Maureen Bruce was a

principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be male or female. The position is similar to that of '' soloist''; however, p ...

with the

Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the company ...

and the

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 ...

. Born in Edinburgh on 1 May 1930, she trained with Marjorie Middleton in Edinburgh, joined the Wells School in September 1947 and graduated to the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet in December of the same year.

Career

Maureen Bruce's first solo part was in the ballet Tritsch-Tratsch in which reviewers described her 'bubbling personality' that was again revealed in

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 ...

's ballets ''Facade'' and ''

Les Rendezvous ''Les Rendezvous'' is a plotless one-act ballet created in 1933, with choreography by Frederick Ashton to the music of Daniel Auber (the ballet music from his opera '' L'enfant prodigue'') arranged by Constant Lambert and with designs by Willi ...

''. Recognised as a "classical dancer of style" her versatility was confirmed in two of her creations: Amour in ''Pastorale'' and Hedonist in ''Cafe des Sports''. Bruce's first major creation was the role of the Princess in Alfred Rodrigues' ballet ''Saudades'' (Nostalgia) which was premiered at the Royal Court in Liverpool on 13 October 1955. Bruce was transferred to the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1956. Maureen Bruce achieved a wider audience as one of the dancers in Margaret Dale's groundbreaking

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

television series for children ''Steps into Ballet'' in 1954. Bruce married another principal dancer of the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet,

Donald Britton Donald Gene Britton (17 August 1929 – 31 May 1983) was a principal dancer with the two Royal Ballet companies, the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet and the Sadler's Wells Ballet from 1945 to 1965. Donald Britton was born in London in 1929. He ori ...

, in 1952. After leaving the Sadler's Wells company in 1958 Maureen Bruce taught ballet in Edinburgh, Fife and the Scottish Borders before moving to Devon in 1963 where she continued to teach until 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Maureen 1930 births Living people Scottish ballerinas Principal dancers

Career

See also

References