Jayne Regan Pink

{{Infobox person

| name = Jayne Regan Pink

| image = Jayne_Regan_Pink_2.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Regan Pink in 2023

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1968|03|04|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Newham, London, England

| occupation = Dancer, choreographer, repetiteur

| years_active = 1986–present

| spouse = {{marriage|Michael Pink|1998|}}

}}

Jayne Regan Pink (born 4 March 1968{{cite report |title=England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007 |volume=5e |publisher=General Register Office |publication-place=United Kingdom |page=1123}}) is a British dancer, choreographer, repetiteur, dialect coach and artistic associate. She studied at the Royal Ballet School and spent much of her professional career as a principal dancer with Northern Ballet Theatre. She created leading roles in most of the company's repertoire between 1986 and 1998 alongside collaborators including director Christopher Gable, director-choreographer Michael Pink, composer Philip Feeney and designer Lez Brotherston. She has been referred to as "one of the jewels in the crown of English dance"{{cite magazine |last=Fowler |first=Jim |date=1 October 1999 |title= Northern Ballet Theatre 'A Simple Man'|url=http://www.ballet.co.uk/magazines/yr_99/oct99/jf_rev_nbt_0999.htm |url-status=dead |magazine=Ballet.co Magazine |publisher=Ballet.co |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203192039/http://www.ballet.co.uk/magazines/yr_99/oct99/jf_rev_nbt_0999.htm |archive-date=3 December 2008 |access-date=20 December 2022}} and "one of the finest dramatic dancers of today, ranking alongside Lynn Seymour, Marcia Haydee, Anna Laguna and Elaine McDonald."{{cite book |last1=Percival |first1=John |last2=West |first2=Geoffrey |last3=Ferguson |first3=Stephanie |title=Northern Ballet Theatre 1987–1997 A Celebration |date=1997 |publisher=Northern Ballet Theatre Ltd. |location=Spen Lane, Leeds |isbn=0953169006}} Since retiring from dance, she has moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin{{cite report |title=Voter Registration Lists, Public Record Filings, Historical Residential Records, and Other Household Database Listings}} with her husband, Artistic Director of the Milwaukee Ballet Michael Pink.{{cite report |title=England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916–2005 |volume=661 |publisher=General Register Office |publication-place=United Kingdom |page=724}} She has served as a choreographer, movement director, dialect coach and repetiteur in Milwaukee and internationally. She currently serves as Artistic Associate with Renaissance Theaterworks.{{cite web |title=Our Staff |url=https://www.r-t-w.com/about/staff/ |website=Renaissance Theaterworks |access-date=22 March 2023}}

Early life

Jayne Regan was born in Newham, London, England in 1968 to Colin Regan and Marjorie Regan (née Gibbs). She was the second of three children.{{cite report |title=England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007 |volume=33 |publisher=General Register Office |publication-place=United Kingdom |page=362}}{{cite report |title=England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007 |volume=4a |publisher=General Register Office |publication-place=United Kingdom |page=968}} Growing up, she attended a Catholic school.

Career

=Training=

Regan Pink was six years old when she began her training with Francesca Highfield. Later, she trained with Sulamith Messerer and Richard Glasstone, under whose tutelage she became a scholar in the Cecchetti method. During this time, Regan Pink also attended open classes with Anita Young and Patricia Linton, both formerly of The Royal Ballet.{{cite news |last1=Rosenthal |first1=Daniel |title=My Best Teacher;Interview;Jayne Regan |url=https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/my-best-teacherinterviewjayne-regan |access-date=4 January 2023 |work=Tes Magazine |publisher=Tes |date=19 March 1999}}

At age 15, Regan Pink won the Cyril W. Beaumont scholarship to attend the Royal Ballet School. There, she was instructed by Laura Connor.

=Northern Ballet Theatre=

At age 17, Regan Pink auditioned for Northern Ballet Theatre and joined the company's corps de ballet. At the time of her joining, Northern Ballet Theatre was under the directorship of Robert de Warren. In 1987, she danced in NBT's production of A Simple Man, a ballet about the Life of the painter L.S. Lowry, directed and choreographed by Gillian Lynne. It was filmed by Granada Television; the film was nominated for two BAFTA Awards and won one.{{cite web |title=Huw Wheldon Award For The Best Arts Programme in 1988 |url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1988/television/huw-wheldon-award-for-the-best-arts-programme |website=BAFTA |access-date=8 March 2023}} The ballet and film featured the actor dancer Christopher Gable, who went on to become the artistic director of the Northern Ballet Theatre, changing the course of Regan Pink's career. Later that year, Gable cast her in her first featured role as the Pupil in Fleming Flindt's one-act ballet La leçon, based on the Eugene Ionesco story.

