bbodance (formerly British Ballet Organisation) is very sad to announce the passing of its former director, renowned ballet dancer and teacher, Anne Heaton.
Heaton passed away last Friday (May 1) at the age of 89. Together with her husband, John Field, she developed the existing bbodance classical ballet syllabus. As a result of their stewardship, bbodance syllabi and examinations were recognised by the Council for Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre (CDMT) in the UK.
Heaton was a principal dancer with Sadler's Wells Ballet between 1948 and 1959. She excelled in Romantic ballets such as Giselle and created roles for Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan. She retired from the stage due to injury and went on to teach at the Arts Educational School in London. John Field, CBE, was a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet and one of the founders of Birmingham Royal Ballet. He later became director of La Scala in Milan (1971-4).
Heaton's loss is especially poignant for bbodance, as it comes so close to the organisation's 90th anniversary and the loss of former CEO and artistic director, John Travis, earlier this spring.
The bbodance classical ballet syllabi have been carefully adapted to the digital medium in recent years; every care was taken to preserve Anne and John's original work.