Throwback Thursday and Lynne Golding
Lynne Golding was born in Australia to John and Melinda
Golding. At age 12 she saw an exhibit of photographs featuring Nijinsky and
Pavlova , and she knew she had to dance. She began ballet lessons at the local
town hall.
She was offered a scholarship by Leon Kellaway, where she
worked as his assistant in exchange for lessons. But she credits Raissa
Kousnetzova, of the Ballet Russes as her true mentor. While she was still a
student she performed with the Polish-American Ballet and the Ballet National.
But she soon discovered her opportunities were limited. She was a bit less than five feet tall (151
centimeters). When she tried to join the Ballet Russes, she was told she was
too small. Then, because it was during the Depression, opportunities to dance
became even fewer. Undaunted, she began performing in vaudeville at the Tivoili
Theater where she soon became their principal ballerina. She worked hard to
hone her skills because she still wanted to join a ballet company.
In 1950 she auditioned for a new company, the National
Ballet Theatre and in 1951 she became the first ballerina to dance the dual
role of Odette/Odile in Australia’s first full production of Swan Lake. According to the local
newspaper, she was only the fourth ballerina to dance both roles.
Lynne Golding went on to have a career in Europe and in South
America, where she co-directed the Venezuela National Ballet. In the late 1950s
she moved to New York where she met her husband, Alan Hope Kirk, another
dancer. They performed together with several companies, including the Chicago
Opera Ballet.
In 1965 they returned to her native Australia. She joined
the studios of Eve King and Audrey Nicholls, but later opened her own studio in
Melbourne.
Lynn Golding retired in 2000, and died in 2008.
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Dance History Factoid #131:
“Lynne Golding was an Australian
ballerina who was barely five feet tall.”
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