Rambert Dance Company

Question 1

What was Rambert Dance Company formerly called?

Answer 1

Ballet Rambert

Question 2

What do we know about Dance in Britain prior to 1966?

Answer 2

• A whole evening of dance was unheard of.
• Foreign ballerinas were soloist with British dancers as the corps de ballet.
• Ballet was danced in music halls throughout Britain, which brought an interest in dance and by the mid 1920s British dancers were training more regularly.

Question 3

Who was the founder of Rambert Dance Company? Give her birth and death date.

Answer 3

Marie Rambert
Born: in Warsaw, Poland in 1888
Died: 1982

Question 4

Who was Marie Rambert inspired to dance by and what did she do with him?

Answer 4

She was inspired to dance when she saw a performance by Isadora Duncan in 1904.
Marie Rambert joined a group in Paris led by Duncan’s brother and led classes in Duncan’s style.

Question 5

What else influenced Marie Rambert?

Answer 5

Eurhythmics

• Rambert spent three years studying Eurhythmics with Emile Jacques Dalcroze.
• Dalcroze Eurhythmics is a process for awakening, developing and refining innate musicality through rhythmic movement, ear-training and improvisation.

Question 6

What is regarded as the most influential ballet company of the 20th Century?

Answer 6

Ballets Russes

• This is because it promoted ground-breaking artistic collaborations among young choreographers, composers, designers, and dancers, all at the forefront of their several fields.
• This was originally conceived by Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev.

Question 7

Which composers, artists, costume designers did Diaghilev use?

Answer 7

Composers:
• Igor Stravinsky, Claude Debussy and Sergei Prokofiev.
Artists:
• Vasily Kandinsky, Alexander Benois, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.
Costume Designers:
• Léon Bakst and Coco Chanel.

Question 8

What was Ballet Russes and where did/didn’t they perform?

Answer 8

• The Ballets Russes was a touring ballet company based in Paris.
• They performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America.
• The company never performed in Russia, where the Revolution disrupted society. After its initial Paris season, the company had no formal ties there.

Question 9

What influence does Ballet Russes have on dance?

Answer 9

• The company’s productions created a huge sensation, completely reinvigorating the art of performing dance, bringing many visual artists to public attention, and significantly affecting the course of musical composition.
• It also introduced European and American audiences to tales, music and design motifs drawn from Russian folklore.

Question 10

What link did Marie Rambert have with Ballet Russes?

Answer 10

• In 1912 she was invited by Serge Diaghilev to assist Vaslav Nijinsky and his dancers with the complex rhythms of Stravinsky’s music for Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring), which Nijinsky was choreographing for the Ballets Russes.
• While with the company she occasionally danced with the corps de ballet. It was during this time that she acquired her love of classical ballet.
• She worked with the Ballets Russes for a season (1912-14) and left when Nijinsky was dismissed.
• Le Sacre du Printemps - (watch on YouTube)

Question 11

What did Marie Rambert do when there was an outbreak of WW1?

Answer 11

• At the outbreak of war in 1914 she moved to London.
• When Rambert arrived in London she supported herself by giving tuition in dance and eurhythmics.
• At the same time she continued with her own ballet studies, as well as performing as a soloist.
• She married the English playwright, Ashley Dukes, in 1918.
• Two years later she opened a school of dancing in Bedford Gardens, Kensington which eventually grew in to Rambert School of Ballet.

Question 12

What marked the birth of British Ballet?

Answer 12

• In 1926 Marie Rambert and her students presented the ballet A Tragedy of Fashion by Frederick Ashton, then one of her students, as part of a revue at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith. It is said that this piece marked the birth of British Ballet.
• The group were called Marie Rambert Dancer’s for this occasion

Question 13

What was the Marie Rambert dance group originally called and what did they do? Mention what they did before this group became official.

Answer 13

From 1926 Marie Rambert and her dancers staged more occasional performances.
- Until they formed the Ballet Club in 1930. This was essentially a group of talented artists who came together for regular Sunday performances at the Mercury Theatre in Notting Hill Gate, as well as short seasons in the West End and regional theatres. (The Mercury Theatre was owned by Rambert’s husband, Ashley Dukes, and acted as a base for the Company for many years.)

Question 14

When did the company rename, and what did they rename to? Mention how long this new name lasted.

Answer 14

In 1935 the Company was renamed Ballet Rambert, the name under which it was known until 1987.

Question 15

Why was Ballet Rambert formed? Mention when they had their first West End performance.

Answer 15

• The aim was to promote the art of Ballet by forming a society of supporters, including people who were influential in English social life and the arts.
• Enabled dancers, choreographers, composers and designers the opportunity to show their work
• First West End performance in 1934
• In 1935 the title Ballet Rambert was adopted- during this time the company played a huge part in developing British talent

Question 16

What did the company do during the WW2?

Answer 16

• During the Second World War, Ballet Rambert became a full time touring company
• Ans as the Company had outgrown the tiny Mercury Theatre, from 1946 its most frequent London performances were at Sadler’s Wells.
• During the war the Company did a great deal of valuable work appearing in a range of venues including factory canteens as well as theatres, and in this way made its own contribution to the war effort.

