On the other hand, the “Evil Empire” (as Reagan called the Soviet Union) promoted ballet. They had State sponsored ballet schools and companies that guaranteed its dancers security for life. That sounds nice, but if you were found in disfavor with the government, they could make your life unbearable.

The Russian ballet tradition is long and colorful, as is the treatment of its practitioners. After a half century, Marius Petipa (1818-1910), the famous dancer, teacher and chorographer wasn’t allowed in the theatre for the last ten years of his life. Vaslav Nijinsky (1890-1950) and George Balanchine (1904 -1983) were dismissed from the Russian Ballet. They were the earliest defectors to escape Russia to join Serge Diaghilev Ballet Russes in the West.

According the Otis Stuart’s “Perpetual Motion” Rudolf Nureyev had nothing to lose when he defected, because on his return from tour of the West; the police were waiting at the airport to arrest him because of his sexual preference.

In the late ’40s America was recovering from the Depression and the War, and our parents couldn’t finance our dreams of becoming dancers. An individual had to make sacrifices to find the resources to make their love of movement a life’s work. Many dancers worked as waiters or in temporary jobs to pay th eir rent and their classes. Our dance training included all the disciplines: ballet, modern, tap, ethnic, and what was known as “theater dance” (now cal led jazz).

As a teacher of many very talented students, they often tell me they only want certain dance jobs – for example, American Ballet Theatre, or the New York City Ballet. They will not go to auditions for Broadway or lesser-known companies. Then I try to explain to them that every job is a learning process. When I ask “How do you survive”?, some of their answers shock me:  “My parents are sending me money to cover my expenses.”

Recently I was doing research on Robert Lindgren and his wife Sonja Tyven for my website. Their combined careers are like a history of dance, from the ’30s to the present. They danced for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, concert companies, Broadway and television. This is what was and still is available for today’s dancers – and they are foolish if they don’t take advantage of the opportunities offered to them.

When Robert Lindgren started to dance, he was one of the first Canadian-Americans to dance with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, which made yearly tours to North America in 1933. Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo didn’t make New York City their home until World War II, because it was impossible to travel back to Monte Carlo.

Ballet Theatre (American Ballet Theatre) was a continuation of the much smaller Mikhail Mordkin Ballet Company. Mikhail Mordkin was a defector from Serg ei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes. Ballet Theatre made its debut at the Center Theatre in Rockefeller Center in 1940. And The New York City Ballet started in 1947, although they had several names before: The America Ballet, Ballet Caravan, Ballet Society, and finally, the New York City Ballet Company. Robert Lindgren and Sonja Tyven were there through all the changes. Robert is still involved in dance, while Sonja, after 42 years of dance, has retired to her garden.

Prior to the War, Broadway musicals were mostly tap, show-girls and high kicks. Modern Dance was trying to get its foot in the door to be considered professional theatre. We can thank Martha Graham, Hanya Holm, Helen Tamiris, Jack Cole, Agnes de Mille and many others for making modern dance acceptable to a wider audience. Many of the modern dancers were mainly trained in ballet . When I was at the Katherine Dunham School the dancers took ballet and were beautiful ballet dancers, but few, because of their color, could find work in a ballet company  — talented dancers such as Louis Johnson and Janet Collins, to name a few. Sadly, it is not much better now.

One of the recent changes is the attitude of younger dancers — their lack of knowledge and their indifference to the pioneers who made it possible for dance to become popular in America. I find it disturbing that they have a lack of respect for their teachers or older dancers. Being disrespectful to such master teachers as Antony Tudor or Anatole Oboukhoff would have been unheard of in my day. If you didn’t like a teacher’s class you just stayed to the end and never went back. Walking out of a class before it was over was, and still is, downright rude. Discipline is part of the tradition of dance classes. Also, not being dressed in the proper attire was a no -no. Today some students dress any way they want.

The sacrifices made by the early dancers of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes make today’s dancers look like pikers. The hardships Alexandra Danilova, Tamara Geva and George Balanchine went through just so we could have the great pleasure they have given us, is an example of dance addiction.

The movie Theatre Street tells one picture of the Imperial School, but my research tells another. For instance, the movie doesn’t mention that George Balanchine was dismissed from the Maryinsky Company for showing his choreography at what were called halturas (bread and butter jobs, where the performers were paid with food or firewood).

