Phyllis Bedells (1893-1985). British dancer and teacher, and founder of the Royal Academy of Dance

Born in Bristol, dancer and teacher Phyllis Bedells provided one of the foundation stones for British ballet. She rose to ballerina level using her own English name, a brave and heart-warming achievement at a time when Russian names were prized. Bedells learnt from an impressive range of teachers representing a depth of knowledge and experience that would be hard to match today: Malvina Cavalazzi, Enrico Cecchetti, Anna Pavlova, Adeline Genée, Nicholas Legat and Adolph Bolm. She made her London debut at the age of 13 in Alice in Wonderland at the Prince of Wales Theatre. By 1914 she had succeeded Adeline Genée and Lydia Kyasht as the prima ballerina at the Empire where she reigned for three years, taking the title with her later to Covent Garden and the Beecham Opera seasons. She toured with Laurent Novikoff as well as dancing several seasons at the London Coliseum with Anton Dolin. Dancers in these years had to be highly professional, versatile and quick to learn roles and willing to cover much ground and many theatres. She was an original committee member of the Camargo Society and danced for them in 1930 and 1931. That same year she danced as a guest artist with the Vic-Wells Ballet.

In 1920, when she was only 26, Bedells became a founding member of the Association of Operatic Dancing of Great Britain. Upon her retirement from the stage in 1935 she became Vice-Chairman of this organisation, by then renamed the Royal Academy of Dancing (RAD). Bedells first opened a school in Bristol and then one in London, which she ran until 1966.

An outstanding teacher and examiner, Bedells was honoured for her work with the Queen Elizabeth II Award of the RAD in 1958 and made a Fellow of the RAD in 1971. She published her autobiography, My Dancing Days, in 1954. Her daughter, Jean Bedells, danced with the Sadler’s Wells Ballet Company from 1937, becoming ballet mistress in 1946.