The ballet writer Gerald Dowler is joined in a special episode of Voices of British Ballet by Monica Mason (former Royal Ballet student, principal dancer and director), Jane Pritchard (curator of...
people » Monica Mason
Monica Mason in Mayerling, Royal Ballet, photo Anthony Crickmay. London, England, 1978,© Anthony Crickmay / Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Monica Mason (1941-). South African-born ballerina, teacher and director
Monica Mason was born in Johannesburg in 1941 and studied ballet in South Africa from an early age, particularly with Frank Staff. She came to London at the age of 14 and continued her studies with Nesta Brooking, moving to The Royal Ballet School in 1956. In 1958 she joined The Royal Ballet as its then youngest member. Mason quickly came to the attention of choreographer Kenneth MacMillan, who picked her out to be the Chosen One in his version of The Rite of Spring in 1962, a role with which she has been indelibly associated ever since. She was promoted to principal dancer in 1968, and was notable for her vitality, strength and versatility. Mason danced in many of the major classics, and created roles in a number of MacMillan’s ballets, including Romeo and Juliet, Manon, Elite Syncopations and Isadora as well as dancing in his Song of the Earth. She also danced in works by Ninette de Valois (Checkmate) and Frederick Ashton (Sylvia and Enigma Variations, among others), as well as in works by Jerome Robbins and George Balanchine.
As time went on Mason took on teaching and coaching duties, becoming principal répétiteur to The Royal Ballet in 1984. She was made assistant director in 1986, and director of The Royal Ballet in 2002, a post he held until her retirement in 2012 after 54 years of service to the company. While director of the Royal Ballet she strengthened and conserved the existing repertoire, as well as introduced work by contemporary choreographers, such as Wayne McGregor, Kim Brandstrup and Christopher Wheeldon.
Monica Mason was created OBE in 2002 and DBE in 2008.
Timeline Event » 1962 – First performance of Kenneth MacMillan’s The Rite of Spring by The Royal Ballet
Igor Stravinsky’s 1913 score for Vaslav Nijinsky’s short-lived ballet The Rite of Spring has been used by countless subsequent choreographers for their own productions. Among the very finest...
Timeline Event » 1963 – The Royal Ballet dances the ‘Kingdom of the Shades’ scene from Marius Petipa’s La Bayadère for the first time
This mysteriously beautiful ballet, originally in four Acts, was created in 1877 by Marius Petipa, ballet master of the Imperial Ballet in St Petersburg. This typically Romantic tale has undergone...
First performed by Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in 1928, George Balanchine’s Apollo was only the fourth work by Balanchine to enter The Royal Ballet’s repertoire after Ballet Imperial in...
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...
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 » 2002 – Monica Mason becomes director of The Royal Ballet
Following the departure of Ross Stretton, Monica Mason was appointed director of The Royal Ballet in 2002, staying in post until 2012. During her tenure, she staged major revivals of Frederick...
Timeline Event » 2012 – Kevin O’Hare becomes director of The Royal Ballet
Following the retirement of Monica Mason in 2012, Kevin O’Hare was appointed director of The Royal Ballet.