The company now known as the Royal Ballet gave its first performance on 5th May 1931, presenting a mixed bill of short works. Among those works was a new ballet by Ninette de Valois, technically the first ever ballet premiered by the Royal Ballet, and it is this ballet I will be examining today. Humble … Continue reading Forgotten Ballets: The Jackdaw and the Pigeons, 1931
Forgotten Ballets
Forgotten Ballets: A Tragedy of Fashion, 1926
Previously in my series on forgotten ballets I looked at a 1926 ballet by George Balanchine, one of the most influential ballet choreographers. Today I'd like to look at a 1926 ballet by another influential ballet choreographer, who did the same for ballet in Britain as Balanchine did in America. In 1926 Marie Rambert and … Continue reading Forgotten Ballets: A Tragedy of Fashion, 1926
The Red Shoes, 1898
In 1948 Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger released the film The Red Shoes, in which Moira Shearer stars as Vicky Page. Page is a ballerina and during the film takes part in The Ballet of the Red Shoes. The movie was critically acclaimed, and was the basis for both a 1993 Broadway musical and a … Continue reading The Red Shoes, 1898
Forgotten Ballets: Le Sicilien, ou l’Amour peintre
Playwright Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, better known as Molière, is renowned as one of the greatest writers of all time. He is best known as a playwright, but he also dabbled in writing comédie-ballets, a genre of plays that also contain music and dance. The most remembered comédie-ballet is 1670's Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, produced in collaboration with … Continue reading Forgotten Ballets: Le Sicilien, ou l’Amour peintre
Forgotten Ballets: Tally-Ho, or The Frail Quarry, 1944
Among my collection I have several programmes from the Ballet Theatre's (now American Ballet Theatre) 1946 tour to England. The company performed at the Royal Opera House in the Summer of 1946, one of the first tours to England by a company following World War II. The ballets featured on the programmes I have are … Continue reading Forgotten Ballets: Tally-Ho, or The Frail Quarry, 1944
Forgotten Ballets: The Dance Dream, 1911
In the early 20th century, before the age of Ballet Rambert and the Vic-Wells Ballet, British ballet was mostly based at two London theatres: the Empire and the Alhambra. These theatres were music halls primarily, but a large portion of an evening's programme would be dedicated to ballet, and both theatres employed a full corps … Continue reading Forgotten Ballets: The Dance Dream, 1911
Forgotten Ballets: Fiammetta, 1864
A slightly earlier contemporary to Marius Petipa was Arthur Saint-Léon. Preceding Petipa in the role of Maître de ballet of the Imperial Ballet, Saint-Léon arrived in Saint Petersburg in 1859, holding his post for 10 years. During that time he'd create and stage ballets for the company, and one of them, was 1864's Fiammetta, often … Continue reading Forgotten Ballets: Fiammetta, 1864
Forgotten Ballets: Les Mohicans, 1837
In the first part of this series (see here) I looked at a ballet from 1837, during the Romantic Era of ballet. The ballet, Le Chatte, didn't receive the least performances of the Romantic ballets premiered at the Paris Opera. That distinction goes to Les Mohicans, which premiered just months before La Chatte, and involves … Continue reading Forgotten Ballets: Les Mohicans, 1837
Forgotten Ballets: The Triumph of Neptune, 1926
Choreographer George Balanchine was a genius. There's no denying that. His musicality and neoclassical style have influenced countless other choreographers, and his works are performed all around the globe. But that's not to say all of his ballets are remembered. Balanchine defected from the Soviet Union in 1924 and worked with the Ballet Russes for … Continue reading Forgotten Ballets: The Triumph of Neptune, 1926
Forgotten Ballets: Le chatte métamorphosée en femme, 1837
A lot of us can probably name a ballet. Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty are some of the most common answers I get when I tell people I'm interested in ballet- I've also gotten Giselle, and Anna Pavlova's Dying Swan. But there are plenty of ballets that have fallen by the wayside, some … Continue reading Forgotten Ballets: Le chatte métamorphosée en femme, 1837
Madeleine's Stage 