DISPERSAL OF BALLETS RUSSES

DISPERSAL OF BALLETS RUSSES
AFTER DIAGHILEV’S DEATH, BALLETS RUSSES DANCERS
SPREAD OUT TO A NUMBER OF COUNTRIES.
FOR 3 DECADES A SERIES OF COMPANIES CARRIED ON THE
NAME OF BALLETS RUSSE.
THERE WAS A STRUGGLE BETWEEN RENE BLUM AND COLONEL
DE BASIL OVER WHO SHOULD INHERIT DIAGHILEV’S CROWN OF
LEADERSHIP.
IMPORTANT DANCERS:
A. 3 BABY BALLERINAS
1. IRINA BARONOVA
2. TAMARA TOUMANOVA
3. TATIANA RIABOUCHINSKAYA
B. ALICIA MARKOVA AND ANTON DOLIN
C. FREDERIC FRANKLIN AND MIA SLAVENSKA.
THIS GENERATION OF RUSSIANS PUT DOWN ROOTS IN THE
WEST AND BALLET BLOSSOMED.
THE BABY BALLERINAS
BARONOVA, TOUMANOVA, RIABOUCHINSKAYA
MIA SLAVENSKA AND FREDERIC FRANKLIN
IN
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
BRITISH TASTE
THE MAKE UP OF THE ENGLISH CHARACTER AND THE STYLE OF
THE ENGLISH BALLET DICTATE A MORE OBJECTIVE, RATIONAL
APPROACH THAN THE FRENCH OR RUSSIAN.
ENGLISH ARE MORE RESERVED AND DETACHED AS WELL AS
HAVING GOOD FORM AND ETIQUETTE. THE DANCE STYLE
REFLECTS THIS.
A. BRITISH DANCE IS KNOWN TO BE CLEAN AND PRECISE.
B. ATTENTION TO DETAIL IS APPARENT.
C. THE DANCERS POINTE WORK, POSTURE, AND ARM
POSITIONS ARE PRECISE AND BEAUTIFUL.
THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF DANCING WAS FOUNDED IN 1920. IT
SET THE STANDARDS FOR TEACHING CLASSICAL BALLET.
IMPORTANT BRITISH BALLET ARTISTS
A. NINETTE DE VALOIS
B. MARIE RAMBERT
C. FREDERICK ASHTON
D. ANTONY TUDOR
E. HUGH LAING
F. MARGOT FONTEYN
NINETTE DE VALOIS
MARIE RAMBERT AND FREDERICK ASHTON
ANTONY TUDOR REHEARSING
DANCERS AT JULLIARD
MARGOT FONTEYN
RUSSIAN INFLUENCE
ENGLISH AUDIENCES LOVED THE RUSSIAN DANCERS OF
BALLETS RUSSES.
BOTH MARIE RAMBERT AND NINETTE DE VALOIS WERE
ASSOCIATED WITH BALLETS RUSSES.
RAMBERT HELPED NIJINSKY COUNT THE COMPLEX RHYTHMS
OF RITE OF SPRING.
DE VALOIS WAS A SOLOIST WITH BALLETS RUSSES FOR 2
YEARS.
ANNA PAVLOVA AFTER DANCING WITH BALLETS RUSSES
PERMANENTLY RESIDED IN ENGLAND WHERE SHE OPENED A
BALLET SCHOOL AND ATTRACTED A NEW PUBLIC FOR BALLET.
SHE TOURED EUROPE, THE AMERICAS AND THE FAR EAST
INSPIRING MILLIONS OF PEOPLE.
SADLER’S WELLS BALLET
NINETTE DE VALOIS OPENED A DANCE SCHOOL IN 1926.
SHE BECAME DIRECTOR OF THE SADLER’S WELLS BALLET WHICH
BECAME THE ROYAL BALLET.
DE VALOIS BUILT THE SADLER’S WELLS BALLET WITH TALENT IN
CHOREOGRAPHY, TEACHING, AND ADMINISTRATIVE SKILLS IN
TWENTY YEARS.
THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT TOOK IT OVER LATER AND IT BECAME
THE ROYAL BALLET.
SHE STARRED ALICIA MARKOVA AND ANTON DOLIN, STARS OF
BALLET RUSSES.
THEY DID THE CLASSICS STAGED BY RUSSIAN BALLET MASTER
SERGEYEV.
MARKOVA WAS ONE OF THE GREAT BALLERINAS OF THE
CENTURY EQUAL TO TAGLIONI’S LIGHTNESS.
SHE GROOMED DANCER MARGOT FONTEYN TO BECOME PRIMA
BALLERINA AFTER MARKOVA.
DE VALOIS’ PHILOSOPHY
DE VALOIS’ PHILOSOPHY WAS TO EXPAND THE POSSIBILITIES
OF CLASSICAL BALLET IN HARMONY WITH THE OTHER ARTS OF
THE THEATRE.
SHE CREATED DRAMATIC BALLETS THAT SHOWED STYLISTIC
KINSHIP WITH THE GREAT THEATRICAL HERITAGE OF
ENGLAND.
SHE THOUGHT OF HERSELF AS A THEATRICAL PRODUCER.
SHE ARRANGED DANCE MOVEMENT TO A WRITTEN SCENARIO
AND A MUSICAL SCORE THAT WERE ALREADY PREPARED ON
A GIVEN THEME.
DE VALOIS’ BALLETS
A. THE RAKE’S PROGRESS 1935
A MIMED PLAY AS MUCH AS A BALLET.
