Rambert timeline

Question 1

1920

Answer 1

Marie received her ballet certification from her Russian ballet master allowing her to teach ballet. She then opens a ballet school in London.

Question 2

1926

Answer 2

Premiere of the company’s founding work, A Tragedy of Fashion, created by Frederick Ashton for the revue Riverside Nights. Marie Rambert and three of her students, Ashton, Frances James and Elizabeth Vincent, performed it nightly for around six weeks.

Question 3

1928

Answer 3

A new school in Notting Hill, London opens.

Question 4

1931

Answer 4

Marie launches a private ballet club in a small section of the school. The first performance of her students outside of London also takes place.

Question 4

1932

Answer 4

The ballet club starts performing regularly

Question 5

1933

Answer 5

The theatre gained a public performing licence. Initially opened in June as The Nameless Theatre, it was reopened as the Mercury Theatre on 9 October. Licensed by the London County Council for performances of music, dancing and plays, the theatre remained a club in order to present ballet performances on Sunday.

Question 6

1939

Answer 6

Due to the war Marie moves her school and was one of the first theatres to reopen with a season of ballet which became bigger in the first month.

Question 7

1943

Answer 7

Ballet Rambert came under the management of C.E.M.A., the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (the forerunner of the Arts Council). The company toured extensively, mainly to non-theatrical venues: Royal Ordnance Factory hostels and canteens, cinemas, miners’ welfare halls, and open air stages, entertaining ‘home front’ workers and the general public.

Question 8

1941

Answer 8

Ballet Rambert was let go and ceased to exist due to legal battles and low wages.

Question 9

1946

Answer 9

Ballet Rambert tours Germany for ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) to entertain British troops still stationed there. Giselle was the company’s first full production of a classic ballet. It premiered to great acclaim during Ballet Rambert’s first season at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London.

Question 10

1949

Answer 10

Australia tour ended. Half the dancers stayed in australia.

Question 11

1947

Answer 11

First British company to tour outside of europe. Group toured australia.

Question 12

1951

Answer 12

Angela and David Ellis, Marie Rambert’s daughter and son-in-law, create a ballet workshop at the Mercury Theatre. Presenting new and experimental productions. Some of the ballets were taken into Ballet Rambert’s repertoire.

Question 13

1956

Answer 13

Marie Rambert received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award from the Royal Academy of Dancing.

Question 14

1957

Answer 14

Marie Rambert received the Legion d’Honneur from the French President. Also, Ballet Rambert became the first British ballet company to perform in China.

Question 15

1959

Answer 15

Marie Rambert’s husband dies.

Question 16

1962

Answer 16

Marie Rambert was the star of the tv show, ‘This is your Life’.

Question 17

1964

Answer 17

Dame Marie Rambert received an honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Sussex.

Question 18

1963

Answer 18

There was an overseas tour to Greece, Cyprus, Iran and Egypt which covered 10,000 miles. Also, Christopher Bruce joined the dance company.

Question 19

1966

Answer 19

A new company of 17 dancers launched with the aims of encouraging new works by both new and established choreographers, preserving the masterworks of the company’s artistic heritage, giving regular seasons in London, and touring selected dates in the provinces and abroad. Daily class alternated between ballet and Graham technique to reflect the new repertory and direction.
1967 - Premiere of Ziggurat, the first collaboration of choreographer Glen Tetley, designer Nadine Baylis, and lighting designer John B. Read.

Question 20

1967

Answer 20

Premiere of Ziggurat, the first collaboration of choreographer Glen Tetley, designer Nadine Baylis, and lighting designer John B. Read.

Question 21

1969

Answer 21

Premiere of Christopher Bruce’s first work, George Frideric, at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Overseas tour to Vienna, West Berlin, and Germany and an overseas tour to Verona’s open-air Roman theatre.

Question 22

1970

Answer 22

Premiere of Bertram Batell’s Sideshow, a children’s show designed to educate young audiences in the range of dance styles used by the company. Its episodic format also provided an opportunity for aspiring choreographers to create short works. And an overseas tour to Israel.

Question 23

1971

Answer 23

Ingrid Bergman officially opened Ballet Rambert’s new headquarters at 94 Chiswick High Road, London, the company’s home until 2013. Dance for New Dimensions, a touring evening of works designed for thrust stages, opened at the Young Vic Theatre, London.

Question 24

1974

Answer 24

Christopher Bruce awarded the Evening Standard Award for dance. John Chesworth appointed Artistic Director. Christopher Bruce appointed Associate Director. Overseas tour to five summer festivals in Austria, Yugoslavia, and Germany.