Michael Somes and Margot Fonteyn, Theatre Arts Magazine September 1957 part 2

Michael George Somes

CBE 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 ...

(28 September 191718 November 1994), was an English ballet dancer. He was a principal dancer of

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 ...

, London, and the frequent partner of

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 ...

Early years

Somes was born in Horsley,

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England, the son of Edwin Joseph Somes (1882-1973), a professional musician, and Ethel M. M. Pridham (1889-1972), a schoolmistress. He had an elder brother, Laurence Joseph Somes (1913-1987).

Career

In 1934, he was awarded the first scholarship given to a male by the Royal Ballet (then known as the Vic-Wells Ballet). In 1938, he and Fonteyn created the principal rôles in the

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 ...

Constant Lambert Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founder and music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Ninette de Valois and Frederick Ashton) he was a major figure in th ...

ballet '' Horoscope'', after which he was described as "potentially the finest British male dancer of the half century". He originated rôles in 24 ballets choreographed for the company by Ashton, and was the lead male dancer for the company from 1951 until the arrival of

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 ...

in 1962. From then on, Somes appeared in character rôles, most notably as Lord Capulet 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 ...

''. Somes was assistant director of the company under Ashton from 1963 to 1970.The Stage, December 15th 1994, p. 11
/ref> Somes appeared on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'' in 1954, and in television versions of ''

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 ...

'' (1954), '' The Sleeping Beauty'' (1955) and ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...

'' (1958), as well as a film version of Prokofiev's ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1966). All three productions starred

. In 1959, Somes was named a Commander 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 ...

(CBE).

Personal life

In 1954, Somes married the ballet dancer Deirdre Annette Dixon (1934 - 1959), a junior soloist for the Royal Ballet. Dixon died in a London hospital on May 28, 1959, aged 25, from a cerebral abscess and meningitis, although her obituary in The Stage states that her death was from the effects of a car accident two years previously.Obituary - Deirdre Dixon, The Stage, Thursday June 4th 1959
/ref> Somes then married fellow ballet dancer Dame

Antoinette Sibley Dame Antoinette Sibley (born 27 February 1939) is a British prima ballerina. She joined the Royal Ballet from the Royal Ballet School in 1956 and became a soloist in 1960. She was celebrated for her partnership with Anthony Dowell. After her ...

in 1964; they divorced in 1973."British Dancer Michael Somes Dies" - Washington Post, November 27th 1994
/ref> He later married ballet dancer Wendy Ellis. He died of a brain tumour in London in 1994. Somes was a distant relative (1st cousin 3 times removed) of

Joseph Somes Joseph Somes (9 December 1787 – 25 June 1845) was a British shipowner and Conservative politician. Family Born in Stepney, London, Somes was the youngest son of Samuel Somes (1758–1816) and Sarah née Green. In 1811, he married Mary Ann Dap ...

, (1787-1845), British shipowner, Conservative politician and Governor of the

New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...

.Robin Somes, private genealogical research
/ref> He was also related to the latter's namesake

(1819-1871), Conservative M.P. for Kingston upon Hull from 1859-1865.

References

External links

Dance magazine obituary, February 1995
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Somes, Michael 1917 births 1994 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deaths from brain cancer in England English male ballet dancers Principal dancers of The Royal Ballet People from Gloucestershire