Merle Park (1937- ). Zimbabwean-born ballerina, teacher and director

Merle Park was born in what was then Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) in 1937. She came to Britain in 1951 to study at Elmhurst Ballet School, and in 1954 went to the Sadler’s Wells Ballet School. She entered the Sadler’s Wells (now Royal) Royal Ballet that year, becoming a principal in 1964.

Small, with great musicality and strong technique, Park first starred in soubrette roles such as Swanilda in Coppélia and Pineapple Poll, but then took on major roles in both the classics and modern works with distinction. She created roles for many choreographers over a dancing career of nearly 30 years, including Antony Tudor’s Shadowplay; Frederick Ashton’s Jazz Calendar and Voices of Spring; Kenneth MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations, Mayerling, La Fin du Jour and Isadora; Jack Carter’s Lulu; and David Bintley’s Adieu.

In 1968, Rudolf Nureyev created the role of Clara on Park in his production of The Nutcracker, and she frequently worked with him in the following years, notably in 1975 when she was part in a six-week season on Broadway of Nureyev and Friends. Park undertook many guest appearances overseas, in the United States of America, Canada South Africa and in Europe. In 1977 she opened her own school in Chiswick, before becoming director of The Royal Ballet School from 1983 to 1998. Merle Park was created CBE in 1974 and a DBE in 1986.