16.08.2024
Acknowledging the passing of Rowena Jackson Chatfield MBE
Rowena Jackson Chatfield MBE, 24 March 1926 – 15 August 2024
Rowena Jackson as Odette, date unknown, photograph courtesy of the New Zealand School of Dance
The Royal New Zealand Ballet acknowledges, with gratitude and affection, the life, work and supreme artistry of Rowena Jackson Chatfield MBE, Associate Artistic Director of the New Zealand Ballet, 1975 – 78, who has died at her home on the Gold Coast, aged 98.
Together with her husband of 63 years, Philip Chatfield (1927 – 2021), Rowena made a wonderful contribution to the development of ballet in New Zealand throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Following distinguished careers onstage with The Royal Ballet in the 1940s and 50s, they brought immense knowledge, skill and artistry to the then-New Zealand Ballet and to the National School of Ballet, now the New Zealand School of Dance. As performers, choreographers, teachers, stagers and directors, Rowena and Philip had a profound influence on New Zealand dancers.
A ballerina in the truest sense of the word, Rowena was an inspiration to generations of New Zealand dancers, and much-loved by audiences. Though based in Australia for many years, Rowena continued to be a kind and interested friend of the Royal New Zealand Ballet. We count ourselves lucky to be part of her artistic legacy, and we send our love and gratitude to her son Paul and daughter Rosetta, and Rowena’s friends, colleagues and former students, as they mourn her loss and celebrate her life.
Former RNZB Artist Maree White, a pupil of Rowena and Philip from the Gold Coast, wrote this tribute in 2013, as a footnote to the article which Philip contributed to The Royal New Zealand Ballet at 60:
Generous with Knowledge and Spirit
As a professional dancer, I feel very privileged to have Rowena Jackson and Philip Chatfield [as] a part of my life. I was a pupil of theirs in my teens on the Gold Coast and they have been strong role models ever since.
They came to dance class as a team: Philip with his knowledge and passion for various repertoire and Rowena with an eye for detail. She would astound us young pupils at the time demonstrating multiple pirouettes (for which she is famous) with gusto and flair. I remember loving their classes and the exotic repertoire they taught – often accompanied with exciting stories of the other ballet greats!
What impressed me the most was how effortlessly generous they were with their knowledge and spirit. It inspired me both in and out of the dance world.
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