Margaret Craske (26 November 1892 – 18 February 1990) was a British

ballet dancer A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

and teacher of

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

Life

Margaret Craske was born on 26 November 1892 in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, England,Debra Craine, Judith Mackrell (2010). ''The Oxford Dictionary of Dance''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . p. 110. daughter of Edmund and Hannah Craske. She was a pupil and disciple of

Enrico Cecchetti Enrico Cecchetti (; 21 June 1850 – 13 November 1928) was an Italian ballet dancer, mime, and founder of the Cecchetti method. The son of two dancers from Civitanova Marche, he was born in the costuming room of the ''Teatro Tordinona'' in Ro ...

. When Cecchetti retired to Italy in 1923 she took over teaching at his studio in West Street, London.Peggy van Praagh (1984)
Working with Antony Tudor
''Dance Research: The Journal of the Society for Dance Research'' Vol. 2, No. 2 (Summer, 1984), Edinburgh University Press. pp. 56-67. She taught and developed the

Cecchetti method The Cecchetti method is variously defined as a style of ballet and as a ballet training method devised by the Italian ballet master Enrico Cecchetti (1850–1928). The training method seeks to develop essential skills in dancers as well as streng ...

in England and later in the United States. From 1931 until her death she was a follower of

Meher Baba Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani; 25 February 1894 – 31 January 1969) was an Indian spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. A major spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following of ...

. She lived in India from 1939 until 1946, when she moved to the United States and resumed teaching, first at the

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

. From 1950 she taught at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School, and from 1968 until 1983 at the Manhattan School of Dance. Her pupils include many of the most important names in ballet in the English-speaking world, including Sir

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 ...

, Dame

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE (''née'' Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn, was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells T ...

, Sir

Robert Helpmann Sir Robert Murray Helpmann CBE ( Helpman, 9 April 1909 – 28 September 1986) was an Australian ballet dancer, actor, director, and choreographer. After early work in Australia he moved to Britain in 1932, where he joined the Vic-Wells Ballet (n ...

Cyril Beaumont Cyril W. Beaumont OBE (1 November 1891 – 24 May 1976) was a British dance historian, critic, technical theorist, translator, bookseller, and publisher. Author of more than forty books on ballet, he is considered one of the most important danc ...

, and

Antony Tudor Antony Tudor (born William Cook; 4 April 1908 – 19 April 1987) was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer. He founded the London Ballet, and later the Philadelphia Ballet Guild in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., in the mid-1950 ...

Publications

The published works of Margaret Craske include: *Margaret Craske, Cyril William Beaumont (1930). ''The Theory and Practice of Allegro in Classical Ballet (Cecchetti Method)''. ondon C. W. Beaumont. *,

Friderica Derra de Moroda Friderica Derra de Moroda MBE (2 June 1897 – 19 June 1978) was a British dancer, choreographer and dance teacher of Greek and Hungarian descent. Career Derra de Moroda was born in Bratislava, Kingdom of Hungary, the daughter of a Greek w ...

(1956). ''The Theory and Practice of Advanced Allegro in Classical Ballet, Cecchetti method ... Edited with a preface by Cyril Beaumont''. London: C. W. Beaumont. * (1980). ''The Dance of Love: my life with Meher Baba''. North Myrtle Beach, SC: Sheriar Press. . * (1990). ''Still Dancing with Love: more stories of life with Meher Baba''. Myrtle Beach, SC: Sheriar Press. .Craske, Margaret (1990) ''Still dancing with love : more stories of life with Meher Baba'', Sheriar Press. pp. 103–104. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craske, Margaret 1892 births 1990 deaths People from Norfolk English ballerinas Ballet teachers Followers of Meher Baba