Dance in Great Britain
1. CHOREOGRAPHY AND BALLET
2. History of the BalletBallet was popular in Britain in the
form of the masque (a kind of
courtly entertainment) in the
1500s. An English choreographer,
John Weaver, developed the ideas
of the masque in “The Loves of
Mars and Venus (1717)”. This was
the first known ballet of action.
popularity of ballet in the 1900s
was made possible by the efforts
of dancers, teachers, and
enthusiastic supporters. Most of
these were inspired by seasons of
Russian ballet from 1911 to 1929,
directed by Serge Diaghilev.
many stylistic alterations. The
Romantic style of the early to
mid-19th century was much softer
- less studded with virtuosic
jumps and turns - than the
classical style of the late 19th and
early 20th centuries.
regarded as the paradigm of the
classical school, is itself a blend
of the soft and decorative French
school, the more brittle and
virtuosic style of the Italians, and
the vigorous athleticism of
Russian folk dances.
traditionally symmetrical in the
shapes made by the dancers’ bodies,
in the grouping of the dancers on
stage, and even in the structure of
the whole dance. Interest in ballet
has grown enormously in Britain
since World War II. Many people
enjoy ballet in films, on television,
and in theatres.
companies: two companies of the
Royal Ballet (founded in 1931),
one at the Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden, and one touring;
the Ballet Rambert (1930);
London’s Festival Ballet (1950),
and the Western Theatre Ballet
8. The Royal BalletIt is recognized by most people as
Britain’s national company. In
1931, when the company was
founded it was called the VicWells Ballet. The company
became known as the Royal
Ballet in 1957.
repertoire on the great classical
and romantic ballets. The
company is regarded as one of the
principal homes of classical ballet
outside Russia. The Royal Ballet
has developed a British style of
dancing in a remarkably short
in the individual manner in which a
variety of choreographic styles are
treated. The Royal Ballet has
concentrated on developing strong
organization, sound technique for its
dancers, and sound teaching methods
for its ballet school. The dancer’s
expression and interpretation have
tended to come second. The opposite
is true of the Ballet Rambert.
11. The Ballet RambertIt emphasizes expression and the
expression possibilities of ballet.
Ballet Ramber is the oldest existing
ballet company in England. Since
the 1930s the Ballet Rambert has
been an important training ground
for young talent;
gained early experience with the
company were the dancers Alicia
Markova and Margot Fonteyn and
the choreographers Antony Tudor,
Sir Frederick Ashton, Agnes
deMille, Andree Howard, Walter
Gore, and Peggy van Praagh.
Rambert, a former dancer with
Diaghilev, the Rambert Dancers
(performing from 1926) and the
Ballet Club (established in 1930)
staged small-scale Sunday
afternoon productions that were
mainly new ballets by unknown
toured factories, military camps,
and out lying areas and later
staged seasons in major London
theatres. Its postwar tours include
one of Australia and New Zealand
that greatly stimulated interest
there in ballet.
company; in 1966 its repertoire
was reformed to make it almost
exclusively a forum for young
talent. John Chesworth was
appointed artistic director in
Rambert have trained fine dancers
as well as choreographers.
17. The Sadler’s Wells Theatre BalletIt was founded in 1946 by De
Valois (1898-1951), after that the
Sadler’s Wells Ballet moved to
the Royal Opera House.
(1946-55, 1970-90) and the Royal
Opera House (1955-70), it traveled
widely abroad after 1949. Renamed
the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet in
1977, it moved to Birmingham as
the Birmingham Royal Ballet in
1990 and became independent of the
Royal Opera House in 1997.
19. Innovations in the 20th centuryFokine’s reforms were a major
influence on the development of 20thcentury ballet. Particularly in the works
that he created for Sergey Diaghilev’s
company, the Ballets Russes, he
showed the range of different dance
styles that classical ballet was capable
of absorbing, helping to pave the way
for more radical innovation.
(1908), a virtually plotless ballet
that recalled the earlier Romantic
tradition, Fokine created a soft
and uncluttered style that
contained no bravura feats of
jumping, turning, or batterie.
unaffected, the grouping of the
dancers had a fluid, plastic
quality, and above all there was a
flowing, lyrical line in the
phrasing and movement.
was influenced not only by the Ballets
Russes but by modern dance as well. It
became common for choreographers to
extend the traditional ballet vocabulary
with modern-dance techniques, such as
curving and tilting the body away from
the vertical line, working on or close to
the floor, and using turned-in leg
positions and flexed feet.
used syncopated rhythms in his
phrasing and incorporated steps
from such popular dances as
ragtime and rock and roll. His
movements were usually wide,
almost exaggerated in shape and
volume, and frequently
characterized by speed and by hard,
retains significant traces of its
courtly and classical past.
Although there are exceptions,
ballet dancers still tend to dance
in the calm, erect, and dignified
manner of their aristocratic
25. Sir Frederick Ashton (1904-1988)Sir Frederick Ashton (19041988)
Principal choreographer and
director of England’s Royal
Ballet, the repertoire of which
includes about 30 of his ballets.
