Hugh Laing was one of the most significant dramatic ballet dancers of the 20th-century.
14 Facts About Hugh Laing
2.
Hugh Laing danced with Marie Rambert's Ballet Club and New York City Ballet.
3.
Hugh Laing was born in Barbados in the then British West Indies.
4.
Hugh Laing moved to London in 1931 to study art, but soon became interested in ballet.
5.
Hugh Laing remained Tudor's artistic collaborator and companion until the choreographer's death in 1987.
6.
In 1938, Hugh Laing became a member of Tudor's London Ballet, a short-lived troupe for which he danced in Tudor's Gala Performance and Judgment of Paris.
7.
Hugh Laing accompanied Tudor to New York in 1939 to participate in the first season of Ballet Theater, as American Ballet Theatre was originally known.
8.
Just as Tudor soon was recognised as a great choreographer, so Hugh Laing was hailed as one of the company's finest artists.
9.
At Ballet Theater, Tudor choreographed several of the roles for which Hugh Laing was famous - the handsome, but corrupt, Young Man from the House Opposite in Pillar of Fire, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, a sophisticated gentleman in Dim Lustre and a murderer in Undertow.
10.
Hugh Laing was admired for his portrayals of the gypsy lover in Leonide Massine's Aleko, a neurotic young man in Jerome Robbins' Facsimile, Albrecht in Giselle and the title role of Petrushka.
11.
Hugh Laing danced with the New York City Ballet from 1950 to 1952, appearing in a revival of Jardin aux Lilas and in such new works by Tudor as The Lady of the Camellias and La Gloire.
12.
Hugh Laing later made guest appearances with Ballet Theater, then embarked upon a new career as a commercial photographer in New York continuing to assist Tudor with restagings of his ballets.
13.
Hugh Laing appeared as the villain Harry Beaton in the film version of the musical Brigadoon.
14.
Hugh Laing died of cancer, aged 77, in New York City in 1988.