Donald MacLeary

Donald Whyte MacLeary (born 22 August 1937) is a retired British ballet dancer, a former principal dancer and a ballet master with the Royal Ballet, where he was a member of the company for 48 years.

Born in Glasgow, Donald MacLeary studied with Sheila Ross from 1950 to 1951 and at the Sadler's Wells Ballet School. He joined Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet in 1954. In 1955, he was promoted to soloist. In 1959, he became the Royal Ballet's youngest principal dancer, when Svetlana Beriosova requested that he become her regular partner. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2004 New Year Honours for services to dance.