Maina Gielgud was born on 14 January 1945 and is a British former ballet dancer and a veteran ballet administrator.
19 Facts About Maina Gielgud
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Maina Gielgud was artistic director of The Australian Ballet from 1983 to 1996.
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Maina Gielgud had a twenty-year career as a dancer in Europe and the United Kingdom.
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Maina Gielgud is a daughter of Lewis Gielgud and actress Zita Gordon and niece of actor Sir John Gielgud.
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Maina Gielgud began dancing when she was six years old while living with her family in Brussels, Belgium.
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Maina Gielgud enjoys listening to Maria Callas and watch acting done by Maggie Smith, Glenda Jackson, Judi Dench, Alec Guinness, Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley, John Hurt, Peter O'Toole and her uncle John.
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From 1952 to 1955, Maina Gielgud trained in London and Paris with such artists as George Gontcharov, Olga Preobrajenska, Tamara Karsavina, Lydia Kyasht, Nadine Nicolaeva-Legat, Stanislas Idzikovski and Rachel Cameron.
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From 1956 to 1961, Maina Gielgud trained in Cannes, Monte Carlo and Paris with such artists as Julie Sedova, Lubov Egorova, Victor Gsovski, Mischa Reznikov, Paul Goube, Rosella Hightower and Marika Besobrasova.
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Maina Gielgud then joined the London Festival Ballet until 1976.
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Maina Gielgud became a principal artist with the Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet until 1978.
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Maina Gielgud joined London Festival Ballet as a Principal Artist in 1972.
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Maina Gielgud continued to dance until 1981 when she retired from dancing and became Rehearsal Director of London City Ballet.
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Maina Gielgud has been the recipient of an Advance Australia award.
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From 1997 to 1999 Maina Gielgud was Artistic Director of The Royal Danish Ballet, where she brought many new works to the company.
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Since 1999, Maina Gielgud has been freelance and has taught, coached and staged works for several different companies including English National Ballet, Bejart Ballet Lausanne, Tokyo Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Ballet du Rhin.
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In 2003, Maina Gielgud was hired by Stanton Welch, an artistic director of Houston Ballet.
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Maina Gielgud later told the Houston Chronicle that she and Welch had disagreements over her position.
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In 2012, Maina Gielgud staged Rudolf Nureyev's Don Quixote for Boston Ballet, and the same year did Maurice Bejart's Song of a Wayfarer for the National Ballet of Canada.
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In 2019, Maina Gielgud staged a ballet Sleeping Beauty, Aurora's Wedding which was produced by the Ballet Academy East.