Merry Widow a bright star in stellar career
'As I look back on my career, I probably danced more performances with Margot Fonteyn than any other partner.' A surprising statement, considering Hong Kong Ballet's new artistic director, John Meehan, is some 30 years younger than the great ballerina. But then his career has been surprising in many ways.
A graduate of the Australian Ballet School, Meehan joined the Australian Ballet in 1970, rising swiftly through the ranks to become a principal dancer - his roles included Romeo (right) - after only four years.
A turning point in his career came in 1975, when British choreographer Ronald Hynd cast Meehan and his regular partner Marilyn Rowe as the leads in The Merry Widow. The ballet was a huge success, leading impresario Sol Hurok to offer the company a US tour. However, to guarantee ticket sales, he insisted that either Fonteyn or Rudolf Nureyev must star. 'So it was either going to be Rudy with Marilyn or Margot with me, and it ended up with Margot and me,' Meehan says.
Fonteyn was 56 at the time, but dancing with her was still a wonderful experience. 'She taught me so much about the emotional depth of a character, how to relate to your partner, how to focus.'
Meehan recalls a moment in rehearsal when, putting a cloak around the heroine's shoulders from behind, he felt Fonteyn's back convulse. Defensive of the ballet, 'I said to her - how I had the nerve, I don't know - 'We really think highly of this ballet and this is not a funny moment'. She said, 'Oh, I'm not laughing', and turned around and I saw she had tears in her eyes.'
Meehan performed The Merry Widow with Fonteyn more than 50 times in the US, London and Australia. He then joined the American Ballet Theatre in 1977, dancing a wide range of roles and partnering some of the world's leading ballerinas, including Natalia Makarova and Gelsey Kirkland.
After four years, Meehan made the bold decision to move from ballet to musical theatre, landing a lead role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Song and Dance which he performed internationally and on Broadway (prophetically, he took over from Stephen Jefferies in the London cast).
But in 1985, fate was to bring The Merry Widow back into Meehan's life when Hynd asked him to assist in staging it for the National Ballet of Canada. This led to a long and happy association with the company as dancer and rehearsal director. At 39, Meehan retired from dancing to work as an artistic director at Royal Winnipeg Ballet from 1990 to 1993, and as a choreographer and teacher.
In 1996, having returned to New York, The Merry Widow marked another milestone in his career when Meehan was asked to help stage the ballet for American Ballet Theatre. He was eventually invited to take over ABT's Studio Company, a training ground for promising young dancers. Meehan points out with pride that 50 of ABT's 80 dancers are graduates of this group, which he led from 1997 to 2006.