B. CHECKMATE 1937
A SYMBOLIC PIECE REPRESENTING A STRUGGLE BETWEEN
DEATH AND LOVE IN THE GUISE OF A CHESS GAME.
DE VALOIS’
THE RAKE’S
PROGRESS
STARRING
ALICIA MARKOVA
DE VALOIS’
CHECKMATE
1937
FREDERICK ASHTON
1906-1988
CHOREOGRAPHED FOR MARIE RAMBERT AND THEN SADLER’S
WELLS BECOMING ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR IN 1952 AND THEN
SOLE DIRECTOR OF ROYAL BALLET IN 1963-1970.
HIS BALLETS WERE MUSICAL AND MOOD PIECES.
VALOIS CALLED ASHTON THE PETIPA OF GREAT BRITAIN FOR
THE VOLUME OF LASTING WORKS HE CREATED.
NEAT, GRACIOUS, TASTEFUL AND DISTINCTIVE APPLY TO
ASHTON, NEVER STORMY OR PASSIONATE.
HE LEANED TOWARD CLASSICAL HARMONY AND THE BEAUTY
OF ACADEMIC DANCING.
HE WAS MORE CONCERNED THAT THERE BE A HARMONIOUS
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND MOVEMENT THAN THAT
THE MOVEMENTS IN THEMSELVES SHOULD COMMUNICATE
IDEAS OR FEELINGS.
ASHTON NOTABLE BALLETS
LES PATINEURS 1937
VARIATIONS ON THE THEME OF ICE SKATING.
SYMPHONIC VARIATIONS 1946
REFLECTS THE TEXTURE AND PHRASING OF CESAR FRANCK’S
MUSICAL COMPOSITION FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA.
EXAMPLE OF ASHTON’S LYRICAL, FLOWING SCULPTURED
STYLE.
ONDINE 1958
ECHO OF THE ROMANTIC PAST WITH A BALLET SCENARIO
FROM A CENTURY EARLIER. A 3 ACT BALLET OF MOOD
RATHER THAN DRAMA.
LA FILLE MAL GARDEE, 1960
RECREATION OF A HISTORIC BALLET WITH ORIGINAL SCORE
REASSEMBLED.
ASHTON’S LA FILLE MAL GARDEE
ASHTON’S
ONDINE
STARRING
MARGOT
FONTEYN
ASHTON’S LES PATINEURS
MARIE RAMBERT
1888-1982
SHE SERVED AS THE DIAGHILEV OF ENGLAND.
WITHOUT DANCING OR CHOREOGRAPHING HERSELF SHE
DIRECTED A BALLET CLUB.
HER CLUB HAS BEEN CALLED THE CRADLE OF BRITISH
CHOREOGRAPHY.
RAMBERT’S COMPANY NEVER REACHED THE SIZE AND
STATURE OF SADLER’S WELLS BECAUSE OF ITS SMALL STAGE
AND THEATRE SPACE.
DANCERS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS WERE ALWAYS LEAVING
RAMBERT TO JOIN DE VALOIS’ COMPANY OR DANCE ABROAD.
SHE WAS TEMPERAMENTAL, UNORGANIZED WITH OUTBURSTS
AND CUTTING REMARKS.
TWO OF THE GREATEST BRITISH CHOREOGRAPHERS, ASHTON
AND TUDOR, STARTED WITH HER.
ANTONY TUDOR
1909-1987
STARTED BALLET AT AGE 20 WITH RAMBERT.
NOTED FOR THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BALLET.
TUDOR BUILT ON A FOUNDATION OF CLASSICAL BALLET BUT
CREATED EXPRESSIVE MOVEMENT THAT WAS APPROPRIATE
TO THE IDEA OF EACH DANCE.
HE WAS INTERESTED IN THE SUBTLE, PSYCHOLOGICAL CASE
STUDIES OF ORDINARY PEOPLE.
HIS CHARACTERS ARE BELIEVABLE AND REVEAL THEMSELVES
IN PRECISE GESTURES.
TUDOR DANCERS – HUGH LAING AND NORA KAYE
HIS CAREER SPANS 5 DECADES BUT HIS MASTERWORKS
WERE CREATED IN A 10-YEAR PERIOD.
IMPORTANT TUDOR BALLETS
LILAC GARDEN 1936
AN IMAGE OF ROMANTIC FRUSTRATION. EDWARDIAN ERA
BALLET WHEN SOCIAL CONVENTIONS DICTATED RESTRAINED,
INHIBITED CONDUCT WHICH TUDOR BROUGHT TO LIFE WITH
COMPRESSED MOTIONS OF HEADS, ARMS AND HANDS, AND
SUBTLE PAUSES.
DARK ELEGIES 1937
A LAMENT. NO SPECIFIC STORY. TUDOR’S PATTERNS ARE
SIMPLE GROUP STEPS PERFORMED BY COMMUNITY LINKED IN
LINES AND CIRCLES THAT REMIND US OF FOLK DANCES.
PILLAR OF FIRE 1942
FIRST BALLET OF NOTE IN AMERICA. HE LEFT ENGLAND TO
FURTHER HIS REPUTATION. STARRED HUGH LAING AS YOUNG
MAN, NORA KAYE AS HAGAR, AND TUDOR AS SYMPATHETIC,
LOVING FRIEND. IT WAS THE HIGH POINT OF HIS CAREER.
TUDOR’S
LILAC GARDEN OR
JARDIN AUX LILAC
STARRING TUDOR,
MARKOVA, LAING,
CONRAD
TUDOR’S
DARK ELEGIES
TUDOR’S
PILLAR OF FIRE
STARRING
NORA KAYE AND
HUGH LAING