Anton Dolin (ballet dancer)
Anton Dolin | |
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![]() Portrait of Sir Anton Dolin by Allan Warren | |
Born | Sydney Francis Patrick Chippendall Healey-Kay 27 July 1904 Slinfold, West Sussex, England |
Died | 25 November 1983 Paris, France | (aged 79)
Occupation(s) | ballet dancer and choreographer |
Sir Anton Dolin (27 July 1904 – 25 November 1983)[1] was an English ballet dancer and choreographer.
Biography
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Anton_Dolin.jpg/220px-Anton_Dolin.jpg)
Dolin was born in Slinfold in Sussex as Sydney Francis Patrick Chippendall Healey-Kay (generally known as Patrick or Pat Kay to his friends). He was the second of three sons of Henry George Kay (1852-1922) and his wife, Helen Maude Chippendall Healey (1869-1960), from Dublin.[2] He trained at Serafina Astafieva's school at The Pheasantry in London's King's Road.[3] He joined Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1921, was a principal there from 1924. It was Diaghilev who gave Patrick his stage name: at that time the most powerful impresario in world ballet, Diaghilev 'russified' names of his star dancers to keep up the tradition of his company.[4]
In the 1930s, Dolin was a principal with the Vic-Wells Ballet. There he danced with Alicia Markova, with whom he went on to found the Markova-Dolin Ballet and the London Festival Ballet. In 1933, he spotted Vera Zorina and introduced her to Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo in 1934.[5]
He joined Ballet Theatre when it was formed in 1940 and remained there as a dancer and choreographer until 1946.[6]
Dolin wrote several books, including his "reminiscences" in Divertissement (1931), the autobiography Ballet Go Round (1938) and Alicia Markova: Her Life and Art (1953).[7] He was knighted in 1981. He is featured in the documentary film A Portrait of Giselle.[citation needed]
He was the subject of This Is Your Life in April 1978 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at London's Royal Academy of Dance.[citation needed]
Upon Dolin's death, dancers Jelko Yuresha and Belinda Wright inherited the rights to his choreography of Giselle, Pas de Quatre, and his acclaimed original ballet, Variations for Four. Yuresha and Wright danced—and later staged—productions of these ballets with dance companies around the world, designing original costumes and sets for those performances.[8] In 2017, Yuresha (rights holder) and Philip Ronald Kay (Dolin's nephew and heir) founded the Sir Anton Dolin Foundation in Berlin, Germany with the aim of protecting Dolin's legacy. Since then, all rights to Dolin's works are the property of the Sir Anton Dolin Foundation.[citation needed]
Filmography
[edit]Film | |||
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Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1929 | Dark Red Roses | Dancer | Uncredited |
1930 | Alf's Button | ||
1934 | Forbidden Territory | Jack Straw | |
1935 | Invitation to the Waltz | Chief Dancer | |
1945 | A Song for Miss Julie | Himself – Ballet Dancer | |
1953 | Never Let Me Go | Marya's Partner | Uncredited |
1974 | The Girl from Petrovka | Ignatievitch | |
1980 | Nijinsky | Maestro Cecchetti |
References
[edit]- ^ W. J. McCormack (1999). The Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture. Blackwell Publishing. p. 172. ISBN 9780631228172. Retrieved 20 February 2008.
- ^ "Dolin, Sir Anton [real name Sydney Francis Patrick Chippindall Healey Kay]". Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31040.
- ^ Decharne, Max. (2005) King's Road: The Rise and Fall of the Hippest Street in the World. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, p. 23; ISBN 0297847694
- ^ Nechaev 2022.
- ^ "Vera Zorina". The Guardian. 5 May 2003. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
- ^ "Choreographers: Anton Dolin". American Ballet Theatre. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ^ Dolin, Anton (1953). Alicia Markova: her life and art. New York: Hermitage House. OCLC 300631658.
- ^ Schopf, Davor (2011). Yuresha – Visions and Dreams. Zagreb: Hilarion. p. 8. ISBN 978-953-56634-0-9.
Sources
[edit]- Dolin, Anton (1960). Anton Dolin: autobiography. London: Oldbourne. OCLC 220952622.
- Dolin, Anton (1985). Last words: a final autobiography. London: Century. ISBN 9780712607292.
- Dolin, Anton (1953). Markova: her life and art. London: W.H. Allen. OCLC 3290257.
- Hall, Alfred George, ed. (1957). Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin: a legend of British ballet : a collection of portraits. London: Hall Publications. OCLC 7643659.
- Simpson, Jane (30 September 1997). "Legends: Anton Dolin". Balletco Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 September 2010.
- Nechaev, S. (2022). Русская Италия [Russian Italy] (in Russian). Argumenti Nedeli Publishing House. ISBN 9785045190206.
External links
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- The Anton Dolin Cuttings Books are held by the Victoria and Albert Museum Theatre and Performance Department.
- Sir Anton Dolin Foundation
- 1904 births
- 1983 deaths
- American Ballet Theatre dancers
- Ballet choreographers
- Ballets Russes dancers
- Dancers of The Royal Ballet
- English male ballet dancers
- English choreographers
- English National Ballet
- Knights Bachelor
- Rambert Dance Company dancers
- English autobiographers
- People from Slinfold
- Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts