Rambert Dance Company

Rambert Dance Company is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it exerted a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingdom, and today, as a contemporary dance company, continues to be one of the world's most renowned dance companies. It has previously been known as the Ballet Club, and the Ballet Rambert.

History

Dame Marie Rambert (1888-1982), founder of Rambert Dance Company, was born in Warsaw, Poland where she was inspired to become a dancer after seeing Isadora Duncan perform. She went to Paris and after an early career as a recital artist and teacher she was engaged by Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes as assistant to the choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky on The Rite of Spring. She also taught Dalcroze Eurythmics to the company. During her year with the Ballets Russes her appreciation of classical ballet developed thus combining a love for traditional and new dance forms. During the First World War she settled in England where she met and married the playwright Ashley Dukes. Her association with Diaghilev led her to study ballet with the renowned Italian ballet master Enrico Cecchetti, after which she joined the company as a dancer in the corps de ballet. In 1919 Rambert established a dance school in Notting Hill Gate, London, teaching Checchetti's methods and in 1920, she transitioned into teaching ballet professionally. The school would become the foundation of today's Rambert Dance Company.

In 1926, Rambert formed a dance troupe using students from her school. Known as the Rambert Dancers, they performed in revues at various London venues. In 1930, the troupe was re-established as the Ballet Club at the Mercury Theatre in London, which was owned by Rambert's husband. The Ballet Club was formed using the finest dance talent that Rambert could find, and was to become the first classical ballet company established in the United Kingdom. The present day Rambert Dance Company is the UK's oldest established dance company. Despite being based at the Mercury Theatre, the company was best known as a touring company, travelling nationwide and soon became known as the Ballet Rambert, the title by which it was most commonly recognised until the current name was adopted in the 1980s.

As the Ballets Russes had disbanded following the death of Serge Diaghilev in 1929, a number of Rambert's former colleagues joined the Ballet Rambert in its formative years, including Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, who would later become the first stars of Dame Ninette de Valois' Royal Ballet.

A number of internationally renowned dancers and choreographers made their early appearances with the Ballet Rambert, including Frederick Ashton, Antony Tudor, Agnes de Mille, Andrée Howard, Pearl Argyle, Walter Gore and Peggy van Praagh.

The Ballet Rambert visiting an aircraft factory in Second World War Britain: Dancers from the Ballet Rambert, under the auspices of CEMA (Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts). Lunchtime in the canteen. The factory workers seated at their tables watching a production of 'Peter and the Wolf' on the stage.

During the 1970s the Ballet Rambert also presented shows, first on stage and later via BBC television to engage the interest of a younger audience, using the anagrammatic name Bertram Batell's Side Show.^[1] Such as Ghost Dances

Whilst developing a strong ballet culture in Britain and insisting on solid classical training, Rambert always intended that her company would dictate new trends in dance. The Ballet Rambert was recognised as one of the most innovative ballet companies of the 20th century, producing some of the world's most renowned choreographers. By the middle of the century, the Royal Ballet had superseded the company as the UK's leading classical ballet company, so Rambert made the decision to diversify the work of the company, introducing modern and neoclassical work into the repertoire. In the 1960s, the Ballet Rambert moved completely from classical ballet, concentrating instead on the development of contemporary dance. The company has since developed a worldwide reputation in this field, becoming known as the Rambert Dance Company in 1987. In 2013, Dance Company was dropped from its title, to become simply: Rambert.

Rambert tours Britain annually, accompanied by its own 'Rambert Orchestra' (formerly the associate orchestra London Musici). It is commonly associated with such theatres as Sadler's Wells^[2] the Theatre Royal, Brighton^[3] and The Lowry^[4] in Salford, Greater Manchester. In November 2013, Rambert moved from Chiswick, London, to new, purpose built headquarters on London's South Bank. The Company was given a plot of land by Coin Street Community Builders, in exchange for delivering an annual dance outreach programme. For the first time in its history, Rambert’s new home will allow the public greater access to its extensive archive material in a purpose built resource centre. Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, officially opened Rambert's new home on the South Bank on Friday 21 March 2014.

Notable members of the Company have included: Frederick Ashton, Antony Tudor, Diana Gould (who married Yehudi Menuhin), Maude Lloyd, Sally Gilmour, Beryl Goldwyn, Lucette Aldous, Christopher Bruce and Norman Morrice.

The current artistic director is Mark Baldwin (a former dancer with the company), and the executive director is Nadia Stern.

In 2005, the Institute of Physics commissioned the Rambert Dance Company to produce a dance commemorating the centenary of Albert Einstein's groundbreaking scientific ideas of 1905. The piece, choreographed by Mark Baldwin, was called Constant Speed.

In 2009, the company toured The Comedy of Change with music composed by Julian Anderson and production design by Kader Attia. Choreography was by Mark Baldwin, who said: "This project started because Stephen Keynes, great-grandson of Charles Darwin, asked me if Rambert would be involved in the Darwin year 2009."

The Rambert School

The Rambert Ballet School that Rambert founded in 1919, has reinvented itself on a number of occasions since, and due to the changes and innovations of the dance company, three separate schools have operated under the name. Two of these schools later merged and the third closed to leave the school which survives today.

The present day school is based in premises in Twickenham, London, and was formed in 2001 as part of the West London Institute of Higher Education. This was later subsumed into Brunel University and in 2003, the Rambert School became independent again and is now known as the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. It offers a two-year foundation degree, a three-year bachelor's degree, a three-year vocational course, and postgraduate courses to doctoral level. Students go on to achieve positions with dance companies including Dutch National Ballet, Northern Ballet Theatre, Scottish Ballet, Boston Ballet, Netherlands Dance Theatre, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Richard Alston Dance Company, Rambert Dance Company, Bejart Ballet and Scottish Dance Theatre. The Rambert School is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama.^[5] The current principal and artistic director is Amanda Britton MA. Britton succeeded Ross McKim on 11 July 2015.

Notes

Bibliography

Marie Rambert (1972). Quicksilver: Autobiography. London: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-333-08942-1.
Clement Crisp (1981). Ballet Rambert: 50 Years and on. London: Ballet Rambert. p. 111. ISBN 0-9505478-1-6.

Reviews

Ballet Magazine by Lynette Halewood, October 1998

External links

Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance

Schools of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School Central School of Ballet London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art London Contemporary Dance School National Centre for Circus Arts Northern School of Contemporary Dance Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

Ballet companies

Africa	Cairo Opera Ballet Company Cape Town City Ballet

Asia	Ballet Manila Ballet Philippines Guangzhou Ballet Hong Kong Ballet Iranian National Ballet Company Israel Ballet K-ballet Korea National Ballet National Ballet of China Philippine Ballet Theatre Shanghai Ballet Company Singapore Dance Theatre State Ballet of Georgia Tokyo Ballet Universal Ballet

Europe	Ballet Cymru Les Ballets Persans Ballet Romand Barcelona Ballet Bayerisches Staatsballett Béjart Ballet Berlin State Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Cork City Ballet Royal Danish Ballet Donetsk Ballet Dutch National Ballet Eifman Ballet English National Ballet Finnish National Ballet Sukhishvili Georgian National Ballet Greek National Opera Hamburg Ballet Hungarian National Ballet Kiev Ballet La Scala Theatre Ballet Mariinsky Ballet Mikhailovsky Theatre Ballet National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Moldova The Monte-Carlo Ballet National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria Northern Ballet Norwegian National Opera and Ballet Novosibirsk Theatre Ballet Original Ballet Russe Paris Opera Ballet Perm Theatre Ballet Polish National Ballet National Ballet of Portugal The Royal Ballet Rambert Dance Company Russian State Ballet of Siberia Saint Petersburg Ballet Theatre Scottish Ballet Spanish National Dance Company Stanislavski Ballet Stuttgart Ballet Royal Swedish Ballet Théâtre du Silence Turkish State Opera and Ballet

