Ballet Career
Cartier began dancing on stage at age four in New Zealand in a pantomime. While studying ballet with Valerie Valeska and Bettina Edwards, she saw the Borovanski Ballet on tour, and decided to make dance her career. In 1946, following in the footsteps of Bettina Edward's student Rowena Jackson, she emigrated to England on scholarship to the Royal Ballet School, studying with Winifred Edwards, George Goncharov, Vera Volkova and Audrey de Vos.
In London, she joined the Saint James' Ballet, run by Alan Carter. With Michel de Lutry (ballet master for the project), his wife Dominie Callaghan, and Sonia Hana, Yvonne Cartier took part in one of the very early television programmes, BBC's Ballet for Beginners. When the Ballet for Beginners Company went on tour, it was joined by Ken Russell (later the film-maker), who danced Coppelius to Yvonne Cartier's Swanhilda.
She then took odd jobs in revue theatre in London, such as Sauce Tartare with Audrey Hepburn. It was whilst dancing in cabaret that she came across Larice Arlen, ballet mistress, wife to the Managing Director of Sadler's Wells Opera.
Larice Arlen pushed Yvonne Cartier to re-audition for Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, which she joined, and there created ballets for John Cranko, Andrée Howard, Walter Gore and Ninette de Valois. At Ninette de Valois' request, she then joined the main company at Covent Garden. There, she also danced all the classics.
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