Julia Farron

OBE
Born
Joyce Margaret Farron-Smith

22 July 1922
London, England
Died3 July 2019

Julia Farron OBE (22 July 1922 – 3 July 2019) was an English ballerina, best known as one of the earliest and all-time youngest members of The Royal Ballet, the leading ballet company based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.

Julia Farron was born Joyce Margaret Farron-Smith[1] in London.[2] on 22 July 1922.[3] In 1931, Farron became the first pupil to receive a scholarship to study under the direction of Dame Ninette de Valois at the Vic-Wells Ballet School. She made her professional stage debut in a pantomime in 1934, aged twelve. In 1936, having completed five years of study at the ballet school, she joined the Vic-Wells Ballet, becoming the company's youngest member, aged fourteen.

The following year in 1937, she danced her first created role, Pepe the Dog, in the ballet A Wedding Bouquet choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton. Farron would stay with the company throughout its development into The Royal Ballet, eventually achieving the rank of principal dancer. In early 1947 Julia danced, alongside Harold Turner, the Neapolitan Tarantella in La Boutique Fantasque . A respected critic of the time, Audrey Williamson, noted "the bright attack and style that distinguish all her work".[4] After retiring from the professional stage, she was appointed as a teacher at the Royal Ballet School in 1964. She was appointed assistant director of the Royal Academy of Dance in 1982, becoming Director in 1983. and eventually retired in 1989, with an honorary life fellowship of the organisation (FRAD). In 1994, the Royal Academy of Dance awarded her the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award for outstanding services to ballet. Most recently, she has sponsored the redevelopment of the White Lodge Museum and Ballet Resource Centre.[5][6][7]

Farron was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to ballet.[8]

She married the South African ballet dancer and choreographer Alfred Rodrigues in 1948, and they had a son, Christopher.[9] She died on 3 July 2019 at the age of 96.[1]

Selected repertoire

References

  1. ^ a b "Julia Farron obituary". The Times. 19 July 2019. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 20 July 2019. (registration required)
  2. ^ Obituaries, The Telegraph (19 July 2019). "Julia Farron, teenage star of the pre-war Vic-Wells Ballet who became Director of the Royal Academy of Dance – obituary". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  3. ^ Craine, Debra; Mackrell Judith (2010). The Oxford Dictionary of Dance. Oxford University Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-0199563449.
  4. ^ Ballet Renaissance, Audrey Williamson, London Golden Gallery Press, 1948.
  5. ^ "Ballet website". Archived from the original on 7 December 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
  6. ^ Royal Ballet School website Archived 4 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Arts Autographs website
  8. ^ "No. 60009". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2011. p. 10.
  9. ^ Clarke, Mary (18 February 2002). "Obituary: Alfred Rodrigues". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
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