Jennifer Penney Archives » Voices of British Ballet

people » Jennifer Penney

David Wall in the role created for Michael Somes in Frederick Ashton’s supremely classical Symphonic Variations (1946), flanked by (left to right) Laura Connor, Jennifer Penny and (facing front in the role he created for Margot Fonteyn) Merle Park. © Anthony Crickmay/Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Jennifer Penney (1946-). Canadian-born ballerina

Jennifer Penney was born in Vancouver, Canada, in 1946. After early training locally she studied at The Royal Ballet School from 1962 to 1963 and joined The Royal Ballet in 1963. Penney became a principal dancer in 1970. With pure classical style, she danced ballerina roles in most of the classics, and in many other ballets, including Manon, Romeo and Juliet, La Bayadère and Song of the Earth. She created many roles for Kenneth MacMillan, including Anastasia, Elite Syncopations, La fin du jour, Gloria and Orpheus, and for Hans van Manen in Four Schumann Pieces. Jennifer Penney retired from dancing in 1988 and returned to her native Canada.

Timeline Event » 1974 – Premiere of Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon by The Royal Ballet

The eponymous heroine of Kenneth MacMillan’s 1974 Manon has become a role that nearly all aspiring ballerinas long to dance. Though there was initial criticism of the seemingly one-dimensional...

Timeline Event » 1974 – Premiere of Kenneth MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations by The Royal Ballet

Kenneth Macmillan’s hugely popular Elite Syncopations emerged out of a newfound enthusiasm for ragtime music in the 1970s. Danced to music by Scott Joplin and others, MacMillan’s subversive side...

Timeline Event » 1980 – Premiere of Kenneth MacMillan’s Gloria by The Royal Ballet

Kenneth MacMillan’s 1980 ballet Gloria is infused with personal meaning, as well as being a commentary on the futility of war, not just the Great War, which was spoken of as the ‘war to end all...