Regan Pink's performance in La leçon led to her promotion to principal dancer. John Percival says Regan Pink was Gable's "supreme muse throughout this period ... It was Gable’s good fortune to find the newly-recruited Regan when he first arrived, but it has been his skill to recognize and develop her unique qualities so that today her talents have become synonymous with the high calibre of the work that the company now produces."

As a principal dancer under Gable, Regan Pink created the roles of Giselle in Giselle (1990),{{cite news |last=Schmidt |first=Elaine |date=20 March 2015 |title=Jayne Pink coaches Milwaukee Ballet dancers on 'Giselle' role |url=https://archive.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/jayne-pink-coaches-milwaukee-ballet-dancers-on-giselle-role-b99464688z1-297026531.html/ |work=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |location=Milwaukee, WI |access-date=4 January 2023}} Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (1991),{{cite news |last1=Harpe |first1=Bill |title=Romeo and Juliet |work=The Guardian |date=14 February 1991}}{{cite news |last1=Percival |first1=John |title=Romeo and Juliet |work=The Times |date=14 February 1991}} Odette in Swan Lake (1992),{{cite news |last1=Highfield |first1=John |title=Swan Lake |work=Sheffield Star |date=22 April 1998}} Belle in A Christmas Carol (1992),{{cite AV media |people=Kerridge, Jeremy et al. directors. |date=1993 |title=A Christmas carol |type=Videotape}} Cinderella in Cinderella (1993),{{cite web |title=Cinderella (1993) |url=http://philipfeeney.com/cinderella |website=Philip Feeny |access-date=4 January 2023}} Mina Harker in Dracula (1996) and Fleur de Lys in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1998).{{cite web |title=The Hunchback of NotreDame (1998) |url=http://philipfeeney.com/the-hunchback-of-notredame |website=Philip Feeny |access-date=4 January 2023}}

File:Regan_Walker_Cinderella.jpg

During this period, considered by some to be a seminal period in dance drama in the United Kingdom, Regan Pink collaborated on more than a dozen productions with Christopher Gable, composer Philip Feeney, designer Lez Brotherston and choreographer and NBT associate artistic director Michael Pink. Gable, Feeney, Brotherston and Pink had first collaborated in 1989 on Strange Meeting, a one act ballet based on the poems of Wilfred Owen, after being introduced by Northern Ballet chairman Jeremy Fry. Regan Pink collaborated with Michael Pink specifically on Swan Lake, Giselle, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Dracula.{{cite web |title=Our History |url=https://northernballet.com/our-history |website=Northern Ballet |access-date=4 January 2023}}

In Romeo and Juliet, she originally danced opposite William Walker as Romeo; their combined performance was called "spellbinding"{{cite news |last1=F |first1=S |title=Bradford Alhambra: Romeo and Juliet. |work=Yorkshire Post |date=21 February 1991}} and "exemplary both in dancing and in every dramatic nuance."{{cite news |last1=Dougill |first1=David |title=Production scores on pointes |work=Sunday Times |date=25 February 1991}} Her performance as Juliet received some of the most substantial praise of her career, with reviewers calling her "lithe and spirited,"{{cite news |last1=Sorley Walker |first1=Katherine |title=Hot blooded passions of youth |work=Daily Telegraph |date=15 February 1991}} "touchingly vulnerable,"{{cite news |last1=Bowen |first1=Christopher |title=Stepping in the right direction |work=The Scotsman |date=21 February 1991}} and "the jewel of the production."{{cite news |last1=Powell |first1=Alan |title=Northern Ballet, The Lyceum |work=Sheffield Telegraph |date=3 January 1991}} Others stated that "her technique is impeccable and her characterisation develops to such unbearable intensity as to make the role her own."{{cite news |last1=Jackson |first1=Piers |title=Romeo and Juliet |work=Halifax Evening Courier |date=20 February 1991}} This production of Romeo and Juliet was filmed at the Civic Theatre in Halifax, England, and aired by the BBC on Christmas Day. The film was nominated for a BAFTA Award.

Regan Pink originally danced the title role in Giselle opposite Denis Malinkine; The Sunday Times stated the duo gave "splendidly strong, emotionally subtle performances in the lead roles."{{cite news |last1=Dougill |first1=David |title=Giselle on a war footing |work=Sunday Times |date=5 October 1997}} After her performance in Swan Lake, the Sheffield Star remarked, "this has always been Jayne Regan's show – when you tire of this performance, it's time to cancel your subscription to the ballet."

