Brief History of the American
Ballet Theater
I guess many of you have heard about
the American Ballet Theater for this is by far one of the most
well-known ballet companies in the whole world. But for those, who
haven’t heard about it yet, I bet it’s best for you to start knowing
the history of the American Ballet Theater first. Knowing the facts
behind the foundation of this company will no doubt aid you in
understanding the later events that occur in the company, including
its people and its performances. So let’s start.
Based in New York, the American
Ballet Theater, also known as ABT, was first launched in 1939 as the
Mordkin Ballet. On its early days, the company aimed to develop a
unique repertoire of the best ballet performances from the past and
incorporate them to the contemporary masterpieces. They also
maintain such aim to encourage the creation of new ballet art forms
by the gifted young choreographers of today’s fast-paced world.
That original aim of the American
Ballet Theater was maintained until the company was officially
recognized as the American Ballet Theater in 1940. That time, the
company was directed by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, with the
help of another gifted choreographer, Oliver Smith. With the
leadership of these people, the company fulfilled that aim
dramatically.
It is further worth noting that
during the reign of Chase, and Pleasant, the American Ballet
Theater’s repertoire became unmatched in the history of ballet.
They began to successfully stage the greatest performances ever
known to man, such as The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Swan Lake,
Apollo, Airs, Push Comes to Shove, Duets, Jardin aux Lilas and Rodeo,
and Les Sylphides. All of these performances were acclaimed
by millions of spectators from around the world, uplifting the
reputation that the American Ballet Theater has gained before.
The American Ballet Theater was
passed under the management of Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1980,
succeeding Chase, and Pleasant’s leadership. Under his rule as the
artistic director, the company was able to stage a number of ballets
that are classical in nature. These ballets weren’t only staged,
but they were restaged and refurbished, opening the door to the
company’s strengthening and refining its classical tradition. It
was only in 1990 that the company was passed to the new management,
particularly under the leadership of Jane Hermann and Oliver
Smith. It was during this time that the company realized to keep
their tradition of the past while trying to pursue and develop new
forms of the art for the company’s future.
Today, the American Ballet Theater
has notably enjoyed remarkable successes as they keep their long
standing commitment and dedication to bringing up the finest
performances to the widest national and international audience.
They then started to form ties between countries in the whole world
and that’s what opened up a new door for the company to stage the
greatest performances in some of the great theaters worldwide. The
American Ballet Theater has successfully conquered not only the
entire America, but also Europe and Asia.
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