I think many visualize the world of the Tzar and Bolsheviks as a romantic period. Movies like Doctor Zhivago tell of the love lives of the main characters, with romance overshadowing the tremendous hardships of the times.

Danilova’s Choura and Geva’s Split Seconds tell of their youth and their families. Both girls’ mothers (or mother substitutes) would be considered women of the world today. Danilova was shuttled from family to family until she was enrolled in the Imperial School of Ballet. Geva grew up with a nanny who was her best friend and mother substitute. Her real mother had many affairs with men while her father was busy with his business of making fabrics for the vestments used in the Orthodox Church.

As a young girl Geva was witness to neglect and death. Her girlfriend was a member of the Imperial School, and Geva would watch her in class and dream of being a dancer. Her father would not have it, so her nanny paid for private lessons from Eugenie Sokolova. By the time her father agreed that Geva could take class she was too old for the Imperial School. He made arrangements for her to audition for the Bolshoi school, but they thought that her style was too much like the Imperial Ballet and she was rejected. After the revolution the school was closed for awhile, and when it reopened, floor boards had to be ripped up for firewood. The new government decided that the school should be open to all, and Geva was allowed to take evening classes at the Theatre School.

She had the opportunity to practice with the young George Balanchine. Geva married Balanchine after his graduation and danced with him in his experimental ballets, along with Danilova, Nicholas Efimov, and Lydia Ivanova. After Balanchine was fired from the Maryinsky the others were willing to risk their jobs to continue dancing with Balanchine’s Youth Ballet.
Lydia Ivanova, who was a girlfriend of a Communist officer, mysteriously disappeared before she was to leave Russia with the Soviet State Dancers. This small company, which included Geva, Balanchine, Danilova and Efimov, was sponsored by Vladimir Dimitriev. The dancers were on their way to Berlin, Germany to perform during their vacation.

After they finished their tour in Germany, Dimitriev got them booked into a theater in London. They all defected, but they were not well received in London and were bought out of their contract. They went to Paris without money or jobs, desperately looking for work. Diaghilev heard of the plight of these Russian dancers and sent for them to audition for his company. The four all received contracts and their lives were saved until Diaghilev’s untimely death.

Geva had left the company because of differences with Diaghilev, and came to America before the Ballets Russes disbanded, but Efimov, Balanchine, and Danilova were jobless after Diaghilev’s death. Efimov was lucky to join the Paris Opera Ballet, and Balanchine found jobs choreographing in several places until Renée Blum invited him to be the choreographer of the newly formed Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Poor Danilova was left to fend for herself. Not having money for rent or food was frightening, but she was saved by getting a job in an operetta.

Geva had success in America with the Chauve Sourie, but when the show closed she also was destitute. Luckily, a friend introduced her to Florenz Ziegfeld and she appeared in his show Whoopee with Eddie Cantor and Ruby Keeler.

Balanchine was fired from the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and founded his own Company, Les Ballet 1933. Because of lack of funds this company met with financial failure. Balanchine had no job when he met Lincoln Kirstein at a party. Lincoln invited Balanchine and Dimitreiv to come to America and start a ballet school (School of American Ballet). He had no choice but to take the offer. It was not easy for him after that, but he was able to find work as a choreographer. He choreographed seventeen Broadway shows, ballets for other companies, and even a ballet for fourteen elephants for the Ringling Brothers’ Circus.

Of course these dancers all could have left ballet for a more secure profession, but that was an impossibility for them. I overheard two dancers talking of their plight saying, “Dance chooses you — you do not choose dance.”

Dancers who give up performing do not stop taking class. Even if they had to stop because of an injury, they continue their interest in the dance world. The few that can give up dance cold turkey are as few as those who can break the heroin habit. I think I speak for many older dancers in saying that the compulsion to dance stays with us.

I think Danilova summed it up in an interview, when asked if she started as a ballerina. “No, I started in the corps de ballet, and at this point I should like to toss a bouquet to the corps de ballet of all companies — they know that only a few in each company can advance to soloist or ballerina or premier danseur. And yet most of them remain in the corps year after year, giving their best, because they love the dance.”

What does that have to do with me, Very few remember that I taught pre-school children to professionals for over thirty years.

Just this week one of my students made a mistake in the combination I had given; I realized that what she did was better than what I had given. My ego allows me to immediately change the combination to her version. You see I still have an open mind willing to adopt something I think is better. I often tell my students, “I would steal from the devil if I thought for one minute his movement was better, so I am happy to pass it on to my charges.”

