Reverence: Honoring the Legacy of Antony Tudor

In most ballet classes, the end of the class is marked by performing reverence, an act involving bows, curtsies, and port de bras, honoring both the teacher and the pianist.  It is a means of showing gratitude for the influence and guidance of the teacher and of respecting the noble traditions of elegance and respect that were the beginnings of ballet.  In this post, I would like to pay "reverence" to the legacy of Antony Tudor, to what he taught us about dance, how it was and how it can be.

As I've discussed in my previous posts, we can thank him for the masterpieces of choreography he has left us, pieces that explore deeply the depth of the human condition in relation to psychology, pieces that seek to use virtuosity as a tool to convey themes rather than making virtuosity the theme.  His nuanced approach to the development of characters, while relatively unnoticed by audiences, was indispensable to the dancers' own understanding of their roles and the stakes of their characters within the context of the piece.  This merging of contemporary acting principles with balletic technique served to enhance the development of characters, making them more realistic, and thus enabling them to explore new depths of the human psyche.  This exploration influenced several other dance artists during the twentieth century, including Agnes de Mille, Jerome Robbins, and Robert Joffrey.  Some have even said that the many heroines of Martha Graham may have been born out of the conventions of Antony Tudor.

In addition to his choreography, Tudor has also left the dance world with a much more fixed feature, the shining gem that is American Ballet Theatre.  As we discussed in class, American Ballet Theatre was one of two companies that were essential to the development of American ballet, the other one being New York City Ballet under Balanchine.  Had it not been for Tudor's influence during its period of development, it is uncertain if it would've reached the lofty status that it holds today. Even after leaving American Ballet Theatre, he never again established a relationship of such devotion with any other company.  He eventually returned to American Ballet Theatre to stage his last great work, The Leaves Are Fading.

His most important contribution to the dance world, in my opinion, was his time spent in pedagogy.  In his later years, he spent the majority of his time teaching, primarily at Jacob's Pillow, Julliard, and University of California at Irvine.  While it may not be as glamorous as his work as a choreographer, his work as a teacher served to shape the state of dance in ways that he couldn't as a choreographer.  As we discussed in class, dance is a time art, and thus can only be transferred in time, from the teacher to the student.  In his time as a teacher, he inscribed his technique and composition style, everything that comprised Tudor ballet, onto the bodies of his students, writing a new chapter in the history of dance.  From his line, a whole new generation of dance artists, such as Pina Bausch, Paul Taylor, and others, went forth to change our conception of dance in ways Tudor couldn't even imagine.

Source for post: "Antony Tudor" by Christopher Caines

Historical Context

Another approach to understanding the impact of Antony Tudor and his choereography is look at the historical context of ballet in relation to modern dance at the time.

For much of its history, ballet has focused on romantic themes, in particular the elevation of the spirit and soul as supreme in comparison to the crude nature of the physical body.  As such, early choreographers sought to emphasize this sense of the spiritual through the advent of pointe shoes, which transfigured the human form, keeping them as far away from the earth as possible and giving the dancers a spirit-like appearance.  This is most easily seen in the ballet blancs, Giselle, Swan Lake, and La Sylphide.

One of the main elements of ballet that early modern dance artists, like Isadora Duncan, sought to deconstruct was the idea of the spiritual as being superior to the physical.  Instead modern dance sought to integrate these two realms, as this was thought to bring a greater understanding of both.  One of the ways this was accomplished was through the use of bare feet, instead of pointe shoes.  This provided connection to the earth and the material world, something that was antithetical to the aesthetic of the Romantics.  Modern dancers also tended to draw from spiritual traditions, but unlike the mostly Abrahamic influences of ballet emphasizing the transcendent nature of the spirit, dancers like Isadora Duncan drew from traditions like Hellenism, emphasizing transcendence as a process that occurs through connection with the natural world, rather than escape from it.

