Daphne Dale

Daphne Dale
Born(1932-07-18)July 18, 1932
Nairobi, Kenya
DiedJuly 9, 1982(1982-07-09) (aged 49)
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Other namesDaphne Dayle, Daphne Polajenko, Daphne Edmonds
Occupation(s)Ballet dancer, film actress, burlesque performer

Daphne Dale (18 July 1932 – 9 July 1982), sometimes seen as Daphné Dayle, was a British ballet dancer born in Kenya. She was a member of the London Festival Ballet, the Harkness Ballet, and the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas, and appeared in the Gene Kelly film Invitation to Dance (1956). She also starred in French films in the 1960s.

Early life

Dale was born on 18 July 1932 in Nairobi, Kenya,[1] the daughter of British parents Joseph Dale and Enid Button Dale. Initially trained as a dancer in Kenya, she moved to London at age 14,[2] to study under Grace Cone and Olive Ripman.[3]

Career

Dale and a number of other dancers from the Cone-Ripman school joined the newly formed Festival Ballet, founded by Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, in 1949.[2] Dale was with the Festival Ballet from 1951 to 1955.[4] She later joined the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas.[5] She was a member of the Harkness Ballet in the 1960s,[6][7] and later a teacher at the Geneva Opera Ballet.[8] She had a role in the "Ring around the Rosy" segment of the Gene Kelly film Invitation to the Dance (1956).[3]

On the London stage, Dale danced in productions of Beau Danube (1950 and 1951), Petrouchka (1950), Giselle (1950 and 1951), Where the Rainbow Ends (1950–1951), Harlequinade (1950–1951), Symphonic Impressions (1951), Swan Lake (1951), The Nutcracker (1951), Schéhérazade (1952), Prince Igor (1952), Concerto grosso en ballet (1952), Noir et planc (1958), Constantia (1958), and Le mal du siècle (1958).[9] She toured with the London Festival Ballet in the United States in 1954, dancing in Les Sylphides and Prince Igor.[10]

In the early 1970s, Dayle starred in Mon Paris Amour, a "titillating"[11] burlesque revue in Miami.[12][13] She was a horse trainer in her last eight years.[14]

Films

As Daphné Dayle, she appeared in several French-language films in the 1960s.[7]

Personal life

Dale married another Festival Ballet dancer, American-born Nicholas Polajenko, while they were appearing in Los Angeles in 1954.[15][16][17] She married again in 1971, in Florida, to William "Beau" Edmonds,[18] and petitioned for United States citizenship in 1975.[1] Daphne Dale and her second husband died in the 1982 crash of Pan Am Flight 759 in New Orleans, Louisiana; she was 49 years old.[14][19]

References

  1. ^ a b Some sources give 1931 as Dale's birth year. She consistently gave 1932 as the year on travel documents and on her application for United States citizenship in 1975; via Ancestry.
  2. ^ a b Martin, Francis (1953-08-12). "The Merry Widow Grills Steak at Midnight". Evening Standard. p. 9. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b Commire, Anne, ed. (2007). Dictionary of women worldwide: 25,000 women through the ages. Yorkin publications. Detroit: Gale. ISBN 978-0-7876-7585-1.
  4. ^ "Mr. Manchester's Diary: Ballet changes". Manchester Evening News. 1955-09-08. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Livingston, Lili Cockerille (1999-03-01). American Indian Ballerinas. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-8061-3134-4.
  6. ^ Saltzberg, Geraldine (1965-10-03). "Dance Company Hailed as First New Major Ballet in 2 Decades". Arizona Daily Star. p. 40. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b Roesch, Roberta (1964-11-06). "Love the Art If You're Dancer". The Record. p. 14. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Koegler, Horst (1977). The Concise Oxford dictionary of ballet. Internet Archive. London; New York : Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-311314-5.
  9. ^ Wearing, J. P. (2014-09-16). The London Stage 1950-1959: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. ISBN 978-0-8108-9308-5.
  10. ^ "London Ballet to Give Two Premieres Here". Star Tribune. 1954-11-14. p. 71. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
  11. ^ Huddy, John (1970-10-27). "'Paris Amour' is a Titillating Smash!". The Miami Herald. p. 36. Retrieved 2025-07-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Daphne Dayle Back in Show". The Miami News. 1970-11-12. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Huddy, John (1971-02-12). "The Flavor Lasts and Lasts". The Miami Herald. pp. 111, 120. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b Evans, Luther (1982-07-13). "Daphne Edmonds: Always Humane". The Miami Herald. p. 65. Retrieved 2025-07-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Braunsweg, Julian (1977). Ballet scandals. Internet Archive. London : Allen and Unwin. pp. 111, 162. ISBN 978-0-04-782002-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  16. ^ "Ballet Dancers to Take Time Out for Wedding". The Los Angeles Times. 1954-12-20. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Ballet Stars Seek Gown for Wedding". The Sacramento Union. 1954-12-12. p. 46. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Bohne, Grace Wing (1974-11-20). "Person to Person". The Miami Herald. p. 36. Retrieved 2025-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "The Tragedy of Flight 759". The Miami News. 1982-07-12. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-07-03 – via Newspapers.com.
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