Jelko Yuresha was a British ballet dancer and choreographer.
29 Facts About Jelko Yuresha
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Jelko Yuresha's stepfather, Andrija, was a shoemaker and his mother, Slavica, a seamstress.
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Jelko Yuresha studied dance under choreographer Mile Jovanovic in Zagreb.
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Jelko Yuresha studied dance under Mile Jovanovic in Zagreb and soon after was accepted by the International Ballet School in Kastel Kambelovac near Split at the end of 1952 where he came under the tutelage of Ana Roje, the Prima Ballerina of the Croatian ballet.
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In 1958 at age 20, Jelko Yuresha emigrated to England, later gaining United Kingdom citizenship.
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Jelko Yuresha studied in Kent at Legat School of Ballet, today part of the St Bede's School Trust.
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Jelko Yuresha was a student of Russian prima ballerina Nadine Nicolaeva-Legat.
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Jelko Yuresha made his professional debut as a first guest artist with the newly formed Irish Theatre Ballet in Dublin.
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Jelko Yuresha joined London Festival Ballet in 1959.
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On 23 June 1959, Jelko Yuresha partnered with Belinda Wright at a Royal Command Performance before Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in Manchester.
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Jelko Yuresha danced in the BBC Eurovision production of Sleeping Beauty with the legendary prima ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn starring in the title role on 20 December 1959.
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Jelko Yuresha joined the Royal Ballet in 1962, the same month as another Eastern European emigre, Rudolph Nureyev, joined the company.
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Jelko Yuresha worked with some of the top choreographers and directors of the era, including Sir Frederick Ashton, Vladimir Bourmeister, Serge Lifar, Leonid Massine, and Bronislava Nijinska.
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The couple's daughter, Annabel Lisa Jelko Yuresha, was born in 1962 in London.
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Jelko Yuresha became an actress, appearing in the Doctor Who story Paradise Towers.
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Jelko Yuresha joined the company in 1959 and became a principal dancer.
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Jelko Yuresha restaged Variations for Four in 1999 for American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
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Jelko Yuresha has since staged it at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris, the Tetsuya Kumakawa Ballet in Japan, and at schools in Europe and the United States.
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Jelko Yuresha began teaching in 1977 as a guest teacher at master classes in London.
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Jelko Yuresha has taught ballet at Dance Works, Dance Centre London, at the London Studio Centre, and has been a guest teacher at ballet schools in Kuala Lumpur, Milan, and Zurich.
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Jelko Yuresha has been a judge in scholarship competitions at the Legat School and the Royal Academy of Dance.
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Jelko Yuresha continued part-time choreography work in 1984 with Cinderella to Prokofiev's music for the Icelandic National Ballet.
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In 1994 Jelko Yuresha began work with National Ballet of Panama and makes frequent trips to Panama City.
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Jelko Yuresha served as a judge and advisor at the Valentina Kozlova International Ballet Competition.
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Competitions that Jelko Yuresha participated were held in Brussels, New York, and New Orleans.
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In 1987 Jelko Yuresha retired from dancing at age 50 due to longtime pain from a back injury.
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Jelko Yuresha took up painting, costume and set design, writing, and collecting art.
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Jelko Yuresha's correspondence is included in Chicago's Newberry Research Library Ann Barzel Papers.
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Jelko Yuresha has donated the couple's costumes and original artwork to the Zagreb Museum of Arts and Crafts.