Ballerina Moira Shearer of ‘Red Shoes’ fame

LONDON – Moira Shearer, a British ballerina who rose to worldwide prominence with the lead role in the 1948 film ‘The Red Shoes’, has died.

She was 80. Shearer, born in Dunfermline, Scotland, became principal dancer at London’s Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet in 1942 and won her first major role in 1946, playing the lead in ‘Sleeping Beauty’ at the Royal Opera House.But it was as the young ballerina Victoria Page in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s film ‘The Red Shoes’ that the dancer caught the world’s attention.”She was full of spirit and also she was very beautiful.She moved wonderfully gracefully as you would expect of a ballet dancer,” Kennedy told reporters.The film, loosely based on a Hans Christian Andersen story, is celebrated for offering an intimate view of backstage life in the world of ballet.Shearer’s character becomes a great star but is torn between her love for a young composer and her career, which is guided by a jealous impresario.The film contained a complete ballet danced by Shearer and others.It was a huge international hit and was nominated for the Oscar for best picture; it won Oscars for best art direction and best music.In 2000, the size-three pair of satin pointe shoes she wore in the film sold for US$24 985 (about N$150 000) at an auction in London.Though Shearer took roles in later films – including Pressburger’s ‘The Tales of Hoffmann’ in 1951 and Powell’s 1960 thriller, ‘Peeping Tom’ – Shearer remained ambivalent toward the medium, preferring to focus on dance.”The ballet was the thing to which she was really committed.The film industry was a bit of a distraction,” her husband, journalist and broadcaster Ludovic Kennedy, said.”She was quite otherworldly.She didn’t have a commitment, if you look, in herself to making films, but she had a total commitment to ballet.”Alistair Spalding, artistic director of Sadler’s Wells, said the company – from which Shearer retired in 1953 – was saddened by news of her death.”She was deeply connected with the history of Sadler’s Wells.She started her career here and danced and toured with the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet,” he said.”Moira had also become such an icon of the ballet world.”In 1987, more than 30 years after her official retirement from ballet – “centuries later” as she wrote – Shearer was persuaded to return to the stage.She took the role of Elizabeth Lowry, the ailing mother of the British artist LS Lowry in a ballet commissioned to celebrate the centenary of his birth.Shearer, formally known as Lady Kennedy after her husband was knighted, had served on the board of the Arts Council of Great Britain, the national arts funding body, and as a member of the British Broadcasting Corp’s general council, an advisory committee.The British Broadcasting Corp paid tribute to Shearer, who had later worked as a writer and broadcaster.”The BBC is very saddened to hear of the passing of Moira Shearer.She was such a distinguished cultural figure and our thoughts are with Ludovic and his family,” said a spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity, in line with corporation policy.- Nampa-APShearer, born in Dunfermline, Scotland, became principal dancer at London’s Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet in 1942 and won her first major role in 1946, playing the lead in ‘Sleeping Beauty’ at the Royal Opera House.But it was as the young ballerina Victoria Page in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s film ‘The Red Shoes’ that the dancer caught the world’s attention.”She was full of spirit and also she was very beautiful.She moved wonderfully gracefully as you would expect of a ballet dancer,” Kennedy told reporters.The film, loosely based on a Hans Christian Andersen story, is celebrated for offering an intimate view of backstage life in the world of ballet.Shearer’s character becomes a great star but is torn between her love for a young composer and her career, which is guided by a jealous impresario.The film contained a complete ballet danced by Shearer and others.It was a huge international hit and was nominated for the Oscar for best picture; it won Oscars for best art direction and best music.In 2000, the size-three pair of satin pointe shoes she wore in the film sold for US$24 985 (about N$150 000) at an auction in London.Though Shearer took roles in later films – including Pressburger’s ‘The Tales of Hoffmann’ in 1951 and Powell’s 1960 thriller, ‘Peeping Tom’ – Shearer remained ambivalent toward the medium, preferring to focus on dance.”The ballet was the thing to which she was really committed.The film industry was a bit of a distraction,” her husband, journalist and broadcaster Ludovic Kennedy, said.”She was quite otherworldly.She didn’t have a commitment, if you look, in herself to making films, but she had a total commitment to ballet.”Alistair Spalding, artistic director of Sadler’s Wells, said the company – from which Shearer retired in 1953 – was saddened by news of her death.”She was deeply connected with the history of Sadler’s Wells.She started her career here and danced and toured with the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet,” he said.”Moira had also become such an icon of the ballet world.”In 1987, more than 30 years after her official retirement from ballet – “centuries later” as she wrote – Shearer was persuaded to return to the stage.She took the role of Elizabeth Lowry, the ailing mother of the British artist LS Lowry in a ballet commissioned to celebrate the centenary of his birth.Shearer, formally known as Lady Kennedy after her husband was knighted, had served on the board of the Arts Council of Great Britain, the national arts funding body, and as a member of the British Broadcasting Corp’s general council, an advisory committee.The British Broadcasting Corp paid tribute to Shearer, who had later worked as a writer and broadcaster.”The BBC is very saddened to hear of the passing of Moira Shearer.She was such a distinguished cultural figure and our thoughts are with Ludovic and his family,” said a spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity, in line with corporation policy.- Nampa-AP