Frederic Franklin

The Spirit of Creation

There is no art form as physically demanding as dance. By the time mid-30s are reached, many dancers have accumulated so many pulled muscles, bone and joint problems and other physical ailments that they retire. Frederic Franklin, born in Liverpool, England in 1914, now 93 years old, is an inspiration as he continues to pass on to another generation of dancers the choreography he learned with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Balanchine and other masters of 20^th century dance.

Franklin made his professional debut in 1931 at Casino de Paris with the Jackson Boys, a back-up group for Josephine Baker. In 1935, he got his big break when he joined the Markova-Dolin Ballet Company. In 1937, Léonide Massine invited Franklin to join his newly formed Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as a principal dancer. His first role was the Spirit of Creation in Seventh Symphony.

Franklin went on to stardom and a legendary partnership with the company’s prima ballerina, Alexandra Danilova. Over his career, Franklin has additionally partnered Alicia Markova, Tamara Toumanova, Moira Shearer, Maria Tallchief, Alicia Alonzo, among other great ballerinas. He collaborated with choreographers who invented ballet in the mid-twentieth century – Massine, George Balanchine, Bronislava Nijinska, and Frederick Ashton, amongst others.

Among the many roles Franklin created, at least three are still performed today: the Baron in Gaîté Parisienne; the Champion Roper in Rodeo; and the Poet in La Sonnambula.

At George Balanchine’s insistence, Franklin became the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo’s ballet master and rehearsal director while still actively performing. He later directed the National Ballet (1962–1975) and has traveled the world to stage and coach ballets. His production Creole Giselle for the Dance Theatre of Harlem earned London’s Laurence Olivier Award. 

As a consultant to the George Balanchine Foundation, Franklin has revived numerous pieces of early Balanchine choreography for its Archive of Lost Choreography and Interpreters Archive. He has also been interviewed extensively about his memories of the Ballets Russe era by the Foundation and the Dance Division at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts jointly. 

In 2002, for Cincinnati Ballet, Franklin revived an excerpt from Massine’s Seventh Symphony, assisted by the company’s principal ballet mistress, Johanna Bernstein. In 2004, Ms. Bernstein revived the two remaining extant movements from Seventh Symphony for the company, with Mr. Franklin serving as consultant.

Franklin continues to perform in such roles as Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliet, the Old Tutor in Kevin McKenzie’s Swan Lake, and as Madge the Witch in La Sylphide with the American Ballet Theatre and other companies worldwide.

In 2004, Mr. Franklin was honored as a Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

In May 2007, Franklin was offered an honorary doctorate at Juilliard.

A marvel with a single dedication to his art that keeps him forever young, Franklin is premier danseur of Do Not Go Gently.

*Thank you to Janet Light for biographical information.*

For more information

Book
Frederic Franklin: A Biography of the Ballet Star by Leslie Norton with Frederic Franklin (ISBN: 978-0-7864-3051-2)

The George Balanchine Foundation Video Archives – the Archive of Lost Choreography and the Interpreters Archive

Archival Dance Clips, including Gaîté Parisienne by Victor Jessen with Alexandra Danilova and Frederic Franklin Dance Film Archive at Ohio State University

Cincinnati Ballet