The following are stories from my days of teaching the young – the very young, also stories that I think you would enjoy.

JANICE AND HER UNSEEN FRIEND

Whenever Janice was in class, I knew where Charlemagne, her invisible pet chicken, was located. I was told by Janice’s mother that her daughter had had an invisible friend all of her life. Far be it from me to play psychologist, so I accepted Charlemagne’s presence. One day I knew the chicken was on the chair next to the piano; one of the pupils was about to sit on the chair, and suddenly Janice let out a scream that could be heard in the next town. It scared the other little girl who began to cry, “What did I do?” Tears streaming down her face. “You almost sat on Charlemagne.” Janice explained angrily. I knew it was now up to me to solve this impasse. Explaining an invisible chicken to a group of five-year-olds is not as hard as you might think, but another little girl blurted out that she liked to eat chicken. This sent Janice over the edge. I took her in my arms and used this opportunity to say, “Sweetheart, she is not going to eat Charlemagne, but I have a great idea. If you would leave him at home then no harm could come to Charlemagne.” Peace returned to the class and I never saw Charlemagne again.

After the lesson I was sitting in the faculty room reviewing my class. I thought of teachers like Margaret Craske at one end of the spectrum, and Sonia Wojcikowska at the other, and the many more in between. All of my teachers left me with special knowledge to continue the tradition of ballet. But Margaret and Sonia, because of their differences, formed the basis of my teaching.

In 1949, when I came to New York and started my studies with the American Theater Wing, I was enrolled at Ballet Arts, the main ballet school in America. I took two ballet classes a day plus other forms of dance to fill out the day. I was young and full of energy; I never thought that I was over-working my body. By chance my schedule included classes with Sonia and Margaret. The first day I saw that these ladies’ differences as teachers covered a full range of theory.

Margaret Craske was 51 with steel gray hair pulled back in a bun. Sonia, was about 30, with her brown hair pulled back in a bun, that’s where the physical similarity ended. Miss Craske always wore a straight line tweed skirt that showed off her little pot belly and comfortable shoes, while Sonia was in tights, leotard, and skirt. Even though she had a child just a month before I arrived, Sonia’s body was solid muscle.

Margaret’s class was cerebral with an emphasis on theory. I would often shift from one foot to the other while she explained in full detail the mechanics of a movement. In her class the arms and legs had to be perfect before a student could try the next movement. I would seldom work-up a sweat, but my hearing did improve. Being in Sonia’s class was a little bit like drowning: I got through the combination the best I could. There was never a break; she corrected as students danced. After Sonia’s class I could wring out a pint of sweat from my dance clothes.

Margaret, British that she was, never raised her voice but could cut to the core with a soft spoken phrase. Sonia’s high pitched voice could be heard three studios away, but she never insulted. She got what she wanted by cajoling and praise. Sonia always praised a movement done well, but Margaret’s praise was so subtle I never knew I was complimented.

Margaret Craske danced briefly with the Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and was one of the last students of Enrico Cecchetti. She was teaching at Sadler’s Well Ballet School, when her most famous student, Antony Tudor, brought her to America to be ballet mistress of Ballet Theater.

Sonia’s father, Leon Wojcikowski and her mother, Helene Antonova, were stars of the Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. Sonia often talks about Uncle Sergei and her Godfather Pablo Picasso. As a small child she took one lesson from Margaret, but their personalities clashed and Sonia became a protege of Mme. Egorova. She made her debut at fourteen with the Original Ballet Russe and came to America to dance at the World Fair in 1939. She was an original member of Ballet Theater, and during World War II, she was the ballerina of the Foxhole Ballet. Sonia also had a part in the original Oklahoma.

As different as these two ladies were in their approach to teaching, the results were the same. Margaret and Sonia were determined to pass the traditions of classical ballet on to their students.

Many of their students are now teachers, and I hope that they, like myself, feel that the traditions of ballet should be preserved. Like every other profession the vocabulary is constantly changing and expanding. This means that today’s teachers can add to, but can not change, the traditions of ballet.

I hope my students are thankful that, by accident, I had two wonderful teachers: Margaret Craske and Sonia Wojcikowska.

Since 1950, with many hits and misses, many robes have seen their day. The old robes are not discarded. One is in the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of American History. Some of these robes can be seen at the Dance Division of the New York Public Library and one is on constant display at the office of Actors’ Equity. The others are stored and in the good hands of Terry Marone, protector of the robe and the tradition.

