Rowena Jackson

Rowena Othlie Jackson MBE (born 24 March 1926) is a New Zealand former prima ballerina.

Early life

Jackson was born in Invercargill, to William Ernest Jackson and Lilliane Jane, née Solomon. She attended Epsom Girls' Grammar School, in Auckland, and in 1941 won the first Royal Academy of Dancing Scholarship in New Zealand.[1]

Career

In 1946, Jackson joined the Sadler's Wells Ballet in London. She was notable for her role as Swanhilda in the ballet Coppélia, and danced with Robert Helpmann and her husband Philip Chatfield.

By February 1954, she had been promoted to prima ballerina at Sadler's Wells Ballet.[2]

She was renowned for her special gift for fast and brilliant turns. In 1940, before she left New Zealand, she set a world record when she performed 121 fouettés sur place.[3]

On 4 February 1958 she married the British dancer Philip Chatfield. They danced together in the Royal Ballet’s production of Giselle shortly after they married.[3]

Retirement

The couple retired from the Royal Ballet in 1959 and moved to New Zealand, where she became artistic director of the New Zealand Ballet Company.[1] Each of them served as director of the New Zealand Ballet School.[3]

They had a son and a daughter. They have lived in retirement on the Gold Coast in Queensland since 1993.[3]

Honours and awards

In the 1961 New Year Honours, Jackson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to ballet.[4]

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References
  1. "Jackson, Rowena Othlie, M.B.E". Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. 1966. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  2. "Dancer Rowena Jackson, new Prima Ballerina in the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company, in her dressing room at Covent Garden, London, February 25th 1954". Getty Images. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  3. Simonot, Suzanne (24 July 2017). "Former Royal Ballet dance stars perfect partners on and off the stage". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  4. "No. 42233". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1960. p. 8928.


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