Ethnic heritage: South African

1928 – 2023

Training: University of Cape Town Ballet School, Sadlers Wells Ballet School (later Royal Ballet School)

Ballet career: After graduation, Johaar Mosaval was invited to join Sadlers Wells Ballet and he remained there for the rest of his career. In 1956, Mosaval was promoted to soloist in the company, which was soon renamed the Royal Ballet. He became a principal dancer in 1960 and a senior principal in 1965.

Mosaval toured extensively with the Royal Ballet, dancing in continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, the Far East, Canada, and the United States as partner to the leading ballerinas of the time, including Margot Fonteyn. He danced Jasper Sir Arthur Sullivan’s Pineapple Poll ballet, which premiered in 1951 at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. He also played Bootface in The Lady and the Fool and Puck in The Dream.

He became revered for his wide range of style and flawless technique and was chosen to dance in Benjamin Britten’s Opera Gloriana, the first performance presented at the Royal Opera House, London, in 1953, during the celebrations of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

His last performance with the Royal Ballet, after 25 years as a Senior Principal Dancer, was as the Blue Bird in The Sleeping Beauty at the ripe age of 48. He returned home to South Africa in 1976.