Rambert Dance Company
Encyclopedia
Classical ballet
Classical Ballet is the most formal of the ballet styles, it adheres to traditional ballet technique. There are variations relating to area of origin, such as Russian ballet, French ballet, British ballet and Italian ballet...
company, it would exert a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and today, as a contemporary dance
Contemporary dance
Contemporary dance is a genre of concert dance that employs compositional philosophy, rather than choreography, to guide unchoreographed movement...
company, it continues to be one of the world's most renowned dance companies. It has previously been known as the Ballet Club, and the Ballet Rambert.
History
Dame Marie Rambert (1888-1982), founder of Rambert Dance Company, was born in Warsaw, where she was inspired to become a dancer after seeing Isadora Duncan perform. She went to Paris and after an early career as a recital artist and teacher she was engaged by Serge Diaghilev's Ballets RussesBallets Russes
The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...
as assistant to the choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky
Vaslav Nijinsky
Vaslav Nijinsky was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish descent, cited as the greatest male dancer of the 20th century. He grew to be celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations...
on The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring, original French title Le sacre du printemps , is a ballet with music by Igor Stravinsky; choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky; and concept, set design and costumes by Nicholas Roerich...
. She also taught Dalcroze Eurythmics
Eurhythmics
Dalcroze Eurhythmics, also known as the Dalcroze Method or simply Eurhythmics, is one of several developmental approaches including the Kodaly Method, Orff Schulwerk, Simply Music and Suzuki Method used to teach music education to students. Eurhythmics was developed in the early 20th century by...
to the company. During her year with the Ballets Russes
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...
her appreciation of classical ballet developed thus combining a love for traditional and new dance forms. During the First World War she settled in England where she met and married the playwright Ashley Dukes. Her association with Diaghilev led her to study ballet with the renowned Italian ballet master Enrico Cecchetti
Enrico Cecchetti
Enrico Cecchetti was an Italian ballet dancer, mime, and founder of the Cecchetti method. The son of two dancers from Civitanova Marche, he was born in the costuming room of the Teatro Tordinona in Rome. After an illustrious career as a dancer in Europe, he went to dance for the Imperial Ballet in...
, after which she joined the company as a dancer in the corps de ballet
Corps de ballet
In ballet, the corps de ballet is the group of dancers who are not soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and often work as a backdrop for the principal dancers. A corps de ballet works as one, with synchronized movements and corresponding positioning on the stage...
. In 1919 Rambert established a dance school in Notting Hill Gate
Notting Hill Gate
Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name.- Location :...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, teaching Checchetti's methods and in 1920, she transitioned into teaching ballet professionally. The school would become the foundation of today's Rambert Dance Company.
In 1926, Rambert formed a dance troupe using students from her school. Known as the Rambert Dancers, they performed in night time revue shows at various venues around London. In 1930, the troupe was re-established as the Ballet Club at the Mercury Theatre
Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill Gate
The Mercury Theatre was a small theatre in Kensington Park Road, Notting Hill Gate, London, notable for the productions of poetic dramas between 1933 and 1956, and as the home of the Ballet Rambert until 1987.- History :...
in London, which was owned by Rambert's husband. The Ballet Club was formed using the finest dance talent that Rambert could find and was to become the first classical ballet
Classical ballet
Classical Ballet is the most formal of the ballet styles, it adheres to traditional ballet technique. There are variations relating to area of origin, such as Russian ballet, French ballet, British ballet and Italian ballet...
company established in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The present day Rambert Dance Company is the same company established by Rambert and it continues to be the UK's oldest established dance company to this day. Despite being based at the Mercury Theatre, the company was best known as a touring company, travelling nationwide and it soon became known as the Ballet Rambert, the title by which it was most commonly recognised until the current name was adopted in the 1980s.
As the Ballets Russes had disbanded following the death of Serge Diaghilev in 1929, a number of Rambert's former colleagues joined the Ballet Rambert in its formative years, including Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin who would later became the first stars of Dame Ninette de Valois' Royal Ballet. A number of internationally renowned dancers and choreographers made their early appearances with the Ballet Rambert, including Sir Frederick Ashton, Sir Antony Tudor, Agnes de Mille
Agnes de Mille
Agnes George de Mille was an American dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMille and her uncle Cecil B. DeMille were both Hollywood directors...
