DESMOND KELLY / A DANCE CAREER AROUND THE WORLD
Desmond Kelly is yet another South African who graced Britain’s Royal Ballet. Born in Penahlonga, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), like so many others, he followed his sister to ballet class. His first teacher was Elaine Archibald. Passing all of his major Royal Academy of Dancing examinations, he was awarded the RAD South African scholarship in 1958 at the age of 15. He set out for London and studied with Ruth French. A year later in 1959, he joined London Festival Ballet (now English National Ballet) under the direction of Anton Dolin. He danced with the company for seven years, progressing to soloist in 1962, performing major roles early on, and was made a principal in 1963. While with the company, he met and married fellow dancer Denise leComte from New Zealand. They found a wonderful teacher, Andrew Hardie, in a small studio in Knightsbridge. He became their mentor. Kelly says, “The classes were inspirational, and we wrote down the combinations and still use them to this day.” They left the company together to visit their families, traveling first to South Africa. While there, Zimbabwe declared its independence, leaving Kelly’s Rhodesian passport invalid. With luck, he was able to obtain a British passport, and their next stop was New Zealand.
In 1966 and 1967, Kelly and leComte danced with the Zurich Opera Ballet in Switzerland under the direction of Nicholas Beriozoff, and from 1967 through 1969 appeared with the New Zealand Ballet, Kelly as a principal and ballet master. They spent 1969 and 1970 in America with the National Ballet in Washington, DC under the direction of Frederick Franklin. Franklin said, “Desmond Kelly and Denise leComte stopped in Washington after performing with the ballet in New Zealand. I didn’t know them and was surprised when they turned up. It was when Margot Fonteyn was a guest with the National Ballet. Desmond turned out to be a wonderful dancer and partner with Margot. He was also a wonderful gentleman.” Kelly danced a full repertoire of the classics and partnered Fonteyn in Ben Stevenson’s “Cinderella,” and also in “La Sylphides.” Kelly and Fonteyn performed together on many other occasions, and he says “she dragged me all over the world.” In her biography, Fonteyn stated, “Surely it is an extraordinary chance for a woman no longer young to dance not only with Nureyev but Anthony Dowell, David Wall and Desmond Kelly—all handsome and gallant men.”
Wanting to start a family and raise their children in Great Britain, the Kellies returned to the UK and joined the Royal Ballet touring company. After three months of touring, the company was disbanded. Denise gave up a performing career in exchange for motherhood, and Desmond joined the main company at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Kelly danced all the major principal roles with The Royal Ballet.
The metamorphous of The Royal Ballet began with Ninette deValois who founded the company in 1931 at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre. It was known as the Vic-Wells Ballet and performed also at the Old-Vic Theatre in London. In 1940, the company name was changed to Sadler’s Wells Ballet. It was invited to perform at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in 1946, and a second company, Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet, took its place at Wells. In 1956, the royal charter was bestowed on both companies. The company at the opera house became The Royal Ballet, as we know it today, and the Wells company was named the Touring Company of The Royal Ballet and toured throughout the United Kingdom. In 1977, its name was changed again, this time to Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, and it took up residency at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre under the direction of Peter Wright.
Kelly says, “It was unusual for people who had not studied at The Royal Ballet School to be taken into the company in those days.” His talent as a superb partner gave him the opportunity to dance with the leading ballerinas of both Royal Ballet companies: in addition to Fonteyn, his ballerinas were Doreen Wells, Antoinette Sibley, Merle Park, Natalia Makarova and Monica Mason (now artistic director of The Royal Ballet).
Glen Tetley chose Kelly to dance with Deanne Bergsma in his first piece for The Royal Ballet, “Field Figures,” and he had the opportunity and honor to dance George Balanchine’s “Agon,” “Prodigal Son,” and “The Four Temperaments.”
