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Donald
Britton was born in London in 1929. He originally started as a tap dancer "wandering into ballet" at the age of six. His family were living over a ballet school and young Donald became fascinated with the activities downstairs. He studied ballet with the Maddock School in London and then with
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Lilian Godwin in
Bristol before joining the Sadler's Wells Ballet School during the second world war. In 1945 at the age of sixteen he was chosen as one of the founding members of the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet. During his early years there he achieved critical acclaim for his performances in
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Following a period of military service he rejoined the Sadler's Wells
Theatre Ballet as a principal dancer in 1951. Known for his masculine, aggressive style, a number of leading solo parts were created for Britton by the leading choreographers of their time -
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Following a serious illness as a result of which he returned to
England, Donald Britton died in hospital in Birmingham on 31 May 1983.
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companies, the Sadler's Wells
Theatre Ballet and the Sadler's Wells Ballet from 1945 to 1965.
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Fisher, Hugh (1956) The Sadler's Wells
Theatre Ballet, London: Adam and Charles Black
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Wood, Roger (1952) The
Theatre Ballet of Sadler's Wells, London: Phoenix House
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Percival, John, 'Ballet's Tough Guy', Accent on the Male: 6 Donald
Britton,
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Wilson, GBL (1957) A Dictionary of Ballet, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books
98:(17 August 1929 – 31 May 1983) was a principal dancer with the two
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Britton left the Royal Ballet in 1965 and taught at the
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201:Obituary in 'The Times' Newspaper, 1 June 1983
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230:Principal dancers of The Royal Ballet
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