Lawrence, Bryan (1936 - )

Stringer, Walter: Bryan Lawrence in 'Les Sylphides', the Australian Ballet, 1964

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Bryan Lawrence was born Brian Lawrence Palethorpe in Birmingham, England, where he began his dance training from an early age, later training at the Sadler’s Wells Ballet School, later the Royal Ballet School, from the age of thirteen. At the age of seventeen, after moving from the Junior to the Senior School, Lawrence began performing in walk on parts with the Sadler’s Wells Opera and Ballet, with his first dancing part in Tchernicheva’s Firebird. Lawrence joined Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet in 1954 and was promoted to soloist in 1955.

Following a period of national service he joined the Royal Ballet in 1959 and became a soloist in 1961. In 1964 he was invited by Peggy van Praagh to join the Australian Ballet as a principal.

Lawrence, along with fellow Australian Ballet principal Janet Karin, founded the Bryan Lawrence School of Ballet in Dickson, ACT, in 1968. The School’s performance group, The Bryan Lawrence Performing Group, performed their first classical piece, excerpts from Coppelia, to Canberra audiences in 1970, and their first full-length ballet, Giselle, in 1974. The School was renamed the National Capital Ballet School in 1987 and the associated performing company became the National Capital Dancers.

See also: Australian Ballet, The ; Coppelia ; Firebird, The ; Karin, Janet ; van Praagh, Peggy

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Find more about Lawrence, Bryan in:

• Internet - Google
• Articles - New York Public Library Dance Collection
• Pictures - Picture Australia