Patricia Clover

Patricia Clover gives the merest hint of the thinking behind Les Ballets Nègres, the company that lasted from 1946 until 1952. Her excellent memory and matter of fact style almost make you forget what a feat was achieved by its founder and director, Berto Pasuka: a Black company of dancers with cutting-edge material existing full time for six years touring the length and breadth of the country and abroad without any sort of government grant. Clover tells Patricia Linton, founder and director of Voices of British Ballet, of her early involvement with dance and about dancing with Les Ballets Nègres in its early days, as well as reflecting on the extent of racial prejudice at the time. She also talks about the musician Leonard Salzedo, whom she married, about the choreographer Andrée Howard, and about Pasuka’s determination in setting up, running and choreographing for his company.

The interview, which was recorded in 2010, is introduced by the historian Stephen Bourne who talks about Berto Pasuka’s life and career and shows Natalie Steed Les Ballets Nègres press cuttings and programmes.

Patricia Clover was born in Hammersmith, west London, in 1924. She started dancing at a local ballet school and at 16 went to study at Morley Theatre School in Lambeth. After working for a short time in a library, she joined the Gateway Theatre in Notting Hill Gate as assistant stage manager where she also played character parts. It was here that Clover met her future husband, the composer Leonard Salzedo, who was later to become musical director for Ballet Rambert and Scottish Ballet; the couple married in May 1945. Clover was involved with Berto Pasuka’s Les Ballets Nègres from the start, and the first performance was held at the 20th Century Theatre in Westbourne Park. Salzedo wrote the music for all four of the opening ballets and Clover danced with the company for several months before leaving in 1946. She later worked at the Ida Foster Theatrical Agency and then became general secretary of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists. After her retirement, Clover decided to study for her A Levels, followed by an English Literature degree. Salzedo died in 2000 and Clover in 2012.

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