The evolution of American ballet

The World of Arts by Gwen Heart

BALLET: As America started picking up the visionary of ballet, the impatient Balanchine grabbed the opportunity to make his move. The raw-edged material that was presently available was all what he needed.

In December 1934 which was just 11 months later, the best dancers from the School of American Ballet made their debut at Hartford. In the program were all his best works and the ensemble was called the American Ballet Company.

Of the seven ballets mounted from the repertory of Les Ballets of 1933 were the old ones. Of the new ballets created for this company, the best was Serenade inspired by the music of Tchaikovsky's 'Serenade for Strings' which was a four-movement orchestral suite. This plotless ballet in the subsequent years, was to make Balanchine very popular.

The same Hartford program was the first performance of the American Ballet to be mounted at the New York City Ballet.

The French-Russian elements of Balanchine was so apparent when dancers like Ruthanna Boris, Annabella Lyon, Eugene Loring and William Dollar danced in this debut ballet. His sympathies and exclusive European manner was brought into the American Ballet. Later, with development, an all American identity became the signature of this great ballet company.

Following their success in America, the young group was invited to be the resident ballet company at the MET and they stayed put until 1938.

The company severed itself from the MET due to misunderstanding arising from the artistic policies of Balanchine's production of Orpheus which was MET's first home production that was very successful. The following year Balanchine choreographed three ballets, Apollo being the forerunner.

That was the first balanchine-Stravinsky ballet but the MET could never see eye to eye with Balanchine who in the meantime felt the MET was being inhibited over his real potential. He quit the MET after a spate of bad feeling.

Meanwhile Kirstein had formed another company called Ballet Caravan whose aspirations were to foster provincial dancing and give young choreographers the opportunity to display their worth. It also helped to form small companies that toured within America.

Balanchine continued the School of American Ballet and found his way to Kirstein that resulted in the formation of Ballet Society. Borrowing dancers from the American Ballet, Kirstein mounted Balanchine's ballets from his repertory. He appointed Lew Christensen as the choreographer.

Balanchine was happy that his labour had borne good results and when the Ballet Society mounted a new version of Orpheus, he was more than pleased. The Ballet Society was not only mounting good ballets, but also they were providing a sterling service while fostering classical ballet among the young. America was on the right track and was not looking back.

With more and more young choreographers and dancers being found Balanchine was able to fully concentrate on what he loved most, choreography. Kirstein was doing a magnificent job along with the New York City Centre of Music and drama.

This was in April 1948. The executives of the City Centre was so impressed with Kirstein's work, it offered the Ballet Centre to become a part of the Centre. So, in 1948 October, the New York City Ballet had its birth with Balanchine as its artistic director.

Since then the company has grown from strength to strength with visits to Covent Garden in 1950, 1952 and 1965 and also the Edinburgh Festival in 1964 and became the first company to put its dancers under contract and regular non-stop weekly performances. Today, it is one of the world's best companies along with social and economic positions.

Balanchine's dancers were all girls who were brilliant, swift and strong. They were the long-legged beauties to whom he paid special attention declaring that male dancers were a mere formality for support. 'Ballet is the only thing where women are supreme," he said.

Years later, his choreography in Apollo with Rudolf Nureyev and Stars and Stripe belied his words and had a change of heart when Nureyev's Apollo stunned the audiences. He himself was face to face with a man who was going to revolutionise man's dancing by placing him at centre-stage, a place occupied by women.

It was Rudolf Nureyev, the dancer who dazzled Balanchine out of his mis-concept and pushed all leading ballerinas into oblivion when he danced with them. Apollo was a masterpiece of Balanchine-Stravinsky combination.

Struck with his looks and high-profile dancing, Balanchine found his idol in Nureyev but when he visited Russia (Nureyev had defected from Russia) with the New York City Ballet, he told them that Russia was no longer the home of classical ballet but New York is.

With the New York City Ballet in full control, many leading companies established, everyone no better than the other. Classical ballet was sweeping across America and hundreds of classical ballet being mounted all over. To list all the great dancers who appeared with all these new companies as well as with NY City Ballet will fill books.

The American folklore was being pushed aside as Americans now, flocked to see such classics as The Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, The Dying Swan, Nutcracker, Apollo, Les Noces, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Giselle, Coppelia, etc.

By 1973, the City Centre that had over forty companies in their power, had to resolve a severe cut because of precipitating deficits on its budget and was compelled to shorten its New York which resulted in some companies braking away. One such company that was to gain much popularity later was the Joffrey Ballet.

However, shortly after the Joffrey Ballet toured Russia and the United States, the Harkness Foundation severed its support for this company and formed its own new dance ensemble called the Harkness Ballet with George Skibin as its artistic director.

The Harkness Ballet had the rights to some of the ballets produced by the Joffrey Ballet with great names attached. While all these incidents took place Rudolf Nureyev defected from Russia in 1962 and he also made his debut in America the same year after creating a sensation in Paris due to his defection with the KBG trailing him.

Even in the new millennium, the New York City Ballet remains as one of the major companies around the world after going through different phases in dance forms, from classical ballet to jazz, from jazz to modern footwork, from footwork to contemporary and back to classical music. America had a taste in all.
