Although his name might never have appeared at the top of the posters, David Drew, who has died aged 77, was the kind of dancer who plays an important part in a ballet company. Although, as he cheerfully admitted, he was never a classical stylist, he found his vocation as a character dancer playing “fathers”, “dukes” and assorted villains. His long association with the Royal Ballet, 56 years in all, provided a strong sense of history and continuity.
He taught at the Royal Ballet School, assisted on the choreographers’ course and was for many years the dancers’ union representative. He created several ballets, although none has endured, and he himself described at least one of them as “truly awful”. Affable and approachable, concerned for the well-being of his colleagues, he was reprimanded by management when he dared to speak publicly about problems in the company under the brief and unhappy directorship of Ross Stretton in 2001-02.
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