Anton Dolin (ballet dancer)

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Sir

Anton Dolin
Sir Anton Dolin Allan Warren.jpg
Portrait of Sir Anton Dolin by Allan Warren
Born
Sydney Francis Patrick Chippendall Healey-Kay

27 July 1904
Slinfold, West Sussex, England
Died25 November 1983(1983-11-25) (aged 79)
Paris, France
Occupationballet dancer and choreographer

Sir Anton Dolin (27 July 1904 – 25 November 1983)[1] was an English ballet dancer and choreographer.

Biography[]

Dolin in The Prodigal Son, Ballets Russes, during the Australian Tour of 1939

Dolin was born in Slinfold in Sussex as Sydney Francis Patrick Chippendall Healey-Kay but was generally known as Patrick Kay or "Pat" 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, and was a principal with the Vic-Wells Ballet in the 1930s. There he danced with Alicia Markova, with whom he went on to found the Markova-Dolin Ballet and the London Festival Ballet.

He joined Ballet Theatre when it was formed in 1940 and remained there as a dancer and choreographer until 1946.[4]

Dolin wrote several books, including the autobiography Ballet Go Round (1938) and Alicia Markova: Her Life and Art (1953).[5] He was knighted in 1981. He is featured in the documentary film A Portrait of Giselle.

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.

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.[6]

In 2017, rights holder Jelko Yuresha 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.

Filmography[]

Film
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[]

  1. ^ W. J. McCormack (1999). The Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture. Blackwell Publishing. p. 172. ISBN 9780631228172. Retrieved 20 February 2008.
  2. ^ "Dolin, Sir Anton [real name Sydney Francis Patrick Chippindall Healey Kay]". Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31040.
  3. ^ Decharne, Max. (2005) King's Road: The Rise and Fall of the Hippest Street in the World. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, p. 23. ISBN 0297847694
  4. ^ "Choreographers: Anton Dolin". American Ballet Theatre. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  5. ^ Dolin, Anton (1953). Alicia Markova: her life and art. New York: Hermitage House. OCLC 300631658.
  6. ^ Schopf, Davor (2011). Yuresha – Visions and Dreams. Zagreb: Hilarion. p. 8. ISBN 978-953-56634-0-9.

Sources[]

External links[]

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