The Braunsweg years: Festival Ballet 1949 – 1965

The dance writer, and former dancer, Deborah Weiss is joined in the studio for a special Voices of British Ballet round table discussion. Anita Landa, Pamela Hart, Joyce Lyndon and David Long, are all former dancers with Festival Ballet, and talk about the early days and legacy of one of the most important companies in the history of British ballet.

Festival Ballet was founded by the impresario Julian Braunsweg. He persuaded Dame Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin to lead the company, which started with a concert tour in 1949.

Taking its name from the forthcoming Festival of Britain, the company was originally named  Festival Ballet and then, in 1969, London Festival Ballet. In 1989, it changed its name once again, to English National Ballet.

The discussion focuses on the Braunsweg years, 1949 until he was ousted in 1965. Julian Braunsweg left a memoir of the time, his so-called Ballet Scandals.