, Andrée Howard, Walter Gore, and Peggy van Praagh
Peggy van Praagh
Dame Margaret "Peggy" van Praagh, DBE had a long and distinguished career in ballet as a dancer, choreographer, teacher, producer, advocate and director.-Dancing:...
.
Whilst developing a strong ballet culture in Britain and insisting on solid classical training, Rambert always intended that her company would dictate new trends in dance. The Ballet Rambert was recognised as one of the most innovative ballet companies of the 20th century, producing some of the world's most renowned choreographers. By the middle of the century, the Royal Ballet had superseded the company as the UKs leading classical ballet company, so Rambert made the decision to diversify the work of the company, introducing modern and neoclassical work into the repertoire. In the 1960s, the Ballet Rambert moved completely from classical ballet, concentrating instead on the development of contemporary dance
Contemporary dance
Contemporary dance is a genre of concert dance that employs compositional philosophy, rather than choreography, to guide unchoreographed movement...
. The company has since developed a worldwide reputation in this field, becoming known as the Rambert Dance Company in 1987.
Rambert Dance Company, based in Chiswick, London, tours Britain annually, accompanied by its own orchestra 'the 'Rambert Orchestra' (formerly the associate orchestra London Musici). It is commonly associated with such theatres as Sadler's Wells the Theatre Royal, Brighton
Theatre Royal, Brighton
The Theatre Royal, Brighton is a theatre in Brighton, England, United Kingdom presenting a range of West End and touring musicals and plays, along with performances of opera and ballet and a Christmas pantomime.-History:...
and The Lowry
The Lowry
The Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex situated on Pier 8 at Salford Quays, in Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is named after the early-20th century painter, L. S. Lowry, known for his paintings of industrial scenes in North West England...
in Salford
City of Salford
The City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Eccles, Swinton-Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam which apart from Irlam each have a population of over...
, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
. Rambert Dance Company is currently raising money to enable it to progress with its move to the South Bank, London, to accommodate its 22 full-time dancers and administration staff. The current building in Chiswick is not sufficient for the size of the company and its orchestra to rehearse its extensive and diverse repertoire.
Notable members of the Company have included: Frederick Ashton
Frederick Ashton
Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton OM, CH, CBE was a leading international dancer and choreographer. He is most noted as the founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet in London, but also worked as a director and choreographer of opera, film and theatre revues.-Early life:Ashton was born at...
, Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.-Biography:Tudor, born William Cook, discovered dance accidentally. He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for her Ballet Club the next year...
, Diana Gould
Diana Gould (dancer)
Diana Gould, later Diana Menuhin, Baroness Menuhin was a British ballerina and occasional actress and singer, who is best remembered as the second wife of the violinist Yehudi Menuhin...
(who married Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
), Maude Lloyd
Maude Lloyd
Maude Lloyd was a South African ballerina and dance critic.She studied classical ballet under Helen Webb in Cape Town, South Africa. She came to London in 1926 to study, and helped form the Ballet Rambert. The lead roles in many ballets by Frederick Ashton, Antony Tudor and Andrée Howard were...
, Sally Gilmour, Beryl Goldwyn
Beryl Goldwyn
Beryl Goldwyn - now Beryl Karney - is an English ballet dancer.Born near London, she started dancing at the age of three. She attended the Royal Ballet School and performed with the Royal Ballet in The Sleeping Princess , with Dame Margot Fonteyn, when the Royal Opera House reopened after the...
, Lucette Aldous
Lucette Aldous
-Biography:Born in Auckland, New Zealand, she undertook her early training in Australia, and later at the Royal Ballet School. She returned to Australia in 1970, quickly rising to Resident Principal Dancer with the Australian Ballet....
, Christopher Bruce
Christopher Bruce
Christopher Bruce is a choreographer and performer born in Leicester on 3 October 1945. He was Artistic Director of the Rambert Dance Company until 2002....
and Norman Morrice.
