NEWS

Dancer relives ballet heyday

Dancer Selma Mortimer last night and inset in her heyday

13 October 2005 10:24

Standing in the wings of the theatre, Selma Mortimer's eyes welled with emotion as she watched the dancers elegantly glide by.

It was more than 50 years since she last stepped on to a stage with Ballet Rambert, and until now it had been too painful to revisit her past love.

But yesterday, Ms Mortimer enjoyed a special behind-the- scenes visit to Norwich Theatre Royal to watch the prestigious dance company (now called Rambert Dance Company) for the first time in six decades.

Despite a successful stage career in which she starred alongside some of the greatest names in dancing and entertainment, she looks back on her five-year spell with Ballet Rambert as being the greatest days of her life.

"The reason I haven't been back until now is that it upset me too much, it was such a wrench to leave. I found it heartbreaking," she said.

"But seeing the rehearsals I just wanted to get up there and dance.

"I have always loved the inspiration and passion of dancing and over the years that has not faded.

"I remember standing on that stage in the 1950s and it really was the happiest time of my life."

Ms Mortimer, who remains coy about her age, simply saying she is "in her 60s", moved to Norfolk nine years ago and now lives at Ludham.

She said: "I fell in love with ballet when I went to the Arts Theatre in Cambridge to see Ballet Rambert when I was eight years old.

"I told my ballet teacher I wanted to play the French ballerina in Gala Performance and lo and behold, by the time I was 17 my dream came true.

"I was 16 when I joined the company, then after six months I was promoted by Madame Rambert up to the lead ballerina roles, and I got to play that dream role in Gala Performance," she said.

"I danced in many major roles with the company during those years and I have had the privilege of dancing with the likes of Margot Fontaine, Alicia Markova and Violetta Elvin, to name but a few."

She stayed with the dance company for five years, before making the heart-wrenching decision to leave when her father moved the family to America.

Although she continued carving out a career on the stage, she never managed to fill the void left by her passion for ballet.

Following her departure from Rambert, she trained as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada), and went on to star in many West End productions and perform cabaret to entertain American troops.

But she said: "There is nothing like the ballet, it is so disciplined, I was married to it. When I went to Rada I thought what a lot of sloppy people."

One of those "sloppy" people among her peers at the Royal Academy was the late great John Thaw.

"He was such a lovely person, he was always wanting to take me out to dinner but I always refused," she said.

"What a wonderful sweet man John Thaw was."

These days, her pastimes are a little more sedate, although she confessed to longing to dance and wow the crowds again.

"I had two new hips last year and I want to start ballroom dancing, but I am still looking for someone who wants to dance with me, a man who has a bit of zing and style and panache," she laughed.

The Rambert Dance Company is the oldest dance group in Britain, dating back to 1926. It employs a larger group of artists than any other modern company in Britain.

Its latest touring production combines three very different pieces: Antony Tudor's Dark Elegies, a classic from the Rambert repertoire created in 1937; the award-winning modern piece Swamp; and Constant Speed, a piece commissioned by the Institute of Physics for the centenary of the publication of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity.

With a theme of molecules ricocheting through space, it is far removed from the sort of productions for which Ms Mortimer would have taken to the stage six decades ago.

The three-day run at the Theatre Royal, which started last night, continues today at 2.30pm and 7.30pm, and tomorrow at 7.30pm.

For more information, see www.theatre-royal-nor wich.co.uk or call 01603 630000.

Email A Friend