Introduction Origins of Ballet Dance in the 18th Century  18th Century Satire Romantic Ballet  The Cult of the Ballerina The Pas de Quatre Marie Taglioni Classical Ballet 20th Century Revolution  Diaghilev Ballet Diaghilev Ballet after 1918 Nijinsky Anna Pavlova The Establishment of British Ballet  Ballet Rambert The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet post 1945

Airs, Ballet Rambert

In the early 1930s Marie Rambert established the Ballet Club at the Mercury Theatre in London’s Notting Hill. The stage was tiny and because of their small scale the ballets became known as ‘chamber ballets’. Marie Rambert had a flair for developing the work of choreographers, including Frederick Ashton, Antony Tudor, Andrée Howard and Walter Gore.

Lilac Garden

La Sylphide

Gradually the company expanded and became Ballet Rambert. By the mid 1940s it had left the Mercury, and developed a more classical repertoire. By the mid 1950s it was celebrated for its revivals of Giselle and Les Sylphides. However Rambert still encouraged the work of major new choreographers, like Norman Morris.

Conflicts, Ballet Rambert

Ziggurat

By the 1960s Rambert had helped to create an extensive public following for British ballet. However there were many new companies all competing for the same audiences, and in 1966 the decision was taken to transform the company into a contemporary dance group. Ballet Rambert continued to produce choreographers, including Richard Alston, who went on to direct the company. Christopher Bruce, a performer who excelled in dramatic roles, such as Pierrot Lunaire and the Faun in Nijinsky’s L’apres midi d’un faun went on to create thirty works for the company eventually becoming the director from 1994 to 2002.

Pierrot Lunaire

Pierrot Lunaire

Ballet Rambert is now known as Rambert Dance Company.

Cruel Garden, Ballet Rambert