=Retirement from dancing=

After Gable's early death in 1998, Regan Pink mostly retired from dancing. In 2000, she appeared in the West End production of Gillian Lynne's pantomime Dick Whittington.{{cite magazine |author= |title=Program - "A Christmas Carol" 2017 |magazine=Footlights |location=Milwaukee, WI |publisher=Marcus Promotions, Inc.}}

Between 1998 and 2002, Regan Pink served as repetiteur and assistant, working with her husband on productions with the Boston Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet and Colorado Ballet.

In 2002, she moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her husband Michael when he assumed the position of artistic director of the Milwaukee Ballet. Since her arrival in Milwaukee, she has served as a coach for the Milwaukee Ballet{{cite AV media |people=North, Bonnie (author) |date=26 March 2015 |title=Milwaukee Ballet Reimagines "Giselle" |type=Radio broadcast |url=https://www.wuwm.com/podcast/lake-effect-segments/2015-03-26/milwaukee-ballet-reimagines-giselle |access-date=4 January 2023}} as well as a choreographer, movement director and dialect coach for local theatre companies including Milwaukee Repertory Theater{{cite press release |author= |title=Milwaukee Repertory Theater Holds One Day Sale for the Holiday Hit A Christmas Carol on Monday, July 22 |url=https://urbanmilwaukee.com/pressrelease/milwaukee-repertory-theater-holds-one-day-sale-for-the-holiday-hit-a-christmas-carol-on-monday-july-22/ |location=Milwaukee, WI |publisher=Urban Milwaukee |date=15 July 2019 |access-date=2023-01-04}} and First Stage Children's Theater.{{cite press release |author= |title=First Stage announces complete casting for Roald Dahl's MATILDA The Musical |url=https://urbanmilwaukee.com/pressrelease/first-stage-announces-complete-casting-for-roald-dahls-matilda-the-musical/ |location=Milwaukee, WI |publisher=Urban Milwaukee |date=25 October 2018 |access-date=2023-01-04}}{{cite press release |author= |title=Delightful ELEPHANT & PIGGIE'S "WE ARE IN A PLAY!" Opens at First Stage this September |url=https://urbanmilwaukee.com/pressrelease/delightful-elephant-piggies-we-are-in-a-play-opens-at-first-stage-this-september/ |location=Milwaukee, WI |publisher=Urban Milwaukee |date=3 September 2019 |access-date=2023-01-04}} She is currently the Artistic Associate at Renaissance Theaterworks, a theatre company dedicated to promoting the work of women and gender parity in the arts.

Personal life

Regan Pink married Northern Ballet Theatre choreographer and associate artistic director Michael Pink in 1998. Together they have two children.{{cite news |last=Schmidt |first=Elaine |date=7 December 2011 |title=Michael Pink, family popping up all over arts scene this holiday season |url=https://archive.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/michael-pink-family-popping-up-all-over-arts-scene-this-holiday-season-1o3aljf-135176883.html/ |work=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |location=Milwaukee, WI |access-date=4 January 2023}}

Selected ballet roles

1988. Don Quixote. Directed by Christopher Gable, choreographed by Michael Pink.
1989. Lipizanner. Directed and choreographed by Gillian Lynne.
1989. Liaisons Amoureuses. Choreographed by Ronald Hynd.
1990. Giselle. Choreographed by Christopher Gable, Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. Role: Giselle.
1991. Romeo and Juliet. Directed by Christopher Gable, choreographed by Massimo Moricone. Designed by Lez Brotherston. Role: Juliet.
1992. Swan Lake. Directed by Christopher Gable, choreographed by Michael Pink. Designed by Lez Brotherston. Role: Odette.
1992. A Christmas Carol. Directed by Christopher Gable, choreographed by Massimo Moricone. Designed by Lez Brotherston. Role: Belle.
1993. Cinderella. Directed and choreographed by Christopher Gable. Role: Cinderella.
1995. The Brontës. Directed and choreographed by Gillian Lynne. Designed by Lez Brotherston. Role: Charlotte Brontë
1996. Dracula. Directed by Christopher Gable and Michael Pink, choreographed by Michael Pink. Designed by Lez Brotherston. Role: Mina Harker.
1997. Giselle. Directed by Christopher Gable, choreographed by Michael Pink. Designed by Lez Brotherston. Role: Giselle.
1998. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Directed by Christopher Gable, choreographed by Michael Pink. Designed by Lez Brotherston. Role: Fleur de Lys

References

Category:Living people

Category:1968 births