Mari Scott Bicknell (née Henderson; 1 February 1914 – 15 March 2003) was founder and director of Cambridge Ballet Workshop, a dance company that taught generations of young ballet dancers. Born Mari Scott Henderson in Kensington, London, Bicknell began her career studying with

Vera Trefilova Vera Trefilova (russian: Вера Александровна Трефилова) (b Vladikavkaz, 8 Oct. 1875, d Paris, 11 July 1943) was a Russian dancer and teacher. She studied at the Imperial Ballet School in St Petersburg with Ekaterina Vaze ...

in Paris, and later with

Tamara Karsavina Tamara Platonovna Karsavina (russian: Тамара Платоновна Карсавина; 10 March 1885 – 26 May 1978) was a Russian prima ballerina, renowned for her beauty, who was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and lat ...

. She later danced with

Sadler's Wells 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 ...

. In 1936, after her marriage to the architect Peter Bicknell, she began teaching ballet in Cambridge to young dancers aged from 10 to 20 years old. In 1950

Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

's ''

Let's Make an Opera ''The Little Sweep'', Op. 45, is an opera for children in three scenes by the English composer Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Eric Crozier. ''Let's Make an Opera!'' ''The Little Sweep'' is the second part of a stage production entitled ' ...

'' inspired her to create ''Let's Make a Ballet'' for her most talented students. The first performance took place at her home, Finella, in Cambridge in 1950, performed by a cast of dancers all under the age of 13. George ("Dadie") Rylands saw this production and suggested that she staged her ballets at the

Cambridge Arts Theatre Cambridge Arts Theatre is a 666-seat theatre on Peas Hill and St Edward's Passage in central Cambridge, England. The theatre presents a varied mix of drama, dance, opera and pantomime. It attracts some of the highest-quality touring productions ...

. In 1952 Mari Bicknell presented a programme of three ballets there: ''Dream Street'', ''Elsie Piddock'' and ''The Happy Prince''. Her fledgling company, Let's Make a Ballet, eventually became The Cambridge Ballet Workshop in 1968. After a season at the

Lyric, Hammersmith The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London.

(1961), from 1965 she based her productions for 20 years at the

Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds The Theatre Royal, formerly the New Theatre, is a restored Regency theatre in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The building is one of eight Grade I listed theatres in the United Kingdom, and is the only working theatre operated under the ...

, later adding a winter season in Cambridge (staged at the Mumford Theatre, CCAT). In 1977 the company took part in the

Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester) and originally featu ...

by appearing at the Swan Theatre, Worcester, presenting a Homage to Britten programme.''Cambridge Ballet Workshop 1950-1985'' Graphic Art (Cambridge) Ltd. Cambridge Ballet Workshop was a company rather than a dance school. Aged from five to 21, the 30 to 40 dancers were drawn from around 300 who attended her classes. Several original scores were commissioned specially for ballets created and performed by the company, including from the composers

Joseph Horovitz Joseph Horovitz (26 May 1926 – 9 February 2022) was an Austrian-born British composer and conductor best known for his 1970 pop cantata '' Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo'', which achieved widespread popularity in schools. Horovitz also comp ...

(''Les Rats'', 1955; ''Through the Looking Glass'', 1968), Peter Tranchell (''Spring Legend'', 1957), Geoffrey Wright (''Love of Seven Dolls'', 1960; ''The Canterville Ghost'', 1979),

Roger Vignoles Roger Vignoles (born 12 July 1945), is a British pianist and accompanist. He regularly performs with the world's leading singers, including Kiri Te Kanawa, Thomas Allen, Anne Sofie von Otter, Thomas Hampson, Gitta-Maria Sjöberg, Sarah Walk ...

– who also was a pianist for several productions (''Six Characters in Search of a Choreographer'', 1965), Hugh MacDonald (''The Wedding'', 1966) and

Madeleine Dring Madeleine Winefride Isabelle Dring (7 September 1923 – 26 March 1977) was an English composer, pianist, singer and actress. Life Madeleine Dring spent the first four years of her life at Raleigh Road, Harringay, before the family moved to Stre ...

(''The Real Princess'', 1971). Mari Bicknell gave her farewell season as director of the company in 1980. She was made MBE in 1986.

Notes

English ballerinas English choreographers Members of the Order of the British Empire 1914 births 2003 deaths People from Kensington {{Dance-bio-stub