Darcey Bussell is an English retired ballet dancer who is well known as a former judge on the BBC television dance contest, “Strictly Come Dancing”. Bussell is even considered one of the best in the country’s history who became a principal ballet dancer with the Royal Ballet at age of 20.
Having trained at the Arts Educational School and the Royal Ballet School, Bussell started her career and remained with them for almost her whole career. She went on to become one of the great British ballerinas performing as a guest artist with several companies; NYCB, La Scala Theatre Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, and the Australian Ballet.
She even has modeled for clothing lines such as ‘Mulberry,’ ‘Marks & Spencer,’ and ‘Bruce Oldfield.’ Besides, she is active on social media sites with over 168k followers on Instagram: @darceybussellofficial and over 176k followers on Twitter: @DarceyOfficial.
What is Darcey Bussell Famous for?
- Famous as an acclaimed ballet dancer.
- Known as the former judge on “Strictly Come Dancing”.
Where is Darcey Bussell From?
Darcey Bussell was born on April 27, 1969, in London, England. Her birth name is Marnie Mercedes Darcey Pemberton Crittle. Her nationality is English. Bussell belongs to the White ethnicity while Taurus is her zodiac sign.
Darcey Bussell was born as one of the three children of her well-to-do parents; John Crittle(father) and Andrea Williams(mother). Her father, John was an Australian fashion designer and retailer who even was a co-founder of Dandie Fashions while her mother, Andrea was a housewife. Her parents however got divorced when she was just 3 years old following this, her mother re-married an Australian dentist, Philip Bussell.
She was then adopted by Philips(step-father) who raised her in Australia where she attended elementary schools. They returned to London for Bussell where she attended Fox Primary School in Kensington.
She studied all forms of stagecraft at the Arts Educational School, before joining the Royal Ballet Lower School at age of 13. She then went to Royal Ballet Upper School in Baron’s Court, before joining the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet in 1987. She even performed in several school productions, including performances at the Royal Opera House.
Source: @thesun.ie
Darcey Bussell’s Career HIghlights
- Darcey Bussell started her career as a ballet dancer when she got the leading role as Princess Rose in Kenneth MacMillan’s ballet, “The Prince of the Pagodas” in 1988.
- In December 1989, she was promoted to principal dancer at just 20 years old.
- Her popular roles include Masha in “Winter Dreams”, Princess Aurora in “The Sleeping Beauty”, Odette/Odile in “Swan Lake”, Nikiya and Gamzatti in “La Bayadère”, the Sugar Plum Fairy in “The Nutcracker”, and Giselle in “Giselle”.
- In 2006, she announced her retirement as a principal dancer at the Royal Ballet and from ballet in 2007 with a performance of MacMillan’s “Song of the Earth”.
- In 2012, she participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony, where she led a troupe of 200 ballerinas, their performance was even said as “the Spirit of the Flame”.
Source: @wikipedia
- She has also modeled clothing lines for Mulberry, Bruce Oldfield, and Marks & Spencer.
- She also had co-written “The Young Dancer” with the Royal Ballet School along with an introduction to the book, “The Illustrated Book of Ballet” by Barbara Newman.
- An autobiographical picture book of her ballet career, titled “Darcey Bussell”, was released in 2012.
- In 1994, she played her first acting role as Olga Khokhlova in “Yo Picasso”.
- In 2004, she was the subject of a documentary titled “Britain’s Ballerina”.
- She got much popularity when she joined the BBC’s, “Strictly Come Dancing” as a fifth judge in the final stages of 2009. She continued as a judge in 2012 as well.
- In December 2013, Bussell presented a BBC Two documentary titled “Darcey’s Ballet Heroines”.
- She has presented the live cinema relays for The Royal Ballet from the 2013/14 season onwards.
- She currently presents “Darcey Bussell’s Wild Coasts of Scotland”, airing on E4 from February 8, 2021, till March 2, 2021.
Source: @telegraph
Awards and Honors
- Gold medal recipient from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Carl Alan Award
- Great Britain’s Sir James Carreras Award for the most promising newcomer of 1990
- London Evening Standard Ballet Award
- Cosmopolitan Achievement Award
- Honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford and Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow
- Appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1995 New Year Honours
- Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2006 Birthday Honours
- Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2018 New Year Honours
Source: @telegraph.co.uk
Darcey Bussell’s Husband
Darcey Bussell has been married just once to date. Her first and only marriage is with Angus Forbes. Forber is an Australian businessman with whom she got married in 1997 in Cherwell, Oxfordshire. They firstly lived in Kensington. The couple has been married for almost 24 years and is blessed with two daughters; Phoebe(b. 2001) and Zoe(b, 2004).
After 4 years of the birth of their second daughter, the family moved to Sydney, Australia later returning to London in 2012.
She has been the president of the Royal Academy of Dance since 2012, the international patron of the Sydney Dance Company, and a patron of the International Dance Teachers Association, Re: Bourne, London’s Children’s Ballet, Cecchetti UK, Cecchetti Australia, Dance Proms and New English Ballet Theatre, Du Boisson Foundation.
Besides, in 2016 Bussell launched a dance fitness brand called DDMIX(Diverse dance mix). She was also an ambassador for Silvikrin(Wella / Procter & Gamble) hair products.
Source: @dailymail
Darcey Bussell’s Net Worth
Darcey Bussell has quite great earnings from her professional career as a ballet dancer and actress. Having her career started initially as a ballet dancer with the role of Princess Rose in “The Prince of the Pagodas”, Bussell has managed to come a long way up becoming one of the best ballet dancers in the country’s history in her decade long career.
Apart from her dance shows, she also makes money through her appearances in movies, modeling, and reality shows. Her net worth is estimated to be around $10 million.
Source: @thesun.ie
Darcey Bussell’s Height
Darcey Bussell is a gorgeous lady with a well-maintained hour-glass body physique even in her 50s. She stands tall with a height of 5ft. 7inches.(1.70m) while her body weighs around 56kg.
Her body measurement is around 35-24-35 inches with a bra size of 35B, 4(US) as her dress size, and 6.5(US) as her shoe size. She has a fair complexion with light brown hair and green eyes.
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