Question 17

How did changing to Ballet Rambert from Ballet Club impact the company? What event also help the impact?

Answer 17

The change in its performance activities, during and immediately after the war, resulted in a new audience.
The small but knowledgeable audience of the Ballet Club was replaced by a more general audience whose tastes were less adventurous than those of the Company’s earlier supporters. They began to expect longer ballets in addition to the traditional mixed bills of new works.
Ballet Rambert performed several classics, including the well-known Giselle in 1946 and Coppelia and the first major British productions of La Sylphide and Don Quixote.

Question 18

What disadvantage did touring have on the company?

Answer 18

Extensive touring for up to 35 weeks a year meant there was less time to create new works and there was no notable choreographer working with the Company at this time.

Question 19

When and where to was the company’s longest tour? What were the success and consequences during this?

Answer 19

-The company’s longest tour was to Australia and New Zealand in 1947-48.
-A great success with disastrous consequences:
. Bankruptcy
. Loss in money and dancers
. Scenery and costumes damaged
. In 1949 with £500 from the Arts Council Ballet Rambert was able to start again

Question 20

Who created their first work for Rambert in 1958?

Answer 20

• Norman Morrice, one of Marie Rambert’s novice choreographers, created his first work, “Two Brothers”, for the Company.
• Two Brothers was performed in modern dress and dealt with a contemporary theme while still using a traditional ballet vocabulary.

Question 21

What happened in 1962?

Answer 21

• Norman Morrice, encouraged by Marie Rambert, travelled to America in 1962 on a Ford Foundation Grant in order to see the new developments in dance and to study with some of the major choreographers of the time, including Martha Graham.
• At this time it had become apparent that Ballet Rambert could no longer afford the expense of touring large-scale classical productions and that, if it was to survive, a change of direction was needed.

Question 22

Explain the return to Ramberts orginal Ethos.

Answer 22

Following his visit to America, Morrice encouraged Marie Rambert to return to the Company’s original ethos and the Company transformed from a medium-scale classical touring company to a smaller ensemble, aiming to create new works and preserve the best of their previous works.

Question 23

In what year was the change of direction for Ballet Rambert back to Ballet Club? Explain this.

Answer 23

In 1966 Ballet Rambert returned to the forefront of creative dance in Britain.

Norman Morrice & Marie Rambert reshaped the company as a group of soloists ready to work in classic & modern style.

Ballet Rambert returned to the Ballet club days, a truly creative company and a feeling of excitement was instilled.

Question 24

Who became Associate Artistic Director in 1966?

Answer 24

In 1966 Morrice was appointed Associate Artistic Director of the new Company.

Question 25

What did the company comprise of when Morrice was appointed Associate Artistic Director?

Answer 25

Comprised of 18 dancers.
-The dancers in the new Company were trained in both classical and contemporary (Graham-based) dance techniques. Each dancer was considered equal in status. No individual held the position of principal dancer and they became soloists in their own right.

Question 26

What happened in May 1966?

Answer 26

May 1966 – Marie, Norman and administrator Frederick Bromwich drew up proposals for the reconstruction of the company.

Question 27

What were the aims for the company?

Answer 27

• encourage production of new works by both new & established choreographers,
• preserve master works which constitute Ballet Rambert’s artistic heritage,
• to give regular sessions in London and to tour selected dates in provinces and abroad.

Question 28

List the important changes to Ballet Rambert in 1966?

Answer 28

. reduction in the size of the company
• the preservation of the best of the company’s original works. Preserving master works which constitute Ballet Rambert’s artistic heritage
• the creation of new works
• in addition to ballet, the inclusion of modern dance i.e. Graham technique in the training of the dancers
• the contribution through teaching and choreography of a range of practitioners from within the company and from America e.g. Glen Tetley
• regular seasons in London and a tour schedule in the provinces and abroad.
Wider variety and more creativity
All dancers were ensemble- no ‘hierarchy’

Under Morrice it was dominated by the Graham style – taut, athletically powered, symbolically burnished (polished, improved)dance.

Question 29

What did Morrice bring in to Ballet Rambert when he was Artistic Director?

Answer 29

He brought in several American choreographers to make works on the Company.

Question 30

Name on of the choreographers Morrice brought in to the company.

Answer 30

Glen Tetley, whose own background encompassed both classical and contemporary dance. 
He mounted (created) Pierrot Lunaire (created for his own company in 1961) and Ricercare (originally created for American Ballet Theatre in 1966) on the ‘new’ Ballet Rambert and went on to choreograph other new works for the Company.

Question 31

List the important events that happened in 1966.

Answer 31

It was Morrice who, in 1966, encouraged Marie Rambert to return Ballet Rambert from a medium-scale classical touring company to a smaller more innovative ensemble, to create new works and preserve the best of the Company’s original repertoire.

At this time contemporary dance technique based on Martha Graham’s style was introduced in addition to ballet classes for the dancers. This enabled the dancers to perform a wider variety of works and the repertory became more exciting with creations from American choreographers, most notably Glen Tetley, and from a number of Company members.

The most significant of these choreographers to emerge from within the organisation was Christopher Bruce whose works are now performed worldwide.