957) is an English former ballet dancer, the artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, and co-artistic director of the New National Theatre Tokyo ballet company.
Early life
Bintley was born i ...
.
Post Dance
After retiring from the stage, he went on to become the resident choreographer and Assistant to the Director of Teatro Del Opera Di Roma in 1990, before rising to Artistic Director of English National Ballet in 1993.
Ballets Deane has created for English National Ballet include, ''
Giselle
''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, ...
'', ''Alice in Wonderland'', ''Swan Lake'', ''
The Sleeping Beauty'', ''
Paquita
''Paquita'' is a ballet in two acts and three scenes originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to music by Édouard Deldevez and Ludwig Minkus. Paul Foucher received royalties as librettist.
History
''Paquita'' is the creation of French compo ...
'', ''Strictly Gershwin'' and ''Romeo and Juliet''. Many of these works Deane has re-created for the "in the round" productions for the
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
, including ''Swan Lake'', seen by over 500,000 people worldwide. Deane has twice been nominated for
Laurence Olivier Awards
The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...
.
Other projects have included ''Hamlet'' (
Shanghai Ballet Company
The Shanghai Ballet Company is the state ballet company for Shanghai. This regional dance troupe organized in 1966 (though they did not settle on the name "Shanghai Ballet" until 1979). They perform a blend of traditional and Western dance style ...
), ''Swan Lake'' (English National Ballet) and ''
The Lady of the Camellias
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article
An article is any member ...
'' (
Teatro San Carlo
The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is an opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and adjacent t ...
,
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
), as well as ''Strictly Gershwin'' with
Queensland Ballet
The Queensland Ballet, founded in 1960 by Charles Lisner OBE, is the premier ballet company of Queensland, Australia and is based in Brisbane. Queensland Ballet is one of only three full-time, professional classical ballet companies in Australi ...
and
Tulsa Ballet
Tulsa Ballet is a professional American ballet company located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The artistic mission of Tulsa Ballet is "To preserve the tradition of classical ballet, promote the appreciation of contemporary dance, create works of superior and ...
.
References
External links
*
English National Ballet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deane, Derek
English National Ballet
Principal dancers of The Royal Ballet
1953 births
English male dancers
Place of birth missing (living people)
English choreographers
Living people
Officers of the Order of the British Empire