Antony Tudor

Antony Tudor
Tudor inGala Performance,photographed byCarl Van Vechten,1941
Born	William Cook 4 April 1908 London, England
Died	19 April 1987(1987-04-19)(aged 79) New York City, U.S.
Resting place	Ashes in Woodlawn Cemetery

Antony Tudor(bornWilliam Cook;4 April 1908 – 19 April 1987) was an English balletchoreographer,teacher and dancer. He founded theLondon Ballet,and later thePhiladelphia Ballet GuildinPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S., in the mid-1950s.

Early life and education

Tudor was born William Cook inEast London,and grew up in theFinsburyarea.He discovered dance accidentally. Tudor's first exposure to professional ballet was in his late teens when he first sawSergei Diaghilev'sBallets Russes.He witnessed the dancerSerge Lifarof the Diaghilev Ballet inBalanchine'sApollon Musagètein 1928. Later, the Ballets Russes would introduce him toAnna Pavlova,who further inspired his journey into the world of dance. Tudor reached out toCyril W. Beaumont,the owner of a ballet book shop in theCharing Cross Roaddistrict in London, to seek advice regarding training and was instructed to study withMarie Rambert,a former Diaghilev Ballet dancer who taught theCecchetti method.

Career

He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for herBallet Clubthe next year. A precocious choreographer, at age twenty-three he created for her dancersCross Garter'd,thenLysistrata,The Planetsand other works at the littleMercury Theatre, Notting Hill Gate,and his two most revolutionary,Jardin aux lilas(Lilac Garden) andDark Elegies,before the age of thirty, himself dancing the main roles.

In 1938, he founded theLondon Balletwith Rambert members, including his future life partnerHugh Laing,Andrée Howard,Agnes de Mille,Peggy van Praagh,Maude LloydandWalter Gore.With the onset of World War II, in 1940 he was invited with them to New York, joining Richard Pleasant's andLucia Chase's reorganized Ballet Theater. Chase's company was later to become theAmerican Ballet Theatre,with which Tudor was closely associated for the rest of his life.

He was a resident choreographer with Ballet Theater for ten years, restaging some of his earlier works but also creating new works, his greatPillar of Fire(1942),Romeo and Juliet,Dim LustreandUndertow,on that company by the end of the war. Retiring from dancing in 1950, he headed the faculty of theMetropolitan Opera Ballet School,taught at theJuilliard Schoolrecurrently from 1950 onwards.He mentored dancers of color and offered weekly classes at the Philadelphia Ballet Guild, which he established in the mid-1950s.Among others, he taughtCarole King,who went on to found the predecessor to theNAISDA Dance CollegeforAboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderstudents ofcontemporary dancein Australia.

He was artistic director for theRoyal Swedish Balletfrom 1963 to 1964. He choreographed three works for theNew York City Ballet.

From 1973, Tudor continued his teaching career as professor of ballet technique at the Department of Dance,University of California, Irvine(work curtailed by a serious heart condition), while rejoining American Ballet Theatre in 1974 as associate artistic director, creatingThe Leaves Are FadingandTiller in the Fields,his last major work, in 1978. With Laing, he continued seasonal residence inLaguna Beach, California.

Muses for whom specific ballets where created include Maude Lloyd, Hugh Laing andNora Kaye.While specific ballets were not created for them,Diana AdamsandSallie Wilsoncan also be considered as muses of Tudor.

As a teacher, Tudor was known for focusing on physical and psychological details to strip away the ego allowing the dancer to be pushed outside their comfort zone and extend their potential. In an interview withDick Cavett,Tudor said, "You've got to get rid of the personal mannerisms to get to the character in the ballet and dancers don't want to let go. Breaking down a person isn't hard. But you cannot break them down unless you are willing to pick up the ashes right away and turn them into the Phoenix. That's the tough thing. You're terribly tempted to lay them flat and walk on them."

Boston Ballet dancers perform Antony Tudor'sDark Elegies(2008).

Recognition

Tudor was awarded a creative arts medal byBrandeis University,theDance MagazineandCapezioawards, New York City'sHandel Medallion,and bothKennedy Centerand Dance/USA National Honors.

Tudor was inducted into the Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame at theNational Museum of Dancein 1988.

Death and legacy

A disciplinedZen Buddhist,Tudor died onEaster Sundayin his residence at theFirst Zen Institute of America,aged 79.

