Doreen Wells and Donald MacLeary - 'Swan Lake' @ The Pyramids in Egypt (1969)

I've never seen film of Royal Ballet principal Doreen Wells.

I did in fact see her dance once as a kid - she was returning to the stage after an absence to have a baby (I think) to do in 'Giselle' with David Wall.

I have absolutely no recollection whatsoever of this performance - I only remember her autographing a photograph by Keith Money of her rehearsing 'Giselle' with David Wall! Which I've included as the first image in the video, fronting some other photographs of them by him in the same work.

So I was very interested to finally get a real sense of her as a dancer when I came across this newsreel footage of snippets of her performing 'Swan Lake' with Donald MacLeary with the Royal Ballet Touring Company ... at the pyramids at Giza in Egypt.

There are nice close-ups at the beginning of Doreen Wells doing a barre and then putting on make-up before the ballet but curiously enough she makes no great impact on me as a dancer - her technique seems somewhat limited and this is not counter-balanced by other things, such as a powerful interpretive expressiveness. But maybe this is due to the role and the circumstances of the performance.

Enjoy!

Видео Doreen Wells and Donald MacLeary - 'Swan Lake' @ The Pyramids in Egypt (1969) канала John Hall