Lord Hastings

Lord Hastings is the 22nd Baron Hastings, a landowner and farmer in Norfolk and Northumberland. He was a member of the House of Lords between 1956 and 1999; Governor of the British Institute of Florence, 1959-1997; a Government Whip, 1960-1961; Lord in Waiting to Her Majesty The Queen; Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, 1962-1964; President of the British Italian Society, 1967-1995.

In 1932 Lord Hastings was a member of the Ballet Club and a regular attendee of Sunday performances at the Mercury Theatre. He was also fortunate to be an observer at Marie Rambert's classes.

Between 1933 and 1938 he observed Ninette de Valois' classes and was a regular attendee of the Vic Wells Ballet at Sadler's Wells. He was also an observer at Nicholas Legat's classes at Barons Court and Margaret Craske's classes (Cecchetti method) at West Street.

In 1937 Lord Hastings became a committee member of Sadler's Wells Ballet Fund, which had been founded the previous year by Ninette de Valois, Fred Ashton and Arnold Haskell. This kept the ballet company going throughout the war, and became the Royal Ballet Benevolent Fund on the move to Covent Garden. Lord Hastings succeeded Arnold Haskell as the Chairman in 1966, retiring in 1983.

He was elected to the Grand Council of the Royal Academy of Dancing in 1946 and between this year and the next he observed Royal Ballet classes by George Goncharov and Boris Kniassev, in addition to Vera Volkova's classes at West Street, and at other times by Phyllis Bedells. Lord Hastings has also observed classes taken by Nellie Potts in Newcastle, Aurel Millos in La Scala, Milan, Jose Otero in Seville, Catherine Littlefield in the USA and more recently of Dame Merle Park, Julie Farron, Maryon Lane and Marguerite Porter.

In 1979 he became Governor of the Royal Ballet, retiring in 1992. Between the years 1982 and 1999 he was Chairman of the Dance Teachers Benevolent Fund.

Lord Hastings was elected to the Grand Council of the ISTD in 1983.