Mari Bicknell (1 February 1914 - 15 March 2003) was founder and director of the Cambridge Ballet Workshop and taught generations of young ballet dancers.
She was born Mari Scott Henderson in Kensington, London, of Scottish parentage.
She began her career studying with Vera Trefilova in Paris, and then with Tamara Karsavina. Later she danced with Sadler's Wells Ballet. In 1936, after her marriage to the architect Peter Bicknell, she began teaching ballet in Cambridge.[1]
In 1950 Britten's Let's Make an Opera inspired her to create Let's Make a Ballet: Dream Street for the most talented pupils from her classes. 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 and suggested that she perform her ballets at the Cambridge Arts Theatre. In 1952 Mari Bicknell presented a programme of three ballets there: Dream Street, Elsie Piddock and The Happy Prince. Her company Let's Make a Ballet finally, in 1968, became Cambridge Ballet Workshop.[1]
After a season at the Lyric, Hammersmith (1961), from 1965 she based her productions for 20 years at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, later adding a winter season in Cambridge (staged at the Mumford Theatre, CCAT). In 1977 the company took part in the Three Choirs Festival by appearing at the Swan Theatre, Worcester, presenting a Homage to Britten programme.[2]
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.[1]
Several original scores were commissioned specially for ballets performed by the company, including works by Joseph Horovitz (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 – who also was a pianist for several productions (Six Characters in Search of a Choreographer, 1965), Hugh MacDonald (The Wedding, 1966) and Madeleine Dring (The Real Princess, 1971).[2]
Mari Bicknell gave her farewell season as director of the company in 1980. She was made MBE in 1986.[3]
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