I was in a review and the choreographer walked out and the rest of the company said: "You do it.". Cats, 1981, was based on TS Eliots Old Possums Book of Practical Cats. . She has worked on 11 feature films, and over 150 television productions as producer, director, choreographer or performer. This videodiscusses Gillians amazingchoreography ofPhantom of the Opera. In 1936, aged 10, Lynne won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dance. Notable failures were Phil the Fluter (1969), about the songwriter Percy French, and Ambassador (1971), a florid adaptation of Henry James. We also share that information with third parties for analytics. She's the first woman to ever win the Tony Award for Best Direction and Choreography at the same time. Read about our approach to external linking. During this visit, she worked in a rehearsal with the company of the 20092010 international tour of Cats, produced by Troika Entertainment. It was an extraordinary achievement because Gillian's adolescence had been blighted by war, evacuation and heartache. I met Peter [Land] on the first day of rehearsals for My Fair Lady, which I was staging for Cameron Mackintosh. Gillian Lynne managed to produce fine performances from the cast of Cats. "He put on some music and they left the room," she recalls. In her early years, Lynne injected vitality into a number of humdrum British musicals such as Pickwick, Love on the Dole and The Card but a turning-point came in 1976 when Trevor Nunn invited her to choreograph an RSC musical version of The Comedy of Errors. This video tells the story of how Gillian got her chance to dance andthe profound impact it had on her. In a ceremony last month, Lloyd Webber renamed the New London theatre - where Cats was first staged - in Lynnes honour; she was carried to the stage in a golden throne surrounded by dancers. In my case, I didn't plan to become a choreographer at all. Share them here! Dame Gillian Lynne is a Bafta and Olivier award-winning choreographer. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Her many roles included the Black Queen in Checkmate, Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, Queen of the Wilis in Giselle and also in ballets created by Robert Helpmann, Frederick Ashton, Ninette de Valois and George Balanchine. All rights reserved. A beautiful, unique song that by writing can bring them great fulfillment and bless many others. Lynnes ability to see the dramatic possibilities of dance derived from her training in classical ballet. The English. The Royal Academy of Dance elected her Vice-President in 2012. After hearing everything her mother said, the doctor told Lynne that he needed to talk to her mother privately for a moment. We were alone, entering the world she had always wanted for me, and I offered up my dance to her, she said. What Parents Can Learn from the Story of Gillian Lynne She entered Sadlers Wells Ballet aged 17 and rose through the ranks to become a leading dancer, with her roles including the Lilac Fairy inSleeping Beauty, one of three ballerinas in Symphonic Variations, Queen of the Willis inGiselle, Black Ballerina inBalanchines Ballet Imperial, and Black Queen in de Valois Checkmate. She once said: I felt I was only my real self when I was dancing or in the theatre or with my music all the rest of the time I was or felt like a shadow, a restless shadow wandering aimlessly waiting for life to be breathed into it to give it a real form.. GILLIAN LYNNE DBE A seminal influence on British dance and musical theatre, Dame Gillian Lynne started her career in 1942 at age 16 before joining the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company in 1944 where she became a soloist performing at the newly opened Covent Garden Opera House as detailed in her autobiography A Dancer in Wartime. Interviewed in the Times in 2014, shortly after the release of her exercise DVD Longevity Through Exercise, she said: Of course I have done pretty well. Gillian Lynne with her mother, Barbara, in 1932. Cats choreographer Gillian Lynne dies aged 92, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Gillian Lynne (Gillian Barbara Pyrke), choreographer, director and dancer, born 20 February 1926; died 1 July 2018 Topics Theatre Dance Musicals Andrew Lloyd Webber Cameron Mackintosh. Originally a novel by Walter Greenwood, it was made into a musical starring Eric Flynn and Angela Richards. Your email address will not be published. She received a DBE in the. Notable dance credits include Fool on the Hill for the Australian Ballet, Journey for the Bolshoi Ballet, Lippizaner, The Brontes for Northern Ballet and Some You Win for Irek Mukhamedov's Company. Kudos! It is the first West End venue named after a non-royal woman. Her many roles included the Black Queen in Checkmate, Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, Queen of the Wilis in Giselle and also in . Famed "Cats" and "Phantom of the Opera" choreographer Gillian Lynne, who both inspired and worked closely with theater impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber, has died. As choreographer for over 60 shows in the West End and on Broadway, Dame Gillian is best known for her iconic work on Andrew