BOSTON BALLET CHOOSES GIELGUD AS DIRECTOR.

It's official: Maina Gielgud, former director of the Australian Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet, is taking over the reins at Boston Ballet on July 1, 2001. Under the title of artistic director-designate, she will spend twenty-seven weeks with the Boston Ballet before then, watching the dancers, traveling in search of repertoire and planning the coming seasons. Anna-Marie Holmes remains as director through June 2001.

According to Jamie Wilson, the British-born chairman of the search committee and Boston Ballet trustee, the short list was whittled down from more than 400 applicants. The announcement was made in September at the Boston Ballet studios. Others on the short list included Martin Fredmann, director of the Colorado Ballet, and European-based ballet masters Robert Denvers, Jonas Kage and Jean-Christophe Maillot. "We took as our starting point the company's very ambitious five-year plan. We want to become one of the five best companies in the world," Wilson said.

Rumors had been circulating since mid-summer that Gielgud (niece of the late British actor John Gielgud) would succeed Holmes, who has been with the company in various capacities for many years and has been artistic director for the past three and a half years.

Gielgud enjoyed a successful fourteen-year tenure at the Australian Ballet, but her last appointment, as director of the Royal Danish Ballet, ended after the second year of a three-year contract. She was bom in London in 1945 and studied ballet with many of the legendary teachers who left Russia after the Russian Revolution. She also trained with American ballerina Rosella Hightower. Gielgud began her performing career with Roland Petit's Ballets de Paris in 1962. She danced with Maurice Bejart's Ballet of the Twentieth Century from 1967 to 1971, the London Festival Ballet from 1972 to 1975 and as a frequent guest artist at Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet in London. She danced leading roles in many of the classical ballets, including Giselle, Coppdlia, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. While she was with Bejart, he created several roles in new works for her, including the goddess in Bhakti.

After serving as rehearsal director of the London City Ballet from 1981 to 1982, she was appointed to the directorship of the Australian Ballet. Widely considered a prodigious worker, she staged many productions of the classics during her fourteen years with the Australian Ballet. British-born Christopher Wheeldon, guest choreographer at the Boston Ballet and a former member of the New York City Ballet and The Royal Ballet of England, said, "I know many dancers at the Australian Ballet who were very happy with her."

Some people in ballet circles have questioned how Gielgud, who comes from a tradition of state-supported ballet companies with opera houses at their disposal and dancers on guaranteed twelve-month salaries, will fare in the American system, with its constant fundraising and the need to meet attendance goals. On the other hand, it has been noted that she is a highly trained veteran with international experience that could be useful in Boston.

Gielgud said that she intends to spend the next few months "getting to know the dancers by watching classes, rehearsals and the performances." She also talked about planning the 2001-2002 season. On her list of possible choreographers for Boston are two Australians, Stanton Welch and Stephen Baynes, such well-known European dancemakers as Jiri Kylian, Nacho Duato, Matts Ek and Bejart; and several Americans, including Twyla Tharp and Mark Morris.