Beryl Grey

Beryl Grey
Dame Beryl Grey in 2006.
Born	Beryl Elizabeth Groom (1927-06-11) 11 June 1927 (age 89) Highgate, London, England, UK
Occupation	Ballet dancer/ballerina
Spouse(s)	Dr Sven Gustav Svenson (m. 1950-2008); 1 child

Dame Beryl Elizabeth Grey, DBE (née Groom; born 11 June 1927), is a retired English ballet dancer.

Born in Highgate, London, she began dance classes at the age of four while attending Sherbourne Preparatory School, and by age eight was being taught by Phyllis Bedells. By the age of nine she had become the star pupil of her school, had been presented a silver medal by Tamara Karsavina and had passed all the examinations of the Royal Academy of Dancing it was possible for her to take. Her talent was recognised by Ursula Moreton and Ninette de Valois, who offered her a scholarship for four years at the age of ten, with the option of joining their dance company for a further four years. She began to attend the Sadler's Wells School in 1937.

She attended Dame Alice Owens Girl's School at the Angel in Islington, just around the corner from Sadlers Wells Theatre.

In August 1941, she was taken into the company at the age of fourteen and joined them during a provincial tour, at Burnley. Her first appearance with the company was in the corps de ballet of Le Lac des Cygnes. She progressed through the company at a steady rate. Her first solo role was as one of the Blue Skaters in Frederick Ashton's Les Patineurs. Her first lead role was as the Serving Maid in The Gods Go A-Begging "with a charm and style remarkable for a child of fourteen and a half". On her fifteenth birthday, Dame Ninette de Valois gave her an inscribed copy of Gordon Anthony's book on Dame Margot Fonteyn and the opportunity of dancing Odette-Odile in the full-length Le Lac des Cygnes.

In 1942, Robert Helpmann created the first role for her in his second ballet The Birds where she was The Nightingale. In April 1943, she created her first dramatic role as Duessa in Ashton's ballet, The Quest, which was based on Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene. On 1 March 1944, she first portrayed the main role of Giselle in Derby. She then performed the role in London for the first time on her seventeenth birthday. Grey is also known for her interpretation of Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis, which she first performed in 1946. She first performed the role of Princess Aurora in the The Sleeping Beauty on 20 June 1946 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.