Australia Dancing - Dolin, Anton (1904

Dolin, Anton (1904 - 1983)

Photographer unknown: Anton Dolin making up for 'Le lac des cygnes' (Swan Lake), Covent Garden Russian Ballet, 1938 or 1939

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Anton Dolin, born in England as Sydney Francis Patrick Chippendall Healey-Kay, made his debut as a child performer in 1916. He went on to appear with a long list of leading ballet companies, beginning with Diaghilev's Ballet Russe with which he appeared as an extra in the corps de ballet in the 1921 London season of The Sleeping Princess. He partnered some of the world's most acclaimed ballerinas including Tamara Karsarvina, Alicia Alonso, Irina Baronova and, perhaps most famously, Alicia Markova with whom he founded the Markova-Dolin Ballet in 1935.

Dolin travelled extensively throughout his life and came to Australia in 1938 as a leading dancer with the Covent Garden Russian Ballet. In Australia, in addition to performing roles in the classics, Dolin danced leading roles in some of the most innovative works of the Ballets Russes repertoire of the 1930s including Leonide Massine's 3rd symphonic ballet, Symphonie fantastique, Massine's Jeux d'enfants with its surrealist-inspired decor by Joan Miro, David Lichine's Prodigal Son, which had its world premiere in Sydney in December 1938, and Lichine's Protee, again with surrealist decor this time by Giorgio de Chirico. He also performed Bolero, the solo he had choreographed for himself to the music of Ravel.

Dolin was founder, principal dancer and director of Festival Ballet from its foundation in 1950 until he handed over to John Gilpin in 1961. From then until his death he taught, directed and acted around the world and revived and reconstructed a number of ballets, perhaps the best known of which was Pas de quatre. Dolin was knighted in 1981 and was the recipient of many other honours and awards.

Bibliography:

A list of Dolin's roles and the works he choreographed during his life appear in Martha Bremser (ed.), International Dictionary of Ballet Vol. 1 (Detroit: St James Press, 1993), pp. 391-394. For more information about Anton Dolin in Australia, as seen through the personal album he made documenting his visit, see 'Every picture tells a story', National Library of Australia News, December 2000.

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Find more about Dolin, Anton in:

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