Biography
Mandy-Jayne Richardson was born in London, England
and studied dance at The Royal Ballet School. Following graduation, she joined
Sadler’s Wells Ballet. Over the following six years, her artistry and striking
stage presence enhanced such diverse ballets in the company’s repertoire as Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Elite Syncopations,
Brouillards and Five Tangos. Critical
and audience acclaim alike led to her twice being voted one of England’s
most interesting young performers by the readers of Dance and Dancers.
In 1986, Ms. Richardson joined the Dutch National Ballet
where, under the artistic directorship of Rudi van Dantzig, she broadened her
artistic reach and repertoire to include such roles as the pas de deux in Autumn Haze, the Fourth Song in Four Last
Songs, Euridice in Toer van Schayk’s Orpheus,
Summer in Sir Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella
and the second pas de deux in George Balanchine’s Stravinsky Violin Concerto. In 1988, Ms. Richardson joined New York
City Ballet where, in addition to dancing in numerous Balanchine works, she
performed leading roles in Peter Martins’ Songs
of the Auvergne, Jerome Robbins’ Fancy
Free and John Taras’ Souvenir de
Florence.
In 1991, Ms. Richardson retired from dancing and in 1999
joined the artistic staff of The National Ballet of Canada. In 2005, she was
appointed Senior Ballet Mistress with the company. She has set numerous
ballets, including James Kudelka’s Cinderella,
for Boston Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.