Grey, Beryl (1927-2022), a British ballet dancer, was prima ballerina of the Sadler’s Wells Ballet from 1942 until 1957. She left the company in that year to become a free-lance dancer. In 1957, she became the first Western ballerina to dance with the Soviet Bolshoi Ballet. In 1964, she became the first Western ballerina to dance with a Chinese ballet company. Grey danced in her first full-length ballet, Swan Lake, on her 15th birthday. She danced the leading role in many ballets, including Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, and Sylvia. She won praise for her performance of such roles as the Red Queen in Checkmate.
Grey was born on June 11, 1927, in London. Her real name was Beryl Groom. After retiring in the mid-1960’s, Grey served as artistic director of the London Festival ballet from 1968 to 1979. She also staged ballets for the Royal Swedish Ballet and the West Australian Ballet. She became a governor of the Royal Ballet in 1993. Grey was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1988. She wrote two autobiographies, Red Curtain Up (1958) and Through the Bamboo Curtain (1965). Grey died on Dec. 10, 2022.