Tudor is generally acceptedas one of the great originals of modern dance forms. Along withGeorge Balanchine,he is seen as a principal transformer of ballet into a modern art, but of a genius that uses, rather than proceeds from, ballet forms. His work is usually considered as modern "psychological" expression, but – like their creator – of austerity, elegance and nobility, remarkably primarily using only classical forms.Mikhail Baryshnikovsaid, "We do Tudor's ballets because we must. Tudor's work is our conscience."

Thirty of Tudor's dances have been documented inLabanotationby theDance Notation Bureau.The scores' introductory material contains history of the dances, cast lists, stylistic notes, background on Tudor, and information needed to stage the works (costumes, sets, lighting, music).

Trust

The Antony Tudor Ballet Trust was established to continue staging Tudor's works. His will appointedSally Brayley Blissas the sole trustee of his ballets upon his will submission to the Surrogate's Court of the State of New York in 1987.

The trust includes the following répétiteurs: Diana Byer, John Gardner, Airi Hymninen, James Jordan,Donald Mahler,Amanda McKerrow,Christopher Newton,Kirk Peterson,David Richardson, Willy Shives, Lance Westwood,Celia Franca(in memoriam) andSallie Wilson(in memoriam). Tara McBride is the administrator for the trust.

Major works

(*Ballets available for production)

• Adam and Eve(1932)
• Atalanta of the East(1933)
• Britannia Triumphans(1953)
• Cereus* (1971)
• A Choreographer Comments* (1960)
• Concerning Oracles(1966)
• Constanza's Lament(1932)
• Continuo* (1971)
• Cross Garter'd(1931)
• Dance Studies(less Orthodox) * (1961)
• Dark Elegies* (1937)
• The Day Before Spring(1945)
• The Dear Departed(1949)
• The Decent of Hebe(1935)
• Dim Lustre* (1943)
• The Divine Horsemen* (1969)
• Echoing of Trumpets* (1963)
• Elizabethan Dances(1953)
• Fandango* (1963)
• Exercise Piece* (1953)
• Gala Performance* (1938)
• Galant Assembly(1937)
• La Gloire(1952)
• Goya Pastoral(1940)
• Hail and Farewell(1959)
• Judgment of Paris* (1938)
• Knight Errant(1968)
• Lady of Camellias(1951)
• Leaves are Fading* (1975)
• The Legend of Dick Whittington(1934)
• La Leyenda de Jose(1958)
• Lilac Garden(Jardin Aux Lilas) * (1936)
• Little Improvisations* (1953)
• Lysistrata(1932)
• Les Mains Gauches* (1951)
• Mr. Roll's Quadrilles(1932)
• Nimbus(1950)
• Offenbach in the Underworld*(1954)
• Paramour(1934)
• Pas de Trois* (1956)
• Passamezzi(1962)
• Pavane pour une Infante Defunte(1933)
• Pillar of Fire* (1942)
• The Planets* (1934)
• The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet* (1943)
• Ronde du Printemps(1951)
• Seven Intimate Dances(1938)
• Shadow of the Wind(1948)
• Shadowplay* (1967)
• Soiree Musicale* (1938)
• Suite of Airs(1937)
• Sunflowers* (1971)
• The Tiller in the Fields(1978)
• Time Table(1941)
• Trio con Brio* (1952)
• Undertow* (1945)

See also

• List of dancers

Further reading

• Chazin-Bennahum, Judith (1994).The Ballets of Antony Tudor: Studies in Psyche and Satire.New York: Oxford University Press.
• Perlmutter, Donna (1995).Shadowplay: The Life of Antony Tudor.NYC: Limelight Editions.ISBN978-0-87910-189-3.

External links

• Zen Notesobituary issue,34:5 (May 1987), includes "Tudor Dies" by Mary Farkas; "Notes on Tudor" by Clara Gibson Maxwell and Suzanne Ames.
• Clara Gibson Maxwell, "Dancing Tudor'sCereus",Zen Notes,28:10 (October 1981): 6.
• Entry of Tudor's Dances on theDance Notation Bureau's On-line Theatrical Dances Catalog.
• Antony TudoratIMDb
• Archival film of Tudor's Gala Performance in 1959 at Jacob's Pillow
• Archive film of Tudor's Jardin aux Lilas in 1953 at Jacob's Pillow
• "Guide to the Hugh Laing and Antony Tudor papers, 1911-1988",Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library.
• Archival footage of Johan Renvall and Madeleine Onne performing in Tudor'sLittle Improvisationsin 1983 at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival.