Phyllis Spira

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Lore & Background

Phyllis Bernice Spira was born in Johannesburg, the first daughter and second child of working-class parents Lazar and Fanny Pauline (Rosen) Spira. She began ballet at age four and showed early talent. After attending a Hebrew nursery school, she was educated at Orange Grove Primary School and Waverly High School for Girls. At 15, her headmistress obtained permission for her to leave school after tenth grade to pursue dance training. She then went to London in May 1959 to train at the Royal Ballet School at age 16. Ninette de Valois called her 'a baby Markova.' Awarded a scholarship, she progressed quickly and made her debut in Swan Lake at Covent Garden, dancing in the pas de trois in act 1, as a cygnet in acts 2 and 4, and in the Neapolitan Dance in act 3. At 17, she joined the Royal Ballet touring company. Spira remained with the Royal Ballet touring group from 1960 to 1963, becoming a soloist in 1961. She performed across the English provinces, continental Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East, and the Far East, and appeared on television in England and Japan. Among her roles were the pas de trois in Frederick Ashton's Les Rendezvous and Kenneth MacMillan's Danses Concertantes, the title role in John Cranko's Pineapple Poll, and Phyllis in Alan Carter's Toccata, a role created for her in 1962. Despite a promising future, she returned to South Africa in 1964. She joined PACT Ballet in Johannesburg but soon moved to CAPAB Ballet in Cape Town after a salary dispute. She and partner Gary Burne left temporarily in 1967–1968 to dance with the National Ballet of Canada, then returned to CAPAB. After Burne left in 1971, she partnered with Eduard Greyling for seventeen years until her retirement. Her repertory ranged from lyrical (Les Sylphides) to dramatic (Romeo and Juliet) to technically spectacular (Don Quixote). She danced the Betrayed Girl in The Rake's Progress, the Young Girl in The Two Pigeons, and the title role of La Sylphide. Burne choreographed The Doves (1966) and The Birthday of the Infanta (1971) for her. She was also a gifted Spanish dancer, appearing in The Three-Cornered Hat (1966) and Fiesta Manchega (1973). Peter Williams of Dance and Dancers wrote that 'Spira looked uncannily like Markova as well as having a flavor of Fonteyn, but with an approach of her own.' She led CAPAB Ballet until 1988, when an injury on the opening night of a new production of Giselle ended her dance career.

Reader's Guide

Phyllis Spira's significance lies in her being the first and, as of the article's writing, only dancer to be granted the title of Prima Ballerina Assoluta in South Africa, awarded by the president in 1984. This rare honor recognized her exceptional artistry and her twenty-eight-year tenure as prima ballerina of CAPAB Ballet, where she shaped the company's repertoire and standards. Her career bridged international training with the Royal Ballet and a deep commitment to South African dance, including community outreach through the Dance for All program after her retirement. She received South Africa's highest civilian award, the Order for Meritorious Service, Gold, and the Molteno Medal for lifetime service. After leaving the stage in 1988, she served as principal ballet mistress of CAPAB Ballet until 1999, during which time the company was renamed Cape Town City Ballet. She and her husband Philip Boyd ran the Dance for All program, reaching more than seven hundred children each year in townships such as Gugulethu, Nyanga, and Khayelitsha.

Did You Know?

• Ninette de Valois, director of the Royal Ballet School, called Spira 'a baby Markova.'
• Spira made her debut at Covent Garden in Swan Lake, dancing in the pas de trois, as a cygnet, and in the Neapolitan Dance.
• She left school at the end of tenth grade at age 15, with official permission from her headmistress, to pursue dance training.
• Spira and her husband Philip Boyd ran the Dance for All program, which reached more than seven hundred underprivileged children each year.
• She died after complications from vascular surgery following a foot injury in August 2007 in London.