Podcast » David Wall
David Wall was one of the greatest male dancers of his era, with an extraordinary stage charisma, range, theatricality and honesty. In this interview he talks to Frank Freeman, a former colleague,...
people » Laura Connor
David Wall is the central figure in this photograph like tableau in Jerome Robbins’s Dances at a Gathering (1969), amid left to right – Laura Connor, Ann Jenner (her arm in Wall’s), Rudolf Nureyev, and Anthony Dowell. Dances at a Gathering joined the Royal Ballet’s repertory in 1970, with these five dancers part of an illustrious cast that also included Antoinette Sibley, Lynn Seymour, Monica Mason and Michael Coleman.
© Anthony Crickmay/Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Laura Connor (1946-). British ballerina and teacher
Laura Connor was born in Portsmouth in 1946. She studied at The Royal Ballet School, and joined The Royal Ballet in 1965, becoming a principal in 1972. Connor danced in a wide range of ballets and styles and created the role of Mitzi Casper in Kenneth MacMillan’s Mayerling in 1978. She also danced in a number of ballets by Jerome Robbins, including Dances at a Gathering, Afternoon of a Faun and The Concert. After several years teaching at The Royal Ballet School, Connor then spent the next 25 years as a freelance teacher in Central London, giving daily classes to dancers from all over the world.
Timeline Event » 1970 – The Royal Ballet dances Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering for the first time
Dances at a Gathering, which had been created for New York City Ballet in 1969, represented the first work by Jerome Robbins to enter The Royal Ballet’s repertoire. Danced to music by Frédéric...
Timeline Event » 1978 – Premiere of Kenneth MacMillan’s Mayerling by The Royal Ballet
With his fourth three-act ballet, Mayerling, Kenneth MacMillan cemented his legacy for reinvigorating the full-length narrative ballet for the modern age. Mayerling, first performed by The Royal...