CriticalDance Forum

John Percival writes about the two revivals of works by Antony Tudor in the RB this year and laments the neglect that this key choreographer has faced. However, the attitude of the Tudor Trust in trying to stop Rambert perform the original version of 'Dark elegies' has probably not helped Tudor's cause in the UK. <P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Nothing concentrates the mind so much as the prospect of departure and, for his last year of directing the Royal Ballet, Anthony Dowell has remembered the inestimable part played by the choreographer Antony Tu]dor in his development, teaching him "how to think and be imaginative" about his roles. So at last we get again, after decades of absence, not one but two ballets by him, Shadowplay and Lilac Garden.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <P><A HREF="http://www.independent.co.uk/enjoyment/Theatre/Dance/2000-10/ballet191000.shtml" TARGET=_blank><B>now read on</B></A>

Please tell us more about the Rambert/Tudor Trust performance rights conflict....

Tudor made 'Dark Elegies' on Ballet Rambert and when he went to the US he revised it.<P>My understanding is that in the 1990's, Rambert wanted to revive the work and to perform the original version. The Tudor Trust threatened to take them to court unless they performed the revised version. <P>Rambert felt very confident in their moral right to peform this work which was originally made on them, but the lawyers could not be so definite and the last thing that any UK company wants is court expenses.<P>In the end they settled with the right to perform the original version of 'Dark Elegies' 10 times over the next 25 years (from memory).<P>Not the best way to get the work of a half-forgotten choreographer back on the stage. 'Elegies' remains the only Tudor work I have ever seen.

Did the Tudor Trust's rationale for their decision have anything to do with what they believed would be the quality of the performance that the work might receive from Rambert...a very different company with a different emphasis than in the 1930s? Or was it more a matter of the version (e.g., not the version currently set and sanctioned by the Trust for other companies)?<P>Astonishingly (after 60+ years) Dark Elegies is a work that has the power to sharply divide audiences. There are people who will refuse to attend a performance of this work because they cannot conceive of the composer's (Mahler) or the choreographer's aims in creating such a work. Even when I was in graduate musicology courses, I distinctly recall a diatribe from one of my professors who refused to discuss the piece, because she believed that it was evidence of Mahler's psychosis, and that no one in their right mind would have set a piece about the death of children. Personally, I find myself drawn to the work (as I am to Mahler's other orchestrated song cycles, especially the Ruckert Lieder and Das Lied von der Erde) because of Mahler's courage in not failing to go into emotionally disturbing territory such as this, and challenging the listener to give his perspective some consideration. I believe that Tudor mirrors Mahler's intentions brilliantly in Dark Elegies. It is a work that deserves repeated viewing.

<A HREF="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=000148269364269&rtmo=VPPkPuPx&atmo=99999999&pg=/et/00/10/28/btizz028.html" TARGET=_blank><B>Ismene Brown pens </B></A>an interesting piece about Tudor and his fall-out and reconciliation with the UK ballet establishment.<P><A HREF="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,25771,00.html" TARGET=_blank><B>Debra Craine reports </B></A>on the same theme by interviewing some of those at the RB, including Dowell, involved in the staging of 'Shadowplay'. Must sort out about going to see it.

Francis, apologies for the delay in getting back to you. <P>My understanding is that it was entirely the question of the version that Rambert wanted to perform. A majority of the Rambert dancers are ballet trained and they still alternate ballet class with Cunningham. Indeed, some modern dance enthusiasts believe, rightly or wrongly, that they look more like a ballet company than a modern one in the way that they perform. They look fine in a wide range of work to me. <P>I'm with you in that dark works are acceptable as well as the breezy or romantic ones. I was pleased to see 'Dark Elegies' and felt that it had a vision I had not seen elsewhere. <P>It may be that with the Rambert Anniversary celebrations next year that they will use up some more of their performance slots. Just to be selfish, I hope that they do this in London. Given that most of the work they put into rep are performed some 20-40 times or more, the Tudor Trust restriction must be a real discouragement to reviving the work.<P>It will also be interesting to see Tudor's use of folk dance elements after seeing the use that Mark Morris makes of these.

Debra Craine reviews the Royal Ballet's revival of Antony Tudor's Shadowplay and the premiere of Michael Corder's latest creation. This link is worth checking out as there is a stunning image of Acosta and Rojo. Regarding the Tudor, Craine tells us:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Carlos Acosta, inheriting the Dowell role at Saturday's first performance, has reined in his natural tendency for extrovert<BR>display - Tudor didn't want his ballet to be "played" to an<BR>audience. Acosta moves with a deliberate concentration as he<BR>searches for clarity in this mixed-up world. His slowly-rising<BR>arabesques are gorgeously delivered, and he earnestly tries to<BR>match form to content in his dancing. But he can't yet make sense of what he's doing, and without a central performance of utter conviction this ballet really doesn't work. <BR>Tamara Rojo, as the Celestial goddess, offers the ultimate distraction, softly seducing the Boy with her voluptuously extended limbs, while Nigel Burley's Terrestrial is impressively imposing and compelling. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <BR><A HREF="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,26815,00.html" TARGET=_blank><B> now read on</B></A><P>Judith Mackrell also reviews the Shadowplay bill. Of the new Michael Corder work, she says:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>If Tudor's Shadowplay embodies the confident eccentricity of a mature artist, Michael Corder's new ballet, Dance Variations, seems the work of a man playing desperately safe. Set to Richard Rodney Bennett's deft but unmemorable score, Corder's choreography puts its dancers through their classroom paces expertly, but without ever surprising us or them.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><A HREF="http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/reviews/story/0,3604,389847,00.html" TARGET=_blank><B> now read on</B></A><P>Finally, here is <A HREF="http://www.independent.co.uk/enjoyment/Theatre/Dance/Reviews/2000-10/dance301000.shtml" TARGET=_blank><B> Nadine Meisner's review.</B></A><P>

<A HREF="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=000148269364269&rtmo=qXRbMeJ9&atmo=99999999&pg=/et/00/10/31/btboy.html" TARGET=_blank><B> Ismene Brown </B></A>finds much to enjoy in the triple bill from the Royal Ballet.

Judith Mackrell sees Edward Watson play the Boy with Matted Hair in Tudor's 'Shadowplay' and finds that the performance '...confirms his star potential.' He is a lovely dancer and has impressed people from an early stage in his career. I think it's the grace of his movement which appeals to me and I can readily beleive Mackrell's comparison with Acosta, who I have seen perform the work.<P>In addition, Mackrell enthuses, like everyone else in the known Universe, at Rojo's portrayal of 'Ondine'.<BR> <A HREF="http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4096358,00.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4096358,00.html</A>