PETER DARRELL

Peter Darrell CBE was born 1929 in Richmond, Surrey and died in Glasgow in 1987 at the age of 58. He studied at the Sadler’s Wells Ballet School and was one of the first company members of the Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet before leaving to work in musicals and at the Malmø Opera House in Sweden. In 1951 he returned to London and presented his first choreography for the newly-formed Ballet Workshop at Rambert’s Mercury Theatre (the same night as a young Kenneth MacMillan). During the next four years, he continued to  present Ballet Workshop Sunday night showcases, and other commissions came in, including Harlequinade for London Festival Ballet (1952).

In 1956 he founded Western Theatre Ballet with Elizabeth West, dedicated to the twin aims of bringing ballet to the widest audience and introducing contemporary themes and theatrical influences to ballet. Early successes included The Prisoners (1957), and in 1963 Debussy’s Jeux and Mods & Rockers to music by The Beatles. After West’s death in 1962, Darrell continued alone, and in 1969 the company moved to Glasgow as Scottish Theatre Ballet, and now Scottish Ballet.

Awarded the CBE in 1984, Darrell’s long list of choreographic works includes full-length narrative ballets such as Mary Queen of Scots, a radical Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Tales of Hoffmann and Cinderella, along with many important shorter ballets, created both for Scottish Ballet and other major companies around the world.

©Tim Tubbs