Peggy van Praagh

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Dame Margaret (Peggy) van Praagh, DBE (1 September 1910, London, England – 15 January 1990, Melbourne, Australia) had a long and distinguished career in ballet as a dancer, choreographer, teacher, producer, advocate and director.

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[edit] Dancing

Peggy van Praagh was educated at King Alfred School, London. She began dancing very early in London. Young Peggy came to the attention of the press very early on. One review records, "At last night's concert a dainty extra was a very charming dance by little Peggy van Praagh ... Peggy is only six but she is quite a clever little artiste and is booked again for Saturday's matinee by request."[1]

Van Praagh joined Ballet Rambert in 1933. Later she also danced with Anthony Tudor's London Ballet. Van Praagh performed in some of Tudor;s ballets such as Lilac Garden, Dark Elegies, Gala Performance, Soiree musicale and The Planets.

In the early years of World War II. van Praagh was heavily involved in staging lunch time ballet shows called Ballet for a Bob, which attracted large audiences of civilian and military personnel. In 1941, she was employed by Dame Ninette de Valois OM CH DBE largely to teach company classes for Sadler's Wells Ballet, although van Praagh also danced in a number of company productions including Les Patineurs, Comus and Coppelia in which she danced the leading role of Swanilda.

[edit] Choreographer and Teacher

In 1945, van Praagh became a teacher at Sadler's Wells Dance Theatre. She worked there until 1956. During this time she maintained a long, fruitful association with choreographer Antony Tudor.

From 1956 until 1960 she undertook freelance teaching and producing in Germany, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Holland and the USA.

[edit] Artistic Director of the Borovansky and Australian Ballet

In 1959 van Praagh came to Australia and was appointed Artistic Director of the Borovansky Ballet in 1960. She was instrumental in establishing the Australian Ballet in 1962. She remained in the position of Artistic Director of the until 1974, and was invited back again for the 1978 season. From 1965-1974 van Praagh held the position jointly with Sir Robert Helpmann CBE[2] Under van Praagh's direction the Australian Ballet made the first of many overseas tours, developed a repertoire of ballets that included works from the established international repertoire as well as commissioned works from Australian and overseas choreographers, and hosted guest appearances by a number of notable dancers including Sonia Arova, Erik Bruhn, Dame Margot Fonteyn DBE and Rudolf Nureyev. While with the Australian Ballet she also nurtured the development of Australian choreographers including Graeme Murphy, Ian Spink, John Meehan and Leigh Warren.

Marilyn Rowe OBE, a protege of van Praagh, and now Director of the Australian Ballet School said of her mentor,

"Peggy had a five point plan for the development of the Australian Ballet :

  • 1. A company of dancers engaged on annual contracts. Such contracts were heretofore unknown,
  • 2. A repertoire of established classics together with the best works by contemporary choreographers, designers and composers
  • 3. To present, as guest artists, the worlds best dancers and teachers
  • 4. To tour the company internationally
  • 5. To establish a national ballet school."[3]

To her lasting credit van Praagh achieved all sections of her plan.

[edit] Dance Advocate

Van Praagh was a tireless advocate for dance education. During her career in Australia, along with Bernard James of the University of New England's continuing education program, she was instrumental in organising a series of summer schools in dance that had a long-lasting influence on dance in Australia. She also helped establish the advocacy body, Ausdance (formerly Australian Association for Dance Education). In 1982, van Praagh was coordinator of dance studies at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University, Perth.

[edit] Legacy

Van Praagh made a lasting impact on dance in Australia. It is hard to imagine the Australian Ballet without her incredible drive and energy to see an idea become one of the world's leading ballet companies. Her enormous contribution to dance was posthumously recognised when she inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 2000 Australian Dance Awards.

[edit] Affiliations/Honours

[edit] References

  1. ^ Peggy van Praagh at AustraliaDancing
  2. ^ The Australian Ballet: History
  3. ^ Marilyn Rowe OBE, The Sixth Dame Peggy van Praagh Memorial Lecture, 18 November 2000, Australian Dance Council

[edit] Books

  • Sexton, Christopher, Peggy van Praagh - a life of dance, Macmillan, South Melbourne, 1985
  • Van Praagh, Margaret, How I became a ballet dancer, Nelson, London, 1954
  • Van Praagh, Margaret, Ballet in Australia, Longmans, Melbourne, 1965
  • Van Praagh, Margaret, The arts in Australia - ballet, Longmans, Melbourne, 1966
  • Van Praagh, Margaret and Brinson, Peter, The choreographic art; an outline of its principles and craft, Adam and Charles Black, London, 1963

[edit] External links