All about: Dame Gillian Lynne - Dance Saturday
Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,
For today's All about:_____ series post, I'll be talking about another one of my favourite dancers from the past, Dame Gillian Lynne!
Although she died quite recently, I honestly think that through reading her autobiography, A Dancer in Wartime, Gillian is a very inspirational dancer and person. I wrote a whole review on The Book Hub of her book if you would like to find out more. It's really interesting!
Born as Gillian Barbara Pyrke in Bromley, Kent, on the 20th February, 1926, Gillian was noticed at a very young age for her natural dance talent. After underperforming at school, Gillian's mother took her to the doctors to receive answers for her fidgeting and lack of focus during lessons. When her mother and the doctor left the room for the appointment, Gillian couldn't help dancing and moving to the music that filled the room from the radio. When the doctor consequently returned, there was only one simple solution regarding his diagnosis. He told Gillian's mother to take her to a dance school immediately and so her amazing career began!
Gillian danced for many reasons. She danced mostly because she enjoyed it and loved dancing alongside her friend Beryl Grey, who also became a successful ballet dancer, but she also took it as a form of therapy, to release her of the pain she felt after her mother's violent death in a car crash with another woman, when Gillian was just 13 years old. Her mother was the person who got her to dance and when she was gone, dance was the only thing that truly reminded Gillian of her.
However, it is probably this unfortunate event that propelled Gillian to achieve her dreams of becoming a professional dancer and ballerina.
Ninette de Valois from the Sadler's Wells Dance Company, had soon spotted Gillian's sensational talent and asked her to join her company after she'd been doing most of her initial training at Molly Lake's Company at the People's Palace. It was Ninette who advised Gillian to change her surname as, if she wanted to get recognised, she needed a simpler surname than Pyrke and so she became Gillian Lynne for the first time.
Gillian was still not naturally gifted in academics and school work but knee-deep in the Second World War and once her father had joined the RAF to fight the synonymous Luftwaffe, she was motivated to achieve her dream career. She often made the treacherous, bomb-ridden journey in and out of London just to rehearse at the theatre. This dedication brought her to have a prominent role as Sleeping Beauty on her 20th birthday, in the Royal Opera House after the war. If I remember correctly, she also toured with her company and travelled around Europe during the war and to Germany's opera house after the war as well, where she met her first spouse.
Now, most people regard Gillian as a well-respected dancer, choreographer, musical theatre director, actress and television personality. She was the official creator of the well-known musicals Cats and The Phantom of the Opera, and she also made her first appearance as an actress on television during the 1980s. She also later became Dame Gillian Lynne at the age of 87 years old and also became the first non-royal woman to have a West End theatre named after her.
I think what I liked most about Gillian Lynne, was her ambitious personality. She lived through an incredibly difficult period of time, where Britain was faced with the Blitz and overall hardship. However, even with those difficulties and the fact that she lost her mother at a young age, Gillian was still very successful and achieved great things. I think this is why she's changed the way we look at dance because she showed that with dedication, you can become a great dancer in any style and be successful in your career. She is probably one of my many inspirational people.
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Have you heard of Gillian Lynne? Who's your dance inspiration? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!
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Bye,
XOX, Juliette
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