Antony Tudor sought to bring these two forms together in a way.  Contemporary ballet is sometimes referred to as "rebelling against rebellion."  In this sense, Tudor didn't seek to find an entirely new vocabulary of movement or technique necessarily, but rather sought to find new ways to employ his background in the Cecchetti method of ballet to express the themes that he found relevant, namely the human mind.  However, this is not to say that his movement was completely balletic in nature, as his use of the torso and floor work most certainly were the result of modern influences, likely picked up from his observations of the Jooss Company (Chamberlain Duerden 32).

Sources: The Choreography of Antony Tudor: Focus on Four Ballets by Rachel S. Chamberlain Duerden

Jardin aux Lilas (Lilac Garden)

When one discusses Antony Tudor, it is impossible to mention him outside of the context of his two most recognized and critically-acclaimed works, Lilac Garden and Dark Elegies, both of which he produced before he was thirty years old.  Having already witnessed one of these pieces, Dark Elegies, when it was performed at IU this year, I cannot wait for the chance to see a production of Lilac Garden.  Having not witnessed it in person, I will be relying primarily on critical reviews for this post.  For a much more in-depth view of these two ballets, as well as two Tudor's other well-regarded works, Pillar of Fire and The Leaves Are Fading, I would recommend taking a look at The Choreography of Antony Tudor: Focus on Four Ballets by Rachel S. Chamberlain Duerden, which I also used to write this post.

The basic plot of Lilac Garden follows Caroline, a young woman in Edwardian England who is engaged to a man she doesn't love.  At a party in a garden, Caroline encounters a man she truly loves.  They steal away to privacy at certain moments in the piece, while Caroline's fiance meets up with an old flame of his own.  The piece culminates in Caroline being led away by her fiance to her life of comfort and convenience, devoid of passion, just after being given a bouquet of lilacs by her lover.  The piece was very well received by American audiences when it was brought over to Ballet Theater, with Claudia Cassidy of the Chicago Tribune writing,

"With a ghostly company of other guests as background, their pas de quatre reaches some of the most evocative moments known to ballet.  Then the lover thrust a wealth of lilacs at the girl, the man she must marry wraps her cloak about her, and with an intercepted yearning, the lovers part.  In its way, this is balletic perfection."

 In Lilac Garden one can see some of Tudor's signature elements that comprise his movement vocabulary.  One of these elements would be his use of realistic gesture, the use of everyday movements to support the plot and themes present in the piece (Chamberlain Duerden 28).  For instance, there is a section of the ballet where Caroline can be seen smoothing her hair and dress in an attempt to present a state of serenity and calm to the reception guests.  This use of gesture can be seen as clearly dramatic in structure, a technique probably acquired from Tudor's time as an actor.  Another element of Tudor's choreography is the idea of music as a co-collaborator of a piece, saying, "With me, music must become a partner." (33).  Although, he did this in a way that was not "mickey-mousing."  Instead he sought to contrast the music in new ways, using movements that were just a little bit off the overall tone of the music.  This partnership of music can be seen in the attribution of Caroline to the violin in the piece, nigh-ubiquitous, the lynch-pin that holds the plot together (35).

Dark Elegies: Finding Healing through Dance

IU Sophomores Colin Ellis and Raffaela Stroik

Another major reason I chose Antony Tudor as my topic was because of the impact his choreography in Dark Elegies had on me when I saw it at Indiana University Ballet Theatre's Fall Ballet.  When I first heard that the piece was about people mourning the death of all of the town's children, my first response was apprehension.  How could I come away from a piece with such a somber and depressing theme feeling anything but grief.  However, my expectations were soon proved wrong as it became clear that Dark Elegies is not about the dead, but rather those who are left behind in the wake of catastrophe.

