Petal Ashmole Winstanley was born in Australia in 1946, and left home in 1965, at the age of 18, to pursue a career in ballet. After working with London Dance Theatre, PACT Ballet, Johannesburg and The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Canada – which provided her with vast and varied experience encompassing both classical and contemporary repertoire – she joined Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet under the directorship of Peter Wright in 1975, later promoted to the rank of soloist. Highlights of her 11 years with the company included national and international tours, and performances of all the Royal Ballet classics including Swan Lake, Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Concerto, Elite Syncopations, The Rake’s Progress, Coppélia and Les Sylphides, amongst many other works. Her experience working with Dame Ninette de Valois, Sir Frederick Ashton and Sir Kenneth MacMillan during this time also encouraged her to develop her own choreographic skills.

Petal retired as a dancer in 1984, and was immediately appointed as Assistant to the Artistic Director of the Australian Ballet—a position in which she was jointly responsible for the day-to-day running of a large ballet company. It was with this company that she created her first full-length ballet, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie (1988), based on the writings of May Gibbs, which met with critical acclaim. She went on to choreograph several further works – including short ballets and divertissements for schools and companies worldwide, and full-length adaptations of The Red Shoes and The Snow Queen for the Australian Ballet School. Both of these works went into the repertoire of Singapore Dance Theatre, with The Snow Queen also taken on by Hong Kong Ballet.

In addition to her work in ballet management, Petal has extensive experience in coaching, teaching and producing—work which, during the latter part of her career, took her to five continents. She worked in this capacity for most major ballet schools and companies worldwide, including ten years teaching the world’s finest young dancers at The Royal Ballet School, and work for English National Ballet, The Australian Ballet, Northern Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre, Hong Kong Ballet, the National Ballet of Romania and The Royal Academy of Dance.

Having taken a step back from teaching, Petal’s latest venture has been to write a book about her experiences—a lifetime of creative fulfilment often offset by grief. Having lost three husbands to illness, repeated hospice experiences have allowed her to share an intimate knowledge of what happens before, during and after death. Learn more about her book here.