FREDERICK FRANKLIN

Frederick Franklin is without any doubt one of the greatest dance personalities of all time, with more than 85 years of career in the ballet world. He started in 1931 in Paris, in 2004 he was still dancing mime roles with the American Ballet Theater, and with 95 years he was still teaching ballet for many ballet companies and schools:

“Frederic Franklin CBE (13 June 1914 – 4 May 2013), sometimes also called "Freddie", was a British-American ballet dancer and director. Born in Liverpool, England, Frederic Franklin claimed that on seeing Peter Pan, his only thought was to go on the stage. He began his career in 1931 at the Casino de Paris with Josephine Baker. He co-founded the Slavenska-Franklin Ballet, was co-director of the Washington Ballet, and was co-founder and artistic director of the National Ballet of Washington, D.C. He continued to work with ballet companies including American Ballet Theatre, Chicago Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet.

Frederic Franklin and Alexandra Danilova created one of the legendary ballet partnerships of the twentieth century. Among the other ballerinas he partnered were Alicia Markova, Irina Baronova, Agnes de Mille, Ruthanna Boris, Yvette Chauviré, Moira Shearer, Rosella Hightower, Maria Tallchief, Tamara Toumanova and Alicia Alonso. He worked with such choreographers as Michel Fokine, Leonide Massine, Bronislava Nijinska, Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Agnes de Mille, Ruth Page and Valerie Bettis.

On 16 November 2004, he was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In his 90s, Franklin continued to perform with American Ballet Theater, appearing in mime roles such as the Friar in Romeo and Juliet, Madge in La Sylphide, and the Prince´s Tutor in Swan Lake.

Franklin was Director Emeritus of the Cincinnati Ballet. In 2011, Franklin was inducted into the National Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame.

Franklin succumbed to complications from pneumonia in New York City at the Weill Cornell Medical Center on May 4, 2013. He was 98.”

(Wikipedia, 2013)

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