One of the themes I found most poignant within the piece was the relation of the individual to the community.  This is particularly relevant in the first song when the corps are gathered knelt in a circle facing outwards, while the soloist performs.  It is through this one woman that the internal  tribulations of the group are made manifest while still maintaining the outward semblance of solemn mourning.  Likewise, there are points throughout the piece when the dancers act as individuals and as members of a community.  For instance, while the first song emphasized the role of the individual, the songs from the third to the last, focus on the ritual mourning of the community and the ultimate catharsis that occurs as a result.  This came to mind when I saw the third song, in which the male soloist started moving his feet in a pigeon toed manner, similar to what we saw in Rite of Spring.  It was at this point that it clicked in my mind that Tudor was tapping into this same primal theme of dance as ritual.  Also, the costuming for the piece called to mind Nijinska's Les Noces, in that both dances depict peasant life cycle events, one of bliss and the other of sorrow, yet both equally vital to the health and well-being of the community.

Another theme I found interesting was the idea that we all mourn alone, even within a group.  Going back to the first song, while the soloist is portraying the inner struggle of the townswomen, they face outward instead of inward towards each other.  Another extreme example of this isolation is during the second song, which chronicles the despair of a mother who is now contemplating suicide.  As she is being partnered by her husband, a symbol of hope, they look at each other, but they never connect.  They touch.  They bow.  They support.  At one point she even jumps into his arms in a cradle rock.  Yet throughout all of this physical contact, there is no emotional connection.  This serves to emphasize the degree to which we all suffer and experience grief alone.  Even at a funeral, surrounded by friends and family, we still feel as isolated as if we were in a room all by ourselves.

Humble Beginnings

To kick off this blog, I thought I would start with some basic background information on Antony Tudor, in order to better understand his development as a twentieth century dance innovator.  For a full biography of Antony Tudor, I would recommend Undimmed Lustre:The Life of Antony Tudor by Muriel Topaz.

First off, Antony Tudor was not actually born Antony Tudor.  His birth name was William Cook.  Born on April 4, 1908 to a butcher, Tudor grew up in a blue collar neighborhood in the suburbs of London.  Although his life, like most of the youths in his neighborhood, was not saturated with the arts, Tudor was heavily influenced by what little exposure he had as a child, mostly piano lessons given by his mother and trips to the cabaret-style music halls of London.  He claims to have been "choreographing" at the age of six, putting on little shows with his siblings at the local fish market.

Antony Tudor as a child.

Tudor's first experience with ballet was rather awkward.  The first time he ever witnessed a ballet class was during his time in school when he glanced through a studio window while he was passing by on a streetcar.  He described movements of the dancers as "the strangest things."  He eventually signed up for a class with the studio, but soon left as he found that it wasn't focused enough, drawing from many different styles and techniques, but not doing any of them any justice.  Disappointed with his experience with dance, he turned to acting for a time, gaining moderate success as well as gaining further experience in dance through the roles he played.  Ultimately, he found that his pursuit of acting was limited by his lack of vocal skills.

It wasn't until he was nineteen that he again experienced ballet.  After witnessing Balanchine's Apollon Musagète, Tudor found his interest in dance renewed and found that it burned much more fervently than before.  Unable to quit his menial job as an office boy for a local meat market, Tudor began taking night classes with Marie Rambert, a former student of Diaghilev and a proponent of the Cecchetti method.  Although he suffered a great disadvantage due to his late start, Rambert was persistent in her effort to develop the talent she saw in Tudor, throwing him in the deep end in a way by having him train with her top dancers as a novice.  In order to pay for his classes he would perform odd jobs around the studio, such as bookkeeping, lighting and set design, and janitorial duties, in addition to his full-time job as office boy.

Antony Tudor as one of his first roles, Hercules.

It is his humble beginnings, in addition to his phenomenal choreography, that caused me to pick Antony Tudor.  As someone who grew up in similar circumstances, what with starting late and all, it means a lot to me to hear the tenacity with which Antony Tudor pursued his life as an artist and the ultimate success he achieved as a result.  It gives me hope that I too could be an innovator in my field, despite the inherent disadvantages I face.