According to Terry Marone, in recent times a ceremony is performed with every new opening. On opening night of a new musical this ritual takes place. The robe is presented to the gypsy chorus member with the most Broadway credits.
The Rules of the Gypsy Robe

The Gypsy Robe brings good luck to a new Broadway musical. To keep the tradition going the rules must be followed.

1. The Gypsy Robe goes only to Broadway musicals with a chorus.

2. The robe goes to a chorus member only, the one with the greatest number of Broadway credits.

3. It is to be delivered one-half hour before the opening night curtain to the member selected.

4. The new recipient must put on the robe and circle the stage three times while each cast member reaches out and touches the robe. Then the new owner of the robe must visit each dressing room while wearing the robe.

5. The new recipient will then add a memento from the show to the robe.

6. The opening night date is written on the robe near the memento and the cast members only sign that section of the robe. A robe will represent 20 shows.

7. The new owner of the robe must determine when the next Broadway musical is opening and, through Equity, locate the gypsy with the most musical credits. It will be their responsibility to deliver the robe to the next Broadway musical’s opening night.

This tradition has been going for over 50 years and many, many Broadway musicals have come and gone.

The above information comes from Actors’ Equity Association

What is not known about Coppélia is; it was one of the last attempts to save ballet in Paris from oblivion. Ballet was losing its audience because the ballerinas were getting so powerful, and the finest male dancers were leaving to find their successes in other countries, especially in Russia. Many of the composers, and set designers were leaving the ballet scene because of the ballerinas ridiculous demands. Although men had dominated the world of ballet from the beginning, with the advent of the romantic period, the females were gaining more and more power. Without men in more prominent roles, audiences found ballet less interesting.

From 1561, when Catherine de Medici presented the first ballet, Ballet Comique de la Reine, Paris was the Mecca of Ballet, and that honor lasted 200 years. Financial support grew more difficult with only the ballerinas starring in the productions. Fighting to regain their audience after two years without a new production, Arthur Saint-Leon, a famous dancer and choreographer in Russia and France, staged a new ballet, Coppélia. It would take him two-and-a-half years of preparation before the ballet would be ready for performance. Saint-Leon was sure his new work would restore ballet to its proper place. The difficult part was finding the right dancers for the roles of Swanilda and Franz.

Swanilda was in love with Franz. Franz was in love with a doll he thought was alive. He had seen the doll sitting in the window of Dr. Coppelius, a demented scientist who thought he could bring life to his beautiful doll named Coppélia. He also had fallen in love with his creation. Saint-Leon needed a handsome young man for the part of Franz and a innocent young girl to dance the role of Swanilda. Since there were no men to dance the part of Franz, it was decided that the role would be performed by ballerina Eugenie Fiocre en travesti (a woman playing a man’s part dressed as a man or vice versa ).

Although Leontine Beauguard, a ballerina of the Paris Opera, was considered for the role, it was decided she was not suited for the part of the young naive girl.

The first actual ballet given in the new land was presented by Alexander Placide and his wife, performing in Charleston, S.C., in 1791. Included in their first performances in New York City was John Durang, George Washington’s favorite entertainer and America’s first professional dancer. Alexandre and Mme Placide presented a whole season in New York in 1792. Mme Placide became Prima Ballerina of the New Orleans Theatre, presenting ballets by Noverre and Dauberval.

Paul H. Hazard and his wife, European dancers and members of the Paris Opera, came to America and settled in Philadelphia. They opened the first school of ballet circa 1835. The Hazard school produced three American dancers that became famous in their own time. They were George Washington Smith, Mary Ann Lee and Augusta Maywood.

In 1840 Fanny Elssler came to the States and performed with great success, using an American dancer as her partner, George Washington Smith (b. 1820). Mr. Smith is remembered mostly because he was the first American Albrecht in “Giselle”. Remember this information, for it is on the test to get a dance license in New York City. What ballet lovers would love to forget is the Mme. Elssler killed a sailor when he tried to attack and rob her. She kicked him – - I do not know where, but he did not survive.

George Washington Smith, a young clog dancer, joined Fanny Elssler’s Company and eventually became her partner. James Sylvian, Elssler’s original partner, taught both Smith and Mary Ann Lee. Sylvian honed these dancers’ technique, but later returned to Europe leaving ballet to stagnate.

