Ballet in the Blitz

More about the book

The memoirs of Mona Inglesby (1918-2006), who founded the International Ballet company in 1940 when she was a young dancer of 22. From its first British tour in 1941 to its closure in 1953, the company took classical ballet to millions in the UK and abroad, often performing to vast audiences in unusual venues. Inglesby's main collaborator and the company's ballet master, was Nicholas Sergueeff [Sergeyev], who held notebooks containing Stepanov notations of the great Russian classics. Preserved by Mona after his death in 1951, these notebooks have now been lodged in the Harvard University Library Theatre Collection. Dancers, teachers and choreographers who worked for the company included Errol Addison, Algeranoff, Maurice Bejart, Henry Danton, Celia Franca, Harry Haythorne, Leo Kersley, Herida May, Milorad Miskovitch, Paul Petroff, Moira Shearer, Jack Spurgeon, Harold Turner, and Vera Volkova. Mona's memoirs were edited and expanded for publication by Kay Hunter