Dame Monica Mason (born 6 September 1941) is a former
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 ye ...
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 ...
. In more than fifty years with the company, she established a reputation as a versatile performer, a skilled rehearsal director, and a capable administrator.
Early life and training
Monica Margaret Mason was born in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...
, South Africa, into a family of British ancestry. She studied ballet from a young age with Ruth Inglestone, Reina Berman, and
Frank Staff
Frank Staff (15 June 1918 – 10 May 1971) was a South African ballet dancer, choreographer, producer, and company director. He was a major figure in the history of European theatrical dance in South Africa.
Early life
Frank Cedric Staff was b ...
in her home city and, later, with Nesta Brooking in London. As an advanced student, she entered 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 ...
in 1956, where she continued her education in both dance and academics.
Performing career
Taken into the ''
corps
Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...
'' of the Royal Ballet in 1958, Mason was, at 16, the company's youngest member. She soon caught the eye of choreographer
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. E ...
, who had been commissioned to create yet another dance version of ''
The Rite of Spring
, image = Roerich Rite of Spring.jpg
, image_size = 350px
, caption = Concept design for act 1, part of Nicholas Roerich's designs for Diaghilev's 1913 production of '
, composer = Igor Stravinsky
, based_on ...
'', set to Igor Stravinsky's score that had caused such a ruckus at its premiere with
Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pa ...
's Ballets Russes in 1913. Impressed by her talent and energy, and conscious, no doubt, of her youth and innocence, he cast her as the Chosen Maiden, around whom the rite evolves. She scored a marked success and thereafter became a particular favorite of MacMillan. Over the years, she danced in almost all his works in the Royal Ballet repertory, creating roles in six of them. Besides the Chosen Maiden, they are as follows.
* 1974. '' Manon'', music by Jules Massenet. Role: Lescaut's Mistress.
* 1975. ''
Elite Syncopations
"Elite Syncopations" is a 1902 ragtime piano composition by American composer Scott Joplin, originally published in 1903 by John Stark & Son.Scott Joplin. Role: Calliope Rag.
* 1975. '' The Four Seasons'', music by Giuseppe Verdi. Role: Summer.
* 1975. ''Rituals'', music by Béla Bartók (
Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion
The Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, Sz. 110, BB 115, is a musical piece written by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók in 1937. The sonata was premiered by Bartók and his second wife, Ditta Pásztory-Bartók, with the percussionists Fritz Sch ...
). Role: The Midwife.
* 1981. ''
Isadora
Isidora or Isadora is a female given name of Greek origin, derived from Ἰσίδωρος, ''Isídōros'' (a compound of Ἶσις, ''Ísis'', and δῶρον, ''dōron'': "gift of he goddessIsis").
The male equivalent is Isidore.
The name surviv ...
'', music by
Richard Rodney Bennett
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (29 March 193624 December 2012) was an English composer of film, TV and concert music, and also a jazz pianist and occasional vocalist. He was based in New York City from 1979 until his death there in 2012.Zachary Woo ...
. Role: Nursey.
Appointed a soloist in 1963, Mason was promoted to principal dancer in 1968. The range of roles in her personal repertory was broad, encompassing the classicism of Odette/Odile in '' Swan Lake'' and Nikiya in ''
La Bayadère
''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") ( ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. The ballet was staged especiall ...
'' as well as the austerity of purely abstract works such as '' Song of the Earth'', set by MacMillan to Gustav Mahler's meditative ''
Das Lied von der Erde
''Das Lied von der Erde'' ("The Song of the Earth") is an orchestral song cycle for two voices and orchestra written by Gustav Mahler between 1908 and 1909. Described as a symphony when published, it comprises six songs for two singers who alte ...
''. She was dramatically effective in such disparate roles as the ruthless Black Queen in '' Checkmate'' by
Ninette de Valois
Dame Ninette de Valois (born Edris Stannus; 6 June 1898 – 8 March 2001) was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russ ...
Dances at a Gathering
''Dances at a Gathering'' is a ballet choreographed by Jerome Robbins to music by Frédéric Chopin, with costumes designed by Joe Eula. The ballet premiered on May 22, 1969, at the New York State Theater, performed by the New York City Ballet ...
'' by
Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television.
Among his nu ...
.
Administrative career
After many years on the stage of the
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...
, Covent Garden, Mason began a new phase of her career as a ballet mistress and teacher. She was appointed principal ''répétiteur'' (rehearsal director) for MacMillan's ballets in 1980, when she also began teaching classical variations to senior girls at the Royal Ballet School. She became the company's principal ''répétiteur'' in 1984, assistant to the director in 1988, and assistant director, to
Anthony Dowell
Sir Anthony James Dowell (born 16 February 1943) is a retired British ballet dancer and a former artistic director of the Royal Ballet. He is widely recognized as one of the great ''danseurs nobles'' of the twentieth century.
Early life and tra ...
, in 1991. Capping her administrative career, she was named artistic director in 2002. After ten years' service, during which she fostered many talents and greatly enriched the repertory, she retired in July 2012. Peter Wright regarded her as the best artistic director since
Ninette de Valois
Dame Ninette de Valois (born Edris Stannus; 6 June 1898 – 8 March 2001) was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russ ...