Peter Darrell CBE was an English ballet dancer, choreographer, and founder of the Scottish Ballet. For almost four decades Darrell was one of the most productive and imaginative talents in British ballet.
Born in Richmond, Surrey, he studied at the Sadler's Wells Ballet School, joined the opera ballet there and then took part in the inaugural performance of The Sadler's Wells Ballet Company – what is now Birmingham Royal Ballet.
He then worked in musicals and at the Malmö Opera House, Sweden, until the founding of "Ballet Workshop" at the Mercury Theatre, London, brought the chance for would-be choreographers to try their talents. Darrell proved to be their best discovery and from 1951 to 1955 made a series of skilled and original works there. This experience led, in 1952, to his first professional commission when Anton Dolin invited him to create a new version of Harlequinade for Festival Ballet.
From the first, Darrell had two guiding aims: to use classical ballet to entertain the widest possible public, and to introduce contemporary themes and the influence of other theatrical skills.