Remembering Edward (Ted) Griffiths, dance photographer and balletomane 1939-2016

[MAB]

Many ballet fans, especially those that follow the Russian ballet seasons will have known Edward (Ted) Griffiths and the lucky ones amongst us may actually have copies of his photographs or would have admired them in books and magazines over the years.

 

In his youth Ted worked for an airline and subsidised travel enabled him to photograph Russian dancers on worldwide tours, his favourite company was the Bolshoi and he was fortunate enough to have photographed many of that company's greatest dancers.  In the 1974 book Bolshoi, published by Dance Books, featuring pictures by some of the most notable ballet photographers around, the cover picture is one of Ted's.  It is of Maris Liepa in the role of Crassus, wild eyed with blood lust captured in mid leap.  A fantastic shot and typical of Ted's skill of bringing out the essence of a dancer's art, he admired equally the lyricism and dynamism of the company and his pictures are some of the most compelling images of the ballet I've ever seen.

 

Then there was Ted the balletomane, always close to the front row and usually armed with masses of flowers to throw on stage at the end.  A keen gardener, I suspect those hydrangeas were home grown.  Ted made friends everywhere he went and knew everyone on both sides of the footlights.  Sadly ill health robbed us of his company for the last couple of years and his enthusiasm and sense of fun were sorely missed. 

 

 

Ted leaves behind a wife, twin sons and an adorable little granddaughter who lightened up his last, difficult days.  At his funeral service this morning we stood and listened to the music from Swan Lake and remembered the good times.   Rest in peace Ted, and thanks for lighting up so many lives.

[Amelia]

Thank you, MAB, for writing about Ted.

It was so good that seven of us, crazy ballet lovers, attended his funeral today and could share our memories of him at the wake.

By the way, some Bolshoi dancers are also paying their tributes to him in their facebooks.

Apart from being an excellent photographer and a passionate balletomane Ted was a remarkably friendly and reliable man, ready to help anyone.

In a way he was unique in his whole-hearted, unreserved appreciation of dancers’ work and performances. I don’t remember him having a negative opinion of any dancer. He would never say: “He is not my type of a dancer” or “I dislike her arms”. Of course he had his favourite dancers but he loved others as well. He just loved them all, all dancers - for what they are giving to us.

Rest in peace, dear friend. Let the ground be weightless for you.

[Fiz]

Amelia, that's so beautiful.

[Martin Clark]

I knew Ted when we both worked for Pan Am in London in the 1960s. A lovely helpful man and always so keen on following ballet. Allegedly there was one day when he took sick leave. Unfortunately a newspaper (the Times?) printed a photo in which Ted and a leading ballet star were shown on the very day that he was apparently ill.

 

[Amelia]

4 hours ago, Martin Clark said:

... a newspaper (the Times?) printed a photo in which Ted and a leading ballet star were shown on the very day that he was apparently ill.

 

Great, ballet comes first! Thank you, Martin, for this recollection. I am now dying of curiosity on who this "leading ballet star" could be. Ted had a big heart.

[Jan McNulty]

Hello Martin and welcome to the Forum!

 

Thanks for sharing your lovely memory.