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American Ballet Caravan South America tour


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Hi

I have made a search both on the web and on this forum looking for information regarding the above, but the only info I found is that it was a much- acclaimied tour, that it was sponsored by Nelson Rockefeller and that after the tour the company disbanded.

I would like to have more info, such as:

- which countries were visited (especially, I would like to know if they come to Uruguay)

- some of the ballets danced (beside Ballet Imperial and Concerto Barocco)

- names of some dancers.

If someone has the above info, I would be much too grateful to get it (this is for a lecture I am preparing on BAlanchine)

Thanks a lot in advance

Silvy

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Hi

I have made a search both on the web and on this forum looking for information regarding the above, but the only info I found is that it was a much- acclaimied tour, that it was sponsored by Nelson Rockefeller and that after the tour the company disbanded.

I would like to have more info, such as:

- which countries were visited (especially, I would like to know if they come to Uruguay)

- some of the ballets danced (beside Ballet Imperial and Concerto Barocco)

- names of some dancers.

If someone has the above info, I would be much too grateful to get it (this is for a lecture I am preparing on BAlanchine)

Thanks a lot in advance

Silvy

Silvy,

I have some of the information, it's from the NYCB coffee table book with text by Kirstein. The information is so sketchy though.

According to Kirstein, they performed in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile.

I think that's probably complete, but the ballets he mentions are Apollo, Errante,(these two in Buenos Aires at least),

Concerto, and Imperial.

What makes it harder is that evidently the tour was to include Mexico(?), Peru, Equador, Columbia, and Venezuela, but they ran out of money.

I remember reading the ballerina that did Ballet Imperial on the tour a few weeks ago. I think it was Gisella Ciaccialanza, who did the first NYC performances.

But Kirstein doesn't mention this, this is just my (unreliable) memory

Kirsten menions other rep, but it's unclear if it was actually done, or dropped along with some the cities.

In general, although the photos are beautiful, it's really hard to get a continous feel for the sequence of events in this book. It's almost like a series of text snapshots.

Sorry this is so sketchy, there is most likely more solid documentation in other sources, for instance the Buckle bio of Balanchine

Richard

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Dear Richard:

The information you have given me is really priceless - I know my audience will be very interested to learn that they performed in Uruguay (especially the younger people)

Thanks again!!!!! :(

Silvy

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Some more from Kirstein's book:

Although the company was accompanied by a State Department employee to assist, the troupe's connection with Nelson Rockefeller's agency rendered them deeply suspect by ordinary Foreign Service diplomats. In Rio, the American ambassador liked Ballet Imperial, but "but our so-called modern works convinced him that we had been sent to subvert both his embassy and the continent in time of war." He didn't understand why they weren't doing Swan Lake and other items of the then-standard repertoire, as exemplified by the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, which had toured Brazil the previous summer. Kirstein's attempt to explain how they were trying to create a distinctly American ballet repertoire fell on deaf ears; ballet, to this ambassador, was an alien concept, and as far as he was concerned should stick with its alien repertoire.

Sao Paulo was a little more welcoming, and the company tried hard to work with Brazilian composers and painters. Candido Portinari made a backcloth for Serenade, scattering stars in the constellation of the Southern Cross a la Joan Miro. Balanchine invented a Radio City Music Hall version of supposedly native dances to music by Guarnieri. Kirstein says that the reviews were "not exactly unkind."

He does say that "Montevideo was not much of an improvement, but the audiences were more sympathetic." (The only mention of Uraguay.)

In Buenos Aires, all the girls under 18 were arrested and jailed, despite their work permits. The authorities thought that the company was bringing them in to be prostitutes. This happened on a weekend, when a judge (the only one capable of springing the girls) could not be raised. Balanchine insisted on being arrested, too.

Eventually they got that straightened out, but early performances were sparsely attended. After Errante and Apollo were presented, interest rose. Victoria Ocampo, editor of the progressive literary magazine Sur, and her friend Maria Rosa Oliver were able to stir up some enthusiasm.

A blizzard immobilized the company in Mendoza for two weeks. The Andes were impassable, and the scenery had to be routed, guarded by two dancers, up and through Bolivia. In the meantime the dancers gave daily performances in a tiny theater attached to a gambling casino.

Eventually the company, wearing oxygen masks, was finally flown across, or rather between, the Andes. When it became clear that the amount of income allocated for the tour would be insufficient, Kirstein had to fly to Washington to renegotiate. He wasn't very skillful, but the tour was rescued when the plane carrying a "famous tenor and film star" (names not mentioned) who had also been touring South America, crashed, leaving a string of cancelled performances. The ballet company stepped into the breach.

Kirstein says that, on the basis of contacts made during the tour, he was able to return to South America within the year to buy progressive Latin American paintings for the Museum of Modern Art.

He concludes his account by noting,

Back in New York, looking over newspapers from the South American journey, I was surprised to find how erudite, warm, and favorable much of the journalistic criticism had been.  It was almost too scholarly, on too respectful a level.  Perhaps it tended to keep popular audiences away by the very level of its seriousness.  Ballet was made to seem as sacred as symphonic music, but not as much fun.  Also, we had had little or no advance publicity;  our embassies had considered us a sinister nuisance.  Worse, we had no famous stars -- and worst, our ballets were not remotely Russian.
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It's not surprising that the US ambassador found the modern works subversive: the tour was funded as part of a culture war: Latin America was considered a major battleground of political influence over which the US and Soviet Union fought. Anything "revolutionary" in any way would have been worrisome to the continent directly north.

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It's not surprising that the US ambassador found the modern works subversive:  the tour was funded as part of a culture war:  Latin America was considered a major battleground of political influence over which the US and Soviet Union fought.  Anything "revolutionary" in any way would have been worrisome to the continent directly north.

And the Nazis, too. Let's not forget Onkel Adolf!

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"Repertory in Review" lists premieres on the American Ballet Caravan tour by Antony Tudor, Lew Cristensen and Jose Fernandez, and William Dollar. Two premieres are credited to Balanchine: "Divertimento," to music of Rossini orchestrated by Benjamin Britten, 27 June, 1941, Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro; and "Fantasia Brasileira," to a piano concerto by Francisco Mignone, 27 August, 1941, Teatro Municipal, Santiago de Chile. Neither of these ballets was ever seen anyplace else.

Hi, Silvy. :)

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Wasn't Marie Jeanne the lead ballerina on this tour?

According to the short bio lead-in to her interview in Robert Tracey's Balanchine's Ballerinas, "During the 1941 American Ballet Caravan tour of South America she was the company's leading ballerina, and Balanchine made two of his most famous ballets for her: Concerto Barocco and Ballet Imperial." About these ballets, she said, "In Barocco, I had to dance for eighteen minutes straight. To every beat. It was the most demanding role ever did for me. The way they do it now isn't quite the same. Ballet Imperial was not a masterpiee like Barocco, but it was a vehicle for me and delightful to dance.

She continued to say that she was in four other ballets on the tour: Serenade -- which, according to the bio, Balanchine restaged for her in 1940 when she guested for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, adding a movement for her -- Apollo (as Terpsichore), and The Bat -- as well as Divertimento, which he "whipped up" as a rousing closer. In that ballet, she had an adagio and a Tyrolean Dance; the latter she said she had to do as an encore.

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Lew Christensen was a principal dancer and ballet master for American Ballet Caravan. Balanchine's "Apollon Musagete" (1937) was created for him. Lew also choreographed several ballets at this time. "Encounters" (1937) set to Mozart's "Haffner" Serenade; "Pocahontas" (1939) set to a commissioned score by Eliot Carter; and one of his signature ballets which is still performed today "Filling Station" (1939). "Filling Station" is considered the first all American ballet: American choreographer, dancers, based on an American theme, music (Virgil Thompson) and design. In 1941, he married Gisella Caccialanza (star of American Ballet), who was the god daughter and last protege of famed Italian ballet master, Enrico Cecchetti. The American Ballet Caravan was the joining together of Lew's "Ballet Caravan" (1936) and Balanchine's "American Ballet" (circa 1934). They joined forces for the tour in 1941, calling it "American Ballet Caravan", Lew appointed as Ballet Master. During this time, Lew also choreographed another of his signature works, "Jinx" (1942) set to music by Benjamin Britten. This work is still performed occasionally today.

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I believe that Joseph Levinoff was another dancer with the ABC on this tour. Levinoff worked for years as the "good-will ambassador" and traveling teacher for Selva shoes.

Rockefeller Center was actually the brainchild of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the same guy who created the Rockefeller Foundation for philanthropic purposes. Nelson, his son, had a large say in the decor of the place, which did not always set well with the rest of the family and the public in general. (In one mural, Diego Rivera [suspect] included images of Benito Juarez [good], Emilio Zapata [questionable], and Lenin [bad!]).

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And the Nazis, too.  Let's not forget Onkel Adolf!

Absolutely. In 1941, things looked good for the Nazis, with occupations in Scandinavia, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Greece (after the Greek troops were off in Albania fighting Italian troops), Yugoslavia, not to mention decimating the Soviet Union's western front that summer.

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And the Germans had already succeeded in forming enclaves in Argentina and other South American countries made up of descendants of emigrants from the 1848 revolutions. Even today, there are large population centers which are Germanophone. There's even an explosives firm (Elephant) which still makes black rifle powder "just like Opa used to make. (not smokeless, intended for musket shooting)"

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We received a message today from Mary Colbath's son (Thank you! :)) :

I found your site while doing a search for the name "Lorna London." Lorna is a friend of my mother's, and my mother, Mary Colbath, toured with her on the South American tour of the Ballet Caravan. One of your members was asking for information on the tour and I wanted to let her know that some of those dancers are still very much around. I found information on the tour through a search of the archives on the NY Times site.

While it may be a bit late for silvy's lecture, for any other interested readers, the info is out there!

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My teacher, Albia Kavan who is now deceased, was on this tour I believe. She told me many stories about the tours. In the book by Deborah Jowitt on Jerome Robbins, I "think" this tour is mentioned. Albia's son may have information or memorabilia available. I'll ask.

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