Lloyd-Webbers Cats and Phantom of the Opera, two of the most successful and longest-running musicals in history. She staged the musical numbers for Hans Christian Andersen (1974), with Tommy Steele at the London Palladium, and the Olivier award-winning Songbook (1979). "Sometimes the trains would black out when the bombing was "Sometimes the trains would black out when the bombing was bad but I honestly cannot recall ever being that afraid," she says. It was very strange and to this day I cannot explain it, but in that instant I understood that my childhood had ceased.. Gillian was dancing! Gillian Lynne | Birmingham Royal Ballet What are our goals in educating our kids? The doctor told mummy I was a natural dancer and that appointment probably changed the course of my life. The New London Theatre, where the original West End production of Cats played, was officially renamed the Gillian Lynne Theatre in 2018. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. - The Lily She received a DBE in the New Year Honours and says that she feels "tops" about becoming a dame. Her father had read in Picture Post about the Cone Ripman school, later renamed the Arts Educational, and suggested she go there to learn to dance and act. Gillian was instrumental in the development of jazz dance in Britain and her distinctive style, which is a fusion of classical and jazz, lead to her fantastic work on the world famous musicalCats for which she is probably most well-known and also on Andrew Lloyd Webbers worldwide hitsPhantom of the OperaandAspects of Love,which she staged and choreographed. After listening to Gillians mother explain the teachers concerns about Gillians disruptive behavior, the doctor and Gillians mother stepped outside the office to speak privately. It was a fitting tribute. Lowry. I sprained it 37 times in my career, and in the end one day a bone just popped out. The family doctor advised Barbara to give her daughter ballet lessons after she was concerned Gillian was hyperactive. Dame Gillian Barbara Lynne DBE (ne Pyrke; 20 February 1926 1 July 2018) was an English ballerina, dancer, choreographer, actress, and theatre-television director, noted for her theatre choreography associated with two of the longest-running shows in Broadway history, Cats and The Phantom of the Opera. Before Lynne, dance often seemed a pleasant afterthought to homegrown shows. In 1944, back in London and dancing for the English dancer Molly Lake, Lynne was headhunted by Ninette de Valois to join her company at Sadlers Wells. "Quite simply, Gillian Lynne was a seminal figure in choreography for three generations, . In 1975 she arrived in Australia to create The Australian Ballet's first work expressly commissioned for television, The Fool on the Hill. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Welcome to the world's largest community of inspiration for kids. In 2014 she presented a new version of Robert Helpmanns Miracle in the Gorbals for Birmingham Royal Ballet she had been in the cast when it was premiered in London 70 years earlier. You can't just go and dance without a thought in your head. Very few people get a show like Cats, it's a one-off. Just last month, The New London Theatre in Londons West End the original home of Cats was renamed the Gillian Lynne Theatre, in honour of her outstanding contribution to the stage. Lynne reinvented choreography in Britain, much as Bob Fosse did in the US, but her career was infinitely more varied than his. She came into a world where dance often seemed like an irrelevant interlude and, through her theatrical skill and tireless industry, turned it into something integral to the musical form. The idea of ADHD had not been born yet. I think I look like an ancient old squiffle at the moment, but the secret to staying young and being happy is to do with loving what you do and loving the person you are with - simple as that! Put yourself out there as a leader and don't be afraid to confront people. Throughout her career, Lynnes work was nominated for and won an enormous number of awards, including the Olivier Award in 1981, for outstanding achievement of the year in musicals, for Cats. I ask people this ALL THE TIME: What does it mean to be educated? More than 60 years on she still possesses the grace and endurance of a leading ballerina. It's a three-part craft if you like. I don't do all that Botox stuff, can't stand it, don't even believe in it. My family is me, my husband and the dog. Much of the credit, entrepreneurial and creative, has gone to Cameron Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber, but an equally vital force was the choreographer, director and dancer Gillian Lynne, who has died aged 92. She returned to the Palladium in 2002 to choreograph the theatrical version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and took the same show to Broadway three years later. Gillian Lynne is one of the world's pre-eminent choreographers, the groundbreaking creative force behind blockbusters such as Cats and The Phantom of the Opera.But she started her career as a ballerina, and learnt to dance alongside Margot Fonteyn, Moira Shearer, Beryl Grey and Frederick Ashton during the Second World War.