Alfreda Thorogood

Alfreda Thorogood (born 17 August 1942) is an English retired ballet dancer and teacher. She joined the touring company of the The Royal Ballet in 1960 and danced on tour until she was promoted to a soloist in 1965, then became principal dancer in 1968 and resident dancer in 1970. Thorogood left The Royal Ballet in 1980. She taught at the Bush Davies School of Theatre Arts, was an artistic adviser to the Royal Academy of Dance, artistic director of dance at Elmhurst Ballet School and was governor of the English National Ballet School.

Early life Thorogood was born in Lambeth, London, England on 17 August 1942. She is the daughter of Alfreda and Edward Thorogood, and had a sister Pat, who was also a ballet dancer. Thorogood was educated at Lady Eden School and then at the Junior and Senior Royal Ballet School, training under Margot Fonteyn, Volkova Goncharov and Nancy Robinson. Thorogood was promoted to the role of a soloist in August 1965, and was in The Rake's Progress, in Antony Tudor's Knight Errant in 1968, Caluey's Symphonie pastorale, Frederick Ashton's The Creatures of Promethus, She became principal dancer in 1968 and was made resident dancer in 1970, and the Jerome Robbins ballet In the Night. In February 1975, she left The Royal Ballet and stopped her career in dancing to look after her family. Thorogood was a guest on Nana Mouskouri's second BBC2 show in January 1976. She returned to dance and performed as the leading female role in Glen Tetley's ballet Voluntaries in 1977. Thorogood went on to dance in the Moving Picture Mime Show in February 1978, and in Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird in 1979. She was partnered with such dancers as David Wall, Rudolf Nureyev, Anthony Dowell, Wayne Eagling and Stephen Jefferies, Donald MacLeary and Christopher Gable throughout her career, There were two children of the marriage; Wall died in 2013.