London under Leonide Massine,
Nicholas Legat, and Marie
Rambert, who encouraged his
first choreographic efforts, The
Tragedy of Fashion (1926) and
Sadler's Wells and then the Royal)
Ballet in 1933 and distinguished
himself as a mime and character dancer
in such roles as Carabosse in The
Sleeping Beauty and the gigolo in
Facade and as the versatile
choreographer of ballets that include
Cinderella, Sylvia, and Daphnis and
Chloe and the film Tales of Hoffmann
choreographer from 1933 to 1970,
during which time he also served
as its associate director (1952 to
1963) and its director (1963 to
1970). In 1970 he retired from his
administrative position in order to
devote his time exclusively to
choreography. Ashton was
knighted in 1962.
29. Sir Anton Dolin (1904-1983)Sir Anton Dolin (19041983)
British ballet dancer,
choreographer, and director who,
with his frequent partner Alicia
Markova, founded the MarkovaDolin companies and London’s
teachers Serafima Astafieva and
Bronislava Nijinska, Dolin
began his ballet career in 1921 in
the corps de ballet of Sergey
Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.
company, he created the leading
role in Nijinska’s Train Bleu
(1924) and an important role (one
of two Servants) in George
Balanchine’s Prodigal Son
of the finest partners of his time.
He eventually danced leading
roles in numerous classical ballets
but was also noted for such
creations as Satan in Ninette de
Valois’s Job (1931) and the title
role in Michel Fokine’s
include Ballet Go Round (1938),
Pas de Deux, the Art of
Partnering (1949), Alicia
Markova (1953), Autobiography
(1960), and The Sleeping
Ballerina: The Story of Olga
34. Dame Margot Fonteyn (1919-1991)British ballet dancer who became
internationally famous for the
natural way in which she
expressed emotions in her
her performances with Rudolf
Nureyev in the ballets directed by
Frederic Ashton in the 1960s. As
a child she studied dance in Hong
Kong and then in London with
Serafima Astafieva and at the
Sadler’s Wells Ballet school.
Ballet in 1934. When Markova
left the company the following
year, Fonteyn took over many of
her classical roles, including
Giselle, and became a leading
danseuse of the Vic-Wells Ballet.
revival of The Sleeping Beauty;
her interpretation is still
considered the definitive Aurora
of the era.
After 1959 she appeared with the
Royal Ballet as guest artist and
also toured extensively.
Nureyev began in the early 1960s
and is generally considered to
have enriched her
characterizations. She became
president of the Royal Academy
of Dancing in 1954.
of the British Empire in 1956. In the
late 1970s, as she began to curtail
her performing, she turned to
television presentations and to the
writing of such books as
Autobiography (1975), A Dancer’s
World (1979), and The Magic of
Dance (1979). She remained active
in the world of dance until her death.
40. Marie-Therese Kemble (1774-1838)English singer, dancer, and actress
who married the actor and
theatrical manager Charles
of musicians, Maria Theresa was
taken to England as a small child.
In 1786 she found an acting part
at the Drury Lane Theatre. She
continued to play a wide variety
of minor parts, some of them
Kemble and appeared with him
for years in supporting parts at the
Covent Garden. Their two
daughters also won fame; they
were the author and actress
Fanny Kemble and the opera
and concert singer Adelaide
43. Michael George Somes (1917-1994)English dancer, premier danseur
and assistant director of the Royal
(formerly Sadler’s Wells) Ballet.
leading roles, frequently as
Margot Fonteyn’s partner, in both
classical and contemporary
ballets. In 1934 Somes received
the first scholarship given to a
male by the Sadler’s Wells School,
and in 1935 he joined the ballet
parts; his first major creation was in
Frederick Ashton’s Horoscope (1938).
After serving in World War II, he
returned to create additional important
roles in ballets choreographed by
Ashton, including Symphonic
Variations (1946), Cinderella (1948),
Daphnis and Chloe (1951), Tiresias
(1951), and Ondine (1958).
classical ballets as Swan Lake,
Giselle, and The Sleeping Beauty.
In 1950 Somes succeeded Robert
Helpmann as Margot Fonteyn’s
official partner, and in 1959 he
was made a Commander of the
Order of the British Empire.
(1961), he became assistant
director of the Royal Ballet in 1963
and appeared in pantomime roles
such as the Father in Marguerite
and Armand (1963). Leaving his
assistant directorship in 1970, he
remained with the Royal Ballet as
its principal teacher until 1984.
48. Ninette de Valois (1898- 2001)Ninette de Valois (18982001)
The stage name of Edris Stannus.
Irish dancer and choreographer
who had a great influence on the
development of the British Ballet.
Paris in the early 1920s, she
opened a ballet school in London
with Lilian Baylis. In 1931 she
started Vic-Wells ballet, which
performed at Sadler’s Wells and
later became the Royal Ballet,
which she directed until 1963.
She was made a dame in 1951.