Poul Gnatt
Encyclopedia
Poul Rudolph Gnatt was a Danish dancer and balletmaster active in New Zealand.
. Brother and sister entered the parent company up graduation in 1939.
, Sleeping Beauty, Le Spectre de la Rose
and La Sylphide
. During the Second World War, still in the ballet company, Gnatt worked with the Resistance as liaison for British special operations parachutists. After the war he joined Roland Petit
's Ballets des Champs-Elysées in Paris, then the Metropolitan Ballet in London, where he met his longtime collaborator Harry Haythorne. His first marriage having ended in divorce; Poul married Rigmor Strøyberg in Copenhagen on 18 September 1951. That same year he joined the Borovansky Ballet, which regularly toured New Zealand (and which he would later lead under its new name, The Australian Ballet.) The following year he, Rigmor and their young sons moved to Auckland to teach ballet classes.
and directed it until 1962.
Dancers to come out of the company included Jon Trimmer
, Russell Kerr, Rowena Jackson
and Sara Neil. His sister, Kirsten Ralov
, and her husband, Fredborn Bjornsson, visited in 1962 to dance in Bournonville's
Napoli
, its first production outside Denmark.
The company’s board, however, appointed a new director that year. Gnatt joined The Australian Ballet as balletmaster. He returned as interim director of the New Zealand Ballet from 1969 to 1971 and subsequently co-founded the Dance Theatre of the Philippines.
Gnatt died in Otaki, New Zealand, on 15 October 1995.
Childhood
Gnatt was born in Baden, Austria. His father was Kai Gnatt, flower merchant, and his mother Kaja Olsen, both from Denmark, to which they returned from Austria with Poul and his sister Kirsten six years after his birth, whereupon the children entered the ballet school of the Royal Danish BalletRoyal Danish Ballet
The Royal Danish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, it originates from 1748, when the Royal Danish Theatre was founded, and was finally organized in 1771 in response to the great popularity of French and Italian styles of dance...
. Brother and sister entered the parent company up graduation in 1939.
Early career
Gnatt achieved acclaim for his CoppéliaCoppélia
Coppélia is a sentimental comic ballet with original choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon to a ballet libretto by Saint-Léon and Charles Nuitter and music by Léo Delibes. It was based upon two macabre stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Der Sandmann , and Die Puppe...
, Sleeping Beauty, Le Spectre de la Rose
Le Spectre de la Rose
Le Spectre de la Rose is a ballet of the Ballets Russes based on a poem by Théophile Gautier. The music, by Carl Maria von Weber, was his 1819 piano piece Invitation to the Dance, in the 1841 orchestration by Hector Berlioz. Choreography was by Michel Fokine and set and costume design by Léon Bakst...
and La Sylphide
La Sylphide
La Sylphide is one of the world's oldest surviving romantic ballets. There were two versions of the ballet; the version choreographed by the Danish balletmaster August Bournonville is the only version known to have survived....
. During the Second World War, still in the ballet company, Gnatt worked with the Resistance as liaison for British special operations parachutists. After the war he joined Roland Petit
Roland Petit
Roland Petit was a French choreographer and dancer born in Villemomble, near Paris, France. He trained at the Paris Opéra Ballet school, and became well known for his creative ballets.-Biography:...
's Ballets des Champs-Elysées in Paris, then the Metropolitan Ballet in London, where he met his longtime collaborator Harry Haythorne. His first marriage having ended in divorce; Poul married Rigmor Strøyberg in Copenhagen on 18 September 1951. That same year he joined the Borovansky Ballet, which regularly toured New Zealand (and which he would later lead under its new name, The Australian Ballet.) The following year he, Rigmor and their young sons moved to Auckland to teach ballet classes.
New Zealand
Gnatt and New Zealand ballet teachers Beryl Nettleton and Bettina Edwards performed at the Playhouse Theatre and in His Majesty’s Theatre, Queen Street, which led to lecture-demonstrations with a quartet of dancers, starting with tours to rural centres in the North Island sponsored by the Community Arts Service of Auckland University College. In 1953 Gnatt established the New Zealand BalletRoyal New Zealand Ballet
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is based in Wellington, New Zealand.The Royal New Zealand Ballet is a company of 32 dynamic dancers, performing an eclectic repertoire of outstanding dance, for national and international audiences, whilst continuing to build a style that is ultimately unique to the...
and directed it until 1962.
Dancers to come out of the company included Jon Trimmer
Jon Trimmer
Sir Jon Charles Trimmer, KNZM, MBE is a New Zealand ballet dancer who has been with the New Zealand Ballet Company in 1958-59 and 1970 to the present .-Early life:Trimmer was born on 18 September 1939 in Petone, New Zealand...
, Russell Kerr, Rowena Jackson
Rowena Jackson
Rowena Othlie Jackson MBE is a New Zealand prima ballerina. Jackson was born in Invercargill, to William Ernest Jackson and Lilliane Jane, née Solomon. She attended Epsom Girls' Grammar School, in Auckland, and in 1941 won the first Royal Academy of Dancing Scholarship in New Zealand. In 1946 ...
and Sara Neil. His sister, Kirsten Ralov
Kirsten Ralov
Kirsten Ralov was a Danish ballerina.She was born to Kai and Kaja Gnatt, née Olsen, a family of dancers living in Baden, Austria. Kirsten's mother encouraged her, and her brother Poul, to train as dancers. She entered the school of the Royal Danish Ballet at the age of 22, and was associated with...
, and her husband, Fredborn Bjornsson, visited in 1962 to dance in Bournonville's
August Bournonville
August Bournonville was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. August was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the nephew of Julie Alix de la Fay, née Bournonville, of the Royal Swedish Ballet.August was...
Napoli
Napoli (ballet)
Napoli, or The Fisherman and His Bride is a ballet created in 1842 for Denmark's Royal Ballet by Danish choreographer and ballet master August Bournonville. The ballet tells the story of Teresina, a young Italian girl who falls in love with Gennaro, a fisherman. The tale culminates in the marriage...
, its first production outside Denmark.
The company’s board, however, appointed a new director that year. Gnatt joined The Australian Ballet as balletmaster. He returned as interim director of the New Zealand Ballet from 1969 to 1971 and subsequently co-founded the Dance Theatre of the Philippines.
Gnatt died in Otaki, New Zealand, on 15 October 1995.
Honors
- Queen’s Service Order (1983) on the 30th anniversary of the New Zealand Ballet
- honorary doctorate of literature by Victoria University of WellingtonVictoria University of WellingtonVictoria University of Wellington was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a former constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and some scientific disciplines, but offers a broad range of other courses...
(1994) - The Royal New Zealand BalletRoyal New Zealand BalletThe Royal New Zealand Ballet is based in Wellington, New Zealand.The Royal New Zealand Ballet is a company of 32 dynamic dancers, performing an eclectic repertoire of outstanding dance, for national and international audiences, whilst continuing to build a style that is ultimately unique to the...
's principal studio was named in Gnatt’s honour when it moved into refurbished St James Theatre in Wellington in 1998.
Obituaries
- Dancing Times 86, no 1023 (December 1995): 243
- Evening Post. 19 October 1995: 5