June Kerr
{{Short description|New Zealand ballet dancer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox dancer
| name = June Kerr
| image =
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| birth_name = June Greenhalgh
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1932|06|12|df=y}}
| birth_place = Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2018|10|29|1932|06|12|df=y}}
| death_place = Christchurch, New Zealand
| education =
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| years_active =
| height =
| spouse = {{marriage|Russell Kerr|1956}}
| children =
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}}
June Kerr (née Greenhalgh; 12 June 1932 – 29 October 2018) was an English-born New Zealand ballet dancer who danced for 11 years with the Royal New Zealand Ballet.{{Cite web|date=2018-11-16|title=June Kerr: A lioness to the New Zealand Ballet's lion|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/108601345/june-kerr-a-lioness-to-the-new-zealand-ballets-lion|access-date=2021-09-10|website=Stuff|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=1932-01-01|title=Kerr, June, 1932-2018|url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22583856|access-date=2021-09-10|website=Kerr, June, 1932-2018 {{!}} Items {{!}} National Library of New Zealand {{!}} National Library of New Zealand|language=en}}
Biography
Kerr was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, the youngest of three children. She was one of the founding members of the London-based company, Festival Ballet, which later became the English National Ballet.{{Cite web|title=June Kerr — RNZB|url=https://rnzb.org.nz/news/june-kerr/|access-date=2021-09-10|website=www.rnzb.org.nz|language=en}} On 8 December 1956, she married New Zealand ballet dancer Russell Kerr.{{cite book |editor-last=Traue |editor-first=J. E. |editor-link=Jim Traue |title=Who's Who in New Zealand |edition=11th |year=1978 |publisher=Reed |location=Wellington |isbn=0-589-01113-8 |page=162}} The following year the couple moved to New Zealand, settling in Auckland where June Kerr danced with the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 1959 and 1960.{{Cite web|last=Taonga|first=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu|title=A national company emerges|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/ballet/page-2|access-date=2021-09-10|website=teara.govt.nz|language=en}} In 1962 Kerr and her husband moved to Wellington as Kerr's husband was appointed director of the company.
In the 1970s Kerr and her husband moved to Christchurch and established the Southern Ballet Theatre.
Kerr died in Christchurch on 29 October 2018.{{cite news |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nzherald-nz/obituary.aspx?pid=190618834 |title=June Kerr death notice |date=1 November 2018 |work=New Zealand Herald |access-date=12 September 2021}}
References
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Category:English emigrants to New Zealand
Category:New Zealand ballerinas
Category:People from Southend-on-Sea
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