Julia Farron

{{Short description|English ballerina (1922–2019)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Julia Farron

| honorific_suffix = OBE

| birth_name = Joyce Margaret Farron-Smith

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1922|07|22}}

| birth_place = London, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2019|07|03|1922|07|22}}

}}

Julia Farron {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE}} (born Joyce-Margaret Farron-Smith; 22 July 1922 – 3 July 2019) was an English ballerina, best known as one of the earliest and all-time youngest members of The Royal Ballet, the leading ballet company based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.

Julia Farron was born Joyce Margaret Farron-Smith{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/julia-farron-obituary-n5xn8n9xz|title=Julia Farron obituary|date=2019-07-19|work=The Times|access-date=2019-07-20|language=en|issn=0140-0460}} {{registration required}} in London{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2019/07/19/julia-farron-teenage-star-pre-war-vic-wells-ballet-became-director/|title=Julia Farron, teenage star of the pre-war Vic-Wells Ballet who became Director of the Royal Academy of Dance – obituary|last=Obituaries|first=The Telegraph|date=2019-07-19|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2019-07-20|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}} on 22 July 1922.{{cite book|last=Craine|first=Debra|title=The Oxford Dictionary of Dance|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199563449|page=[https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary0000crai_a8h2/page/162 162]|author2=Mackrell Judith|url=https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary0000crai_a8h2/page/162}} In 1931, Farron became the first pupil to receive a scholarship to study under the direction of Dame Ninette de Valois at the Vic-Wells Ballet School. She made her professional stage debut in a pantomime in 1934, aged twelve. In 1936, having completed five years of study at the ballet school, she joined the Vic-Wells Ballet, becoming the company's youngest member, aged fourteen.

The following year, in 1937, she danced her first created role, Pepe the Dog, in the ballet A Wedding Bouquet choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton. Farron would stay with the company throughout its development into The Royal Ballet, eventually achieving the rank of principal dancer. In early 1947, Julia danced, alongside Harold Turner, the Neapolitan Tarantella in La Boutique Fantasque. A respected critic of the time, Audrey Williamson, noted "the bright attack and style that distinguish all her work".Ballet Renaissance, Audrey Williamson, London Golden Gallery Press, 1948. After retiring from the professional stage, she was appointed as a teacher at the Royal Ballet School in 1964. She was appointed assistant director of the Royal Academy of Dance in 1982, becoming Director in 1983 and eventually retired in 1989, with an honorary life fellowship of the organisation (FRAD). In 1994, the Royal Academy of Dance awarded her the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award for outstanding services to ballet. Most recently, she has sponsored the redevelopment of the White Lodge Museum and Ballet Resource Centre.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ballet.co.uk/followingsirfred/following_sir_fred_appendix_ii_contributors.htm |title=Ballet website |access-date=12 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101207183311/http://www.ballet.co.uk/followingsirfred/following_sir_fred_appendix_ii_contributors.htm |archive-date=7 December 2010 |url-status=dead }}[http://www.royal-ballet-school.org.uk/press_item.php?id=20090119 Royal Ballet School website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004133709/http://www.royal-ballet-school.org.uk/press_item.php?id=20090119 |date= 4 October 2009 }}[http://www.arts-autographs.co.uk/pageID_7279443.html Arts Autographs website]

Farron was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to ballet.{{London Gazette |issue=60009 |date=31 December 2011 |page=10 |supp=y }}

She married the South African ballet dancer and choreographer Alfred Rodrigues in 1948, and they had a son, Christopher.{{cite web | last=Clarke | first=Mary | title=Obituary: Alfred Rodrigues | website=The Guardian | date=February 18, 2002 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/feb/19/guardianobituaries2 | accessdate=May 28, 2016}} She died on 3 July 2019 at the age of 96.