Penelope Spencer

Penelope Spencer (30 December 1901–3 October 1993) was an English dancer who is remembered for her modern approach to free-style dancing and choreography.

Early life Born in the London district of Battersea, she was the daughter of geologist Leonard James Spencer and of Edith Mary Close, a schoolteacher. From the age of 11, she was trained in theatre and ballet at the Italia Conti Academy where she studied under the pioneering modern dancer Margaret Morris.

Career In 1921, on Morris's recommendation, she was engaged by Rutland Boughton to stage dances and choruses for the Glastonbury Festival, some of which he incorporated in his opera The Immortal Hour. Her work included dances for the first performance of Vaughan Williams' opera, Hugh the Drover.

In 1939, she was one of the first to dance on television when broadcasting began in 1939. After the war, she arranged dances for two of John Blow's productions, Venus and Adonis. In the late 1960s, she and her husband moved to London where they both provided assistance to the Royal Academy of Dance. After being incapacitated for several years as the result of a dancing injury, Penelope Spencer died of pneumonia on 3 October 1993. Her son, R. J. Barman, commented that she "brought an innovative vision to English dance and choreography in the 1920s."