Walter Gore


Walter Gore was a British ballet dancer, company director and choreographer.

Early life

Walter Gore was born in Waterside, East Ayrshire Scotland in 1910 into a theatrical family. From 1924, he studied acting at the Italia Conti Academy, and dance with Léonide Massine and with Marie Rambert.

Career

Gore was a dancer with Ballet Rambert from 1930 to 1935. He returned as a choreographer in 1938 with his first ballet Final Waltz.
In 1944, whilst on leave from Army duty in France, Gore created a ballet based on Benjamin Britten's Simple Symphony also entitled Simple Symphony for the Ballet Rambert. The work was largely created on Sally Gilmour and Margaret Scott.
He remained at Ballet Rambert until 1950 and then worked occasionally with the Ballets des Champs-Elysées and the Sadler's Wells Ballet. He founded his own company, The Walter Gore Ballet, in 1953.
He led the Frankfurt Ballet from 1957 to 1959, then became the founder and director of the London Ballet from 1961 to 1963. At that time he also became director of the recently founded Gulbenkian Ballet, Lisbon. He was also the founder and artistic director of the Australian Theatre Ballet, Melbourne.
He has to his credit more than 80 choreographies.

Personal life

He met his future wife Paula Hinton while both were dancers in Ballet Rambert.
Gore died on 16 April 1979 in Pamplona, Spain.