Vyvyan Lorrayne (1939-2022). South African-born ballerina and teacher

Vyvyan Lorrayne was born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1939. She studied with Faith de Villiers and danced with the Durban Civic Ballet before coming to The Royal Ballet School in 1956. In 1958 she joined The Royal Ballet as a soloist, becoming a principal in 1967. During her 22 years with the company, Lorrayne danced most of the major classics with aplomb and also showed she had a gift for comedy. She was particularly associated with the works of Frederick Ashton, for whom she created roles in Monotones, Jazz Calendar and Enigma Variations, in which she was Isabel Fitton. On her retirement from The Royal Ballet in 1980 she formed the short-lived Ballet Imperiale, after which she returned to her native South Africa. For many years she was a teacher at the National School of Arts in Johannesburg. She died in Johannesburg in 2022.