Gailene Stock was born on January 28, 1946 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia as Gailene Patricia Stock. She was an actress, known for First Position (2011), Don Quixote (1973) and The Journey (1972). She was married to Gary Norman. She died on April 29, 2014.
In 1978, she retired from dancing, and was appointed director of the National Theatre Ballet School in Melbourne, and then director of the Australian Ballet School. She moved to London in 1999 to take over the Royal Ballet School.
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In 1962, she was awarded a scholarship to London's Royal Ballet School. At the same time, she was chosen to be the youngest founding member of the newly formed Australian Ballet. She deferred her scholarship to join the company. After a year, she took up her scholarship in London, after which she was invited to join The Royal Ballet. She chose instead to return to the Australian Ballet, where she spent seven years, rising to principal dancer.
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During her career, she was also a principal with the National Ballet of Canada and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.
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At age 8, she contracted polio, and spent 18 months in an iron frame. She was told she would probably never walk again, but was back in dancing classes four years later. At age 14, she was seriously injured when a cement lorry hit her father's car. She was in a coma for three days, but once again recovered and returned to dancing.
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East Brighton, Victoria, Australia [June 2009]
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London, England: dance director [June 2013]
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She was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to Dance. She is the Director of the Royal Ballet in London, England.
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She was awarded the AM (Member of the Order of Australia) in the 1997 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to Ballet as Director of the Australian Ballet School and to furthering the Quality of Dance Education and Performance.
$11 Million