Mary Ann Lee came from a family of circus performers and her American audience called her “Our Mary Ann.” In 1844 she went to Paris to study with Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli. She learned Giselle and La jolie fille de Gand from Carlotta Grisi and La Fille du Danube from Marie Taglioni.

In 1845 Mary Ann returned to the States and formed a small troupe in partnership with George Washington Smith. They were the first Americans to dance Giselle in America and they toured the States for two years. Mary Ann retired from the stage shortly afterward, but George Washington Smith continued to dance (with Lola Montez), teach and choreograph. He also danced with the Ronzani Ballet, with a very young Enrico Cecchetti, during that company’s American tour.

Augusta Maywood was born in1825 to Henry August Williams and his wife, English actors performing in America. The Williams got a divorce and Mrs. Williams married Robert Maywood, manager of the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Her two daughters took the name Maywood. The oldest daughter, Elizabeth, became an actress. Augusta, at the age of ten, began to study dance with Paul Hazard. She proved to be so talented that within two years she was ready to make her debut. Along with another student of Hazard (Mary Ann Lee) she appeared in an adaptation of The Maid of Cashmere. The star was La Petite Augusta, a popular German Ballerina. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Maywood were the quintessential ballet parents. They took their daughter to New York where she appeared with great success as Zelica in The Mountain Sylph (an American version of La Sylphide). In 1838 the Maywoods went to Paris so Augusta could study with Joseph Maziler and Jean Coralli. Mother Maywood was determined to protect her daughter from the evils of the Opera.

Augusta had a beautifully formed body and a jump that was compared to a wild doe. In 1839 she made her debut at the Paris Opera dancing a pas de deux with Charles Mabille in Le Diable Boiteux and received excellent reviews. She was 14 years old. Her career with the Opera was assured until she eloped with her partner Mabille. They planned to get married in London but Augusta, being a minor without her own passport, was returned to her mother’s supervision.

Finally, Mrs. Maywood succumbed to her daughter’s pleading and Augusta and Mabille were married. They left the Opera to dance in Marseilles where Augusta and her husband had a child. When she discovered she was pregnant again by another man she abandoned her husband and daughter. The Mabilles had a legal separation, but remained on good terms. They signed a lucrative joint contract and continued performing together with great success in Vienna. Augusta had a third child, fathered by yet another man. She then left Vienna and settled in Milan.

For the next twelve years Augusta was a ballerina at La Scala. La Scala’s programs listed her as prima ballerina assoluta. In Europe she was compared to all the great romantic ballerinas of the nineteenth century, although Cyril Beaumont, the British critic, doesn’t even acknowledge her existence. Fanny Elssler helped her by making sure that Augusta appeared in the leading role of many of her ballets.

Back home in America, the news of her lifestyle made her unwelcome in the States. This snub didn’t seem to bother her. Augusta got tired of others dictating to her and of depending upon unreliable managers of local theaters, so she formed her own touring company with sets, costumes, music and corps de ballet. She was the first dancer to take on these responsibilities.

In 1858 her husband, Charles Mabille, died leaving her free to marry her lover, Carlo Gardini. She retired and opened a ballet school in Vienna with her new husband. She again had a baby, and Gardini claimed it was not his. Unfortunately the child died within a few hours. Gardini left her and went to Sasso-Marconi and opened a school of his own.

Augusta continued to teach dance and choreographed several ballets. At the age of 51 she contracted smallpox; her death went unnoticed by her thousands of admirers.

Augusta was the only American to achieve the rank of prima ballerina in Europe and held that honor until Nana Gollner became prima ballerina of Colonel de Basil’s Ballet Russes in 1935.

“The Black Crook” a theatrical extravaganza, opened in 1866 and during its very long run introduced generations of Americans to the art of ballet. Hundreds of dancers were used in its long run and tour, that lasted until 1909. It was the start of the Music Hall and Variety show. Many of these dancers opened schools of dance throughout the country. Some of us or our teachers started in such schools.

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Contact Information:

Ross Dueber, Ph.D. Robin Hoffman

ZPower, Inc. Pipeline Communications

805-445-7789 973-746-6970

ross.dueber@zpowerbattery.com robinhoffman@pipecomm.com

For additional information visit www.zpowerbattery.com

Robin Hoffman

Pipeline Communications

277 Valley Way

Montclair, NJ 07042

(973) 746-6970

cell: (917) 763-8069