David Paltenghi (1919-1961). British dancer and choreographer

David Paltenghi was born in Christchurch, Hampshire, in 1919. He danced first with Ballet Rambert, joining Sadler’s Wells Ballet in 1941, where he created leading roles in Robert Helpmann’s Miracle in the Gorbals and Adam Zero. He re-joined Ballet Rambert as a guest in 1950, creating five ballets for them from 1950 to 1951, including Canterbury Prologue, based on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, with music by Peter Racine Fricker and designs by Edward Burra. Paltenghi later became a film director, winning much acclaim for The Love Match (1955), which starred the comedian Arthur Askey. He died in Windsor in 1961.