In addition to his position as a principal dancer with the company at Covent Garden, Kelly simultaneously performed with the touring company. He danced for both companies under John Field and Kenneth MacMillan, but it was Peter Wright who as a mentor had a huge influence on him. When the touring company became Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, Kelly opted to join on a permanent basis, dancing the classic prince roles (his favorite was Albrecht in “Giselle”) and of course the Balanchine repertoire. He also performed a wide variety of contemporary works, some of them choreographed for him. The company, still touring, also gives seasons at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre. Kelly says, “The dancers were very close and were like a family.” What stands out most in is mind about his years on stage is the buzz of the performance, wanting to be better with each performance and his success in Balanchine’s “Prodigal Son.”
Desmond Kelly with Merle Park Photo by: Roy Round
In addition to performing, Kelly soon assumed the position of ballet master with SWRB, rehearsing many of the ballets and teaching company class. His background was in RAD and also Cecchetti, but after many years he has developed his own style of teaching. In time, he took on the additional role of assistant to the director and was responsible for rehearsing the MacMillan and Balanchine repertoire. Susan Hendl, a repetiteur for The George Balanchine Trust, says, “Desmond’s love and respect for the dancers and how he looks at the ballets, all the details, makes him simply one of the best ballet masters. He has a sense of humor, and you know you are in good hands. It is a positive experience working with him.”
The company moved to Birmingham, England, and Kelly became assistant director. When Peter Wright retired, David Bintley became the director of what is known today as the Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB). In addition to dancing character roles in many of the works choreographed by Bintley and continuing to teach and coach, Kelly took on much of the administrative work.
One project close to his heart was a program “Ballet Hoo! How Ballet Changed My Life,” presented by Channel 4 (UK) in conjunction with the Birmingham Royal Ballet and Youth at Risk. The project involved working with inner-city youths and how the arts can change their lives. He says, “It inspired some of them to finish their formal education, even continuing on to university. One even became a full-fledged social worker.”
With a life dedicated to his chosen profession, Kelly, upon his retirement from Birmingham Royal Ballet, took on another challenge. He assumed the artistic directorship of the Elmhurst School, which has become the official school of BRB. His teaching is diverse. Students must focus on the steps and make progress from one class to another. Some students have a real passion to succeed and, because of the diverse choreographic styles in today’s companies, it is absolutely necessary to study not only ballet, but also tap, jazz and even flamenco. Sometimes he has students do class with the dancers at BRB. “They love it,” he says. The music to him is the highlight of each class; the pianist is most important. Dancers today push themselves for more technical accomplishments, and this often results in injury. He says, “It is important to keep the focus on technique, but remember that we are performers and entertainers and acting is as important as technique…we must tell the story.”
Desmond Kelly was awarded an Order of the British Empire in the 2005 New Year’s Honors list and was made an honorary doctor of letters by Leicester University and the University of Birmingham (UK) in 2007. He was presented with a special award at the Critic’s Circle National Dance Awards for the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s educational project documentary “Ballet Hoo! How Ballet Changed My Life” The Governor’s of The Royal Ballet presented him with a gold medal for outstanding contribution to The Royal Ballet companies.
Kelly is very much a family man. He is the father of a daughter and son and has four grandchildren. When not in the studio, he is known as a master gourmet cook and spends much of his free time tending the vegetables and flowers in his garden.
Desmond Kelly loves the dance profession and the people in it. He has given much to so many. Dominic Antonucci, a principal dancer with BRB sums it all up. “Desmond Kelly was instrumental in bringing me to the Birmingham Royal Ballet from American Ballet Theatre in 1994. Desmond taught me everything I know about partnering, complex interpretation of roles and how to be a professional role model. He showed me how to infuse passion into my dancing and teaching. No one is more passionate in this profession than Desmond. I owe so much of the success and fulfillment in my dance career to him. He placed so much faith in me at times when I maybe didn't believe in myself. He is my inspiration as a teacher and mentor and continues to guide me as we remain very close. He was a strong father-figure for the company and me, and we miss him very much. The Elmhurst School of Ballet is immensely lucky to have him.”