Rowena Jackson

Rowena Othlie Chatfield MBE (née Jackson; 24 March 1926 – 15 August 2024) was a New Zealand prima ballerina.

[4] She was notable for her role as Swanhilda in the ballet Coppélia, and danced with Robert Helpmann and her husband Philip Chatfield.

In 1940, before she left New Zealand, she set a world record when she performed 121 fouettés sur place.

[6] Jackson and Chatfield danced together in the Royal Ballet's production of Giselle shortly after they married.

[6] Although Jackson cited the dancing of Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell as being influences on her, it was a visit from the Russian ballerina Irina Baronova who inspired her to make ballet her 'life's ambition'.

Curtain call on the opening night of The Royal Ballet 's Swan Lake , with Rowena Jackson, at the Empire Theatre, Sydney , 11 September 1958