Jean Bedells
Tuesday 8th November 2005
Friends House, Euston Road, London W.1

Members were delighted to welcome Miss Jean Bedells, our distinguished Honorary Member, to talk to us of her memories of her colleague in the Sadlers Wells Ballet, our late Honorary Member Miss Pamela May OBE. Michael Ludgate welcomed Miss Bedells and gave a brief summary of her career from her first lessons with her mother, Phyllis Bedells, the first English ballerina who was a founder of the Royal Academy of Dancing, her own dancing career with Sadlers Wells and her teaching and examining roles with the RAD, and the Phyllis Bedells Bursary. Miss Bedells continues to coach and examine young dancers and assist in the revival of ballets from the early days of Sadlers Wells.

Miss Bedells began by reminding members that 70 years ago today her mother gave her farewell performance and also she recalled that her mother, herself and her daughter were present at one of our functions some years ago. Jean Bedells first remembered Pamela, aged 15, as a star pupil at RAD, who was so highly thought of by Dame Adeline Genée that she was invited by her to join a group of English dancers who performed in Copenhagen.

When Jean joined Sadlers Wells just before World War II, she admired Pamela's purely classical line. Pamela was not a dancer limited to classical roles and Jean spoke about "Dante Sonata" and the wonderful solo created by Pamela in which she was unsurpassed. Pamela also danced in "Horoscope", "Checkmate" and "Les Sylphides", in all of which she gave superb performances. Jean regretted that "Horoscope" was never revived, though Pamela's "Invocation to the moon" has been notated and recorded. The Red Queen in "Checkmate" was created by Pamela at the ballet's premier in Paris in 1937, and in Jean's opinion, no one else has danced the role so effectively, though she also danced the Black Queen with success.

The next big event for Sadlers Wells Ballet was the 1939 production of "The Sleeping Princess" with Nadia Benois costumes. As the company was so small they had to recruit singers from the opera chorus for the mime roles of Carabosse and Catalabutte and the garland waltz was danced by students. A shortened version was presented at the Royal Opera House at a gala for the French President and Pamela May danced the Rose Fairy at this great event. The company then toured the provinces and when war was declared they moved to the Victoria Theatre in Burnley and then carried on touring the country and working very hard to a gruelling performance schedule. They did nine shows a week, including three on Saturday. Jean described what conditions were like for the dancers during the war and the frightening experience of being caught in the Baedeker air raid on Bath. Jean was too young to go on the trip to Holland in 1940, where the company was lucky to escape in time from the invading German army.
During the war years the company returned to London, at the New Theatre, and Jean remembered when Pamela was engaged and in spare moments sat on the floor sewing her trousseau between rehearsals and classes. Also at this time she had one of her greatest successes as Mlle Theodore in "The Prospect Before Us" by De Valois. Pamela danced all the classical repertoire and in "The Sleeping Princess" she had a bad fall at a performance, which Jean thinks was the beginning of her cartilage trouble. One of the hardships for dancers was the shortage of pointe shoes and Jean described how she inherited Pamela's pointe shoes when Pamela was off, and the methods the dancers used to prolong the life of their precious shoes.

In 1946 the company moved to Covent Garden with "The Sleeping Beauty" and Pamela danced the Blue Bird pas de deux on the first night and Aurora on the second. Then came "Symphonic Variations" which was rehearsed in secret and made an overwhelming effect when it had its premier on the opera house stage with Pamela, Margot Fonteyn, Moira Shearer, Michael Somes, Brian Shaw and Henry Danton as the original cast. Pamela continued to dance leading roles at Covent Garden until her retirement, when she then began to teach at the school.
Jean then spoke about Pamela's teaching career and the importance of her contribution to the Royal Ballet School and the necessary continuity in the training of the next generation of dancers. Pamela also worked closely with the RAD in many aspects of its development; in fact, Jean stated that Pamela's loyalty to the School and to the RAD knew no bounds. Pamela was awarded the Coronation Award of the RAD, which is the most important award the RAD can give, and Jean considers that not enough is known about this very prestigious award. Pamela also gave valuable assistance when Birmingham Royal Ballet revived "The Prospect Before Us" and "Dante Sonata". She coached the dancers in her roles and her memories helped David Bintley with the production. The revival of "Checkmate" was also discussed, with reminiscences from the audience.

This led on to a discussion between Jean and the audience on the constraints on dance teachers today with reference to litigation and "political correctness" and how the RAD is dealing with this, the importance of correct hand positions, epaulement in Ashton's ballets, injuries suffered by modern day dancers as compared with dancers of the past and the relevance of training, possible revivals of "lost" ballets, e.g. "The Haunted Ballroom", the anonymity of students in examinations and for the Phyllis Bedells Bursary (which must be spent on training), and many other interesting topics.

Members are very grateful to Miss Bedells for sharing her memories of Pamela May with us, who many consider to be the most purely classical dancer the Royal Ballet ever produced, and telling us what life was like for the hard working dancers of the Sadlers Wells Ballet in the difficult times during World War II. She was thanked by Michael Ludgate for a fascinating evening and presented with a gift on behalf of the members, and congratulated on her phenomenal memory.