dances years_active birth_place birth_date former_groups article_title name occupation
'' '' pastorale '' , '' cafe des sports '' , facade '' saudades '' '' , '' les rendezvous '' , 1947 -- 1990 edinburgh 01 may 1930 sadler ballet 's wells theatre ballet , sadler 's wells maureen bruce
 maureen bruce principal dancer
maureen bruce

maureen bruce was a principal dancer with the sadler 's wells theatre ballet and the sadler 's wells ballet .
born in edinburgh on 1 may 1930 , she trained with marjorie middleton in edinburgh , joined the wells school in september 1947 and graduated to the sadler 's wells theatre ballet in december of the same year .
maureen bruce 's first solo part was in the ballet tritsch-tratsch in which reviewers described her ` bubbling personality ' that was again revealed in frederick ashton 's ballets `` facade '' and `` les rendezvous '' .
recognised as a `` classical dancer of style '' her versatility was confirmed in two of her creations : amour in `` pastorale '' and hedonist in `` cafe des sports '' .
bruce 's first major creation was the role of the princess in alfred rodrigues ' ballet `` saudades '' -lrb- nostalgia -rrb- which was premiered at the royal court in liverpool on 13 october 1955 .
bruce was transferred to the sadler 's wells ballet in 1956 .
maureen bruce achieved a wider audience as one of the dancers in margaret dale 's groundbreaking bbc television series for children `` steps into ballet '' in 1954 .
bruce married another principal dancer of the sadler 's wells theatre ballet , donald britton , in 1952 .
after leaving the sadler 's wells company in 1958 maureen bruce taught ballet in edinburgh , fife and the scottish borders before moving to devon in 1963 where she continued to teach until 1990 .