North America	Alabama Ballet Alameda Civic Ballet Alexandra Ballet Alonzo King LINES Ballet American Ballet Theatre American Repertory Ballet Anaheim Ballet Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Atlanta Ballet Atlanta Festival Ballet Ballet Arizona Ballet Austin Ballet BC Ballet Des Moines Ballet Fantastique Ballet Hispanico Ballet Magnificat! Ballet Memphis BalletMet Ballet Minnesota Ballet Nebraska Ballet Nouveau Colorado Ballet Quad Cities Ballet San Jose Ballet Theatre of Maryland Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo Ballet West Bay Pointe Ballet Boston Ballet Les Grands Ballets Canadiens California Riverside Ballet Carolina Ballet Charlotte Ballet Chicago Ballet Chicago Festival Ballet Cincinnati Ballet Cleveland Ballet Colorado Ballet Complexions Contemporary Ballet Cuban National Ballet Dance Theatre of Harlem Dayton Ballet Eugene Ballet Greensboro Ballet Houston Ballet Joffrey Ballet Kansas City Ballet Los Angeles Ballet Louisville Ballet National Ballet of Canada National Ballet Theater of Puerto Rico New Jersey Ballet New York City Ballet Oklahoma City Ballet Oregon Ballet Theatre Pacific Northwest Ballet Pennsylvania Ballet Pittsburgh Ballet San Francisco Ballet Tulsa Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet

Oceania	The Australian Ballet Queensland Ballet Royal New Zealand Ballet West Australian Ballet

South America	Ballet Municipal de Lima Chilean National Ballet Colon Theater Ballet Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro

Schools of Professional Ballet

Europe	Ballet School of the Royal Danish Theatre Elmhurst School for Dance English National Ballet School John Cranko Schule La Scala Theatre Ballet School Moscow State Academy of Choreography Perm State Choreographic College Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance Royal Ballet School Royal Swedish Ballet School Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet

Americas	Canada's National Ballet School Cuban National Ballet School Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School Pacific Northwest Ballet School Royal Winnipeg Ballet School San Francisco Ballet School School of American Ballet

Other	Higher Institute of Ballet Australian Ballet School Beijing Dance Academy Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts The Music and Ballet School of Baghdad

Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance (1977–2000)

London Festival Ballet (1977) Robert Cohan (1978) Peter Schaufuss (1979) The Royal Ballet (1980) Stuttgart Ballet (1981) Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris (1982) Ballet Rambert (1986) Trisha Brown (1987) Kirov Ballet (1988) London Contemporary Dance Theatre (1989/1990) Twyla Tharp and Jennifer Tipton (1991) William Forsythe and The Royal Ballet (1992) Siobhan Davies (1993) London Contemporary Dance Theatre (1994) Peter Mumford (1995) Siobhan Davies (1996) Rambert Dance Company (1997) Lez Brotherston (1998) William Forsythe and Ballett Frankfurt (1999) Jiří Kylián and Nederlands Dans Theater 1 (2000)

Complete list (1977–2000) (2001–2025)

Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance (2001–2025)

Deborah Colker (2001) Mark Morris and Mark Morris Dance Group (2002) Robyn Orlin (2003) Thomas Edur and Agnes Oakes (2004) San Francisco Ballet (2005) Pina Bausch (2006) Carlos Acosta (2007) The Royal Ballet (2008) Royal Ballet of Flanders (2009) Rambert Dance Company (2010) Antony Gormley (2011) Edward Watson (2012) Marianela Núñez (2013) Michael Hulls (2014) Crystal Pite (2015) Alessandra Ferri (2016)

Complete list (1977–2000) (2001–2025)

Dance companies in the United Kingdom

Ballet	Ballet Cymru Birmingham Royal Ballet English National Ballet London Children's Ballet Northern Ballet Royal Ballet Scottish Ballet

Contemporary	Candoco DV8 Physical Theatre Motionhouse National Dance Company Wales New Adventures Phoenix Dance Theatre Rambert Dance Company Richard Alston Dance Company Scottish Dance Theatre Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company Siobhan Davies Dance Company Wayne McGregor Random Dance

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