Total Pageviews

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Visions for American ballet

Prior to the 1930s, American ballet lovers had to wait for European ballet companies, such as the Paris Opera, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and the Kirov, to come to town with their repertoires of 19th century classical ballets. These ballets arose out of the Romantic era of music, which began a century before. They were full-length narratives, set to the stirring compositions of such composers as Tchaikovsky, with dramatic scenery and beautiful costumes.
The Beginning of the American Ballet Movement
In the 1930s Lincoln Kirstein, a wealthy, Harvard-educated New Yorker and major cultural mover and shaker, met with choreographer George Balanchine, the Russian dancer and choreographer, to found an American school of ballet to create and perform original ballets, now known as the New York City Ballet. Balanchine was recognizes as the world’s most creative and foremost choreographer. About the same time, heiress and talented dancer Lucia Chase and Oliver Smith, the foremost American set designer for half a century, formed the American Ballet Theater. They, too, founded a school of ballet to train dancers and to choreograph and present the classics.
A Place to Call Home
The American Ballet Theater’s home is the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, an appropriate venue since both the opera and the ABT present full-length stories, with elaborate sets and costumes. When not at their home, they are touring all around the United States and the world. Almost immediately next door, the NYCB has been performing in what is now known as the David H. Koch Theater, also at Lincoln Center, their permanent home. They take up residence at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in the summer.
A Difference in Vision
The major difference between the two lies in their visions. Both Lucia Chase and Oliver Smith, ABT’s founders, wanted to develop a ballet company that would continue in the grand tradition of the European classical ballets, but with an American sensibility. When Mikhail Baryshnikov, a former student and dancer, took over as artistic director in 1980, he completely revitalized major works.
As a choreographer, George Balanchine had envisioned, along with NYCB co-founder Lincoln Kirstein, a ballet company that would create new works that would reflect contemporary times. Assisting them in this endeavor was choreographer extraordinaire, Jerome Robbins, who took over artistic direction in 1980. Its repertoire continues to grow and break artistic boundaries.
Boundless Creativity
When Jerome Robbins passed away, it was up to present-day Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins to step into his formidable shoes and carry on with the nurturing and development of new dancers and choreographers. At this time, the NYSB can boast more than 500 originally choreographed ballet productions, all of which had been imagined and created by their own choreographers over the past 60 plus years. Every time, the audience can expect something unpredictable and mesmerizing.
The goals of ABT founders Lucia Smith and Oliver Smith continue to achieve its goals today under the artistic direction of Kevin McKenzie. Possibly no dance company performing today has its depth of full-length productions, with a list of approximately 350 titles that include all the major classical masterpieces of the 19th and 20th centuries.

http://www.nycballet.com/company/mission.html
http://www.abt.org/insideabt/history.asp

No comments:

Post a Comment