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Ninette de Valois realised the importance of creating a company
of dancers who were all trained in the same style. After dancing
with Diaghilev in the early 1920s, she opened her own school in
London in 1926. To give her pupils stage experience, she offered
them to Lilian Baylis to dance in the operas at the Old Vic. By
1931, with a nucleus of six girls and de Valois as principal dancer,
the Vic-Wells Ballet Company and School were established at Sadler’s
Wells Theatre.
Repertoire
De Valois decided to produce Giselle, Swan Lake,
The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Princess in
full. This was the first time classical ballets had been a regular
part of a company’s repertory outside Russia. Alicia Markova was
the company’s ballerina. She left in 1935 to found her own company
and developed an international career. De Valois and Frederick
Ashton were the company’s principal choreographers. It was Ashton
who established an English ballet style. He created many roles
for Margot Fonteyn.
During World War 2 the company was renamed the Sadler’s Wells
Ballet. They toured Britain, dancing through the air raids, and
building a large audience for ballet. In 1946 the company moved
to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. At Sadler’s Wells de
Valois established a second company, the Sadler’s Wells Theatre
Ballet, where young dancers and choreographers could gain experience.
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Introduction
18th Century Satire
