OBE

Born

17 February 1940
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia

Occupation

Dancer and Teacher

Summary

Marilyn Jones has been described as 'the greatest classical dancer Australia has produced'. She studied at the London Royal Ballet School and danced with the Royal Ballet from 1957-1958 before joining the Australian Ballet on its formation in 1962. In 1963 she married fellow principal dancer Garth Welch and they had two sons, Stanton and Damien, who also became dancers. She danced with the Australian Ballet until 1978, when she took up the position of artistic director of the Company from 1979 until 1982. In 1991 she founded the Australian Institute of Classical Dance and became its artistic director. Other appointments have included director of the National Theatre Youth Ballet from 1996-1998 and director of the National Theatre Ballet School, Melbourne, from 1995-1998. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 1 January 1972 for her services to Australian ballet.

Sources used to compile this entry: Great Australian women of the 20th century, Nmt 2843; National Library of Australia; Herd, Margaret (ed.), Who's who in Australia 2001, 37 edn, Information Australia Group Pty Ltd, Melbourne, 2000, 1920 pp. p. 967..