Edwards, Winifred

• Fredowa, Vera
• Fredova, Vera

Born in London, Edwards studied ballet with Miss Hutton Moss, Freda Grant and Lucia Cormani. She became one of the first English girls to join Anna Pavlova's company in 1912 until 1916 when she joined Theodore Kosloff's company touring America and then teaching at his ballet schools in San Francisco and Dallas for fifteen years. In 1934 she returned to England and for a time gave up dancing and teaching. However, she returned to dancing after the war and studied with Phyllis Bedells taking all of her RAD examinations including the Advanced Teachers' Certificate. She taught at the Royal Ballet School from 1947 to 1955 and at the RAD from 1947 to 1963. She joined the committee of the RAD's Production Club in 1948 and worked closely on the revision of the RAD's Major syllabi and Courses of Study in the mid-1950s, alongside Ursula Moreton and Tamara Karsavina. She was awarded the 1977 Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award for her outstanding services to the art of ballet.

Ballet dancer and teacher