Gable, Christopher 1940-98
English dancer

Born in London, he studied at the Royal Ballet School there, and was soon dancing solo roles as a principal and partner to Lynn Seymour. He retired as a dancer in 1967, having created roles in Kenneth Macmillan's Images of Love (1964) and Frederick Ashton's The Two Pigeons (1961). He was chosen to play the lead in Macmillan's new Romeo and Juliet with Seymour, but they were replaced in the premi�re at the last minute by Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn. He was the founder and artistic director (1982-98) of the Central School of Ballet, and in 1987 became director of the Northern Ballet Theatre. His innovative approach was evident in his staging of Swan Lake in 1992, which was set during a coup in 1870s Russia and ended in massacre. As an actor he had roles in films such as Ken Russell's The Boy Friend (1972). In 1987 he danced again, in A Simple Man, based on the life of the artist L S Lowry.