The current Artistic Director is Mark Baldwin
Mark Baldwin (choreographer)
Mark Baldwin is a ballet choreographer. He was born in Fiji and raised and educated in New Zealand. He is currently Artistic Director for Rambert Dance Company.- Career :...
(a former dancer with the company) and Executive Director is Nadia Stern.
In 2005 the Institute of Physics
Institute of Physics
The Institute of Physics is a scientific charity devoted to increasing the practice, understanding and application of physics. It has a worldwide membership of around 40,000....
commissioned the Rambert Dance Company to produce a dance commemorating the centenary of Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
's groundbreaking scientific ideas of 1905. The piece, choreographed by Mark Baldwin, was called Constant Speed. One of the dancers, Ana Lujan-Sanchez, was named Outstanding Female Artist (Modern) at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards in 2003.
In 2009 the company toured The Comedy of Change with music composed by Julian Anderson and production design by Kader Attia. Choreograpyh was by Mark Baldwin, who said: "This project started because Stephen Keynes, great-grandson of Charles Darwin, asked me if Rambert would be involved in the Darwin year 2009."
The Rambert School
The Rambert Ballet School that Dame Marie Rambert founded in 1919, has reinvented itself on a number of occasions since it was first established and due to the changes and innovations of the dance company, three separate schools have operated under the name. Two of these schools later merged and the third closed to leave the school which survives today. The present day school is based in premises in Twickenham, London, and was formed in 2001 as part of the West London Institute of Higher EducationWest London Institute of Higher Education
The West London Institute of Higher Education was located in Isleworth, West London, UK from 1976 until 1995 when it merged with Brunel University.- Establishment :...
. This was later subsumed into Brunel University and in 2003, the Rambert School became independent again and is now known as the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. It offers a two year foundation degree
Foundation degree
The Foundation Degree is a vocational qualification introduced by the government of the United Kingdom in September 2001, which is available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
, a three year bachelor's degree, a three year vocational course, and postgraduate courses to doctoral level. Many students go on to achieve positions with such internationally renowned dance companies as Dutch National Ballet
Dutch National Ballet
Dutch National Ballet was formed in 1961 when the Amsterdams Ballet and the Nederlands Ballet merged. The company has been directed by Sonia Gaskell , Rudi van Dantzig , Wayne Eagling and is currently directed by Ted Brandsen. It is the largest dance company in the Netherlands and attracts many...
, Northern Ballet Theatre
Northern Ballet Theatre
Northern Ballet, formerly Northern Ballet Theatre, is a dance company based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a strong repertoire in theatrical dance productions where the emphasis is on story telling as well as classical ballet...
, Scottish Ballet
Scottish Ballet
Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the four leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet...
, Boston Ballet
Boston Ballet
Boston Ballet, founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams, was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. Boston Ballet’s national and international reputation developed under the leadership of Artistic Directors Violette Verdy , Bruce Marks , and Anna-Marie Holmes...
, Netherlands Dance Theatre, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Richard Alston Dance Company
Richard Alston Dance Company
The Richard Alston Dance Company is a medium size contemporary dance company that was formed in 1994 after the demise of the London Contemporary Dance Theatre, based at The Place in London.-External links: **...
, Rambert Dance Company, Bejart Ballet
Béjart Ballet
The Béjart Ballet Lausanne is a Swiss ballet company. It is based in the city of Lausanne, but tours other countries.The Béjart Ballet Lausanne was founded in 1987. It was established by Maurice Béjart, a well-known choreographer who had previously founded and managed the "Ballet du XXe Siècle" in...
and Scottish Dance Theatre
Scottish Dance Theatre
Scottish Dance Theatre is a British contemporary dance company based at Dundee Repertory Theatre, Scotland.-The company:Scottish Dance Theatre is led by Artistic Director Janet Smith, who is a vital contributor to its choreographic repertoire...
.
The Rambert Schools is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama, an organisation which exists to train artists who will match the world’s best and on entering their professions shape the future of dance, drama and circus arts.
Reviews
External links
- Rambert Dance Company
- Archive footage of Ballet Rambert dancing Gala Performance in 1959 at Jacob's Pillow