Elisabetta Peruzzi APPROACHES to BALLET-MAKING
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Elisabetta Peruzzi APPROACHES TO BALLET-MAKING: THE LEGACY OF BALLETS RUSSES IN AUSTRALIA BETWEEN 1940 AND 1960 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University of Sydney 2019 A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This is to certify that to the best of my knowledge, the content of this thesis is my own work. This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or other purposes. I certify that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work and that all the assistance received in preparing this thesis and sources have been acknowledged. Elisabetta Peruzzi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land where I had the privilege to conduct my research project, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, upon whose ancestral lands The University of Sydney now stands. I would like to pay my respects to the Elders past, present and emerging. It is with great pleasure that I would like to acknowledge the people and the Institutions that have contributed to the realisation of this thesis. First, the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies at The University of Sydney. This project was supported by The University of Sydney International Scholarship. I will start by thanking my supervisor, Dr Amanda Card, for her guidance throughout my candidature. Her support, advice and friendship have been indispensable to make me feel at ease. I would like to thank my associate supervisor, Dr Laura Ginters, who supported my candidature for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Teaching Fellowship Program, awarded in 2016. My gratitude goes also to Dr Paul Dwyer, who has provided great moral and professional support throughout my candidature. It has been a pleasure to collaborate with him for the unit of study PRFM2603 Between Improvisation and Text. I am deeply grateful for their continued encouragement to achieve my best outcomes. This research has been possible because of the support and help of archivists at the Saint Petersburg State Theatre Library and the Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The archivists of this esteemed historical Institution spent their time reading and deciphering the calligraphy of Russian artists’ correspondence.1 I would like to express my gratitude to Simon Drake from the National Film and Sound Archive, who helped me locate video footage of Ballets Russes performances in Australia and obtained permission from the Australian Ballet for a copy of their copyrighted materials for my personal use. I am endlessly grateful to the librarians of the Institutions at which I spent a great deal of time exploring their archives: the National Library and National Gallery of Australia, the State Library of NSW, the State Library of WA, the Museum of Performing Arts in Perth, the Arts Centre Melbourne, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the Biblioteca di Civitanova Marche in Italy. 1Перевод из английского: Я очень благодарна архивистам Петербургской Государственной Театральной Библиотеки и Отдела Рукописей и Редких Книг за их самоотверженный и полезный труд. Я никогда не забуду те дня, когда они садили и читали со мной письма Ольги Преображенской, написанные от руки на предреволюционном русском. During my travels around Australia, I was lucky to meet two fundamental figures of Australian ballet: ballet teacher and former ballerina Terri Charlesworth, who generously shared stories from her time working with choreographer Kira Bousloff; and dance historian Lee Christofis, whose intimate knowledge of Australian ballet has been invaluable to my work. To have the pleasure of their company and insights into their experiences is something I shall always cherish. The understanding and flexibility demonstrated by my managers has been deeply appreciated. They have offered to swap shifts and created rosters that allowed space for my writing. I express my gratitude to Diamond Menichelli, Susana Munilla, Rosie McKibbin and Abigail de Los Santos from Seed Heritage; Kristna Gurney, Crystal Choi, Matthew Davis and Adi Piersol from Site Services at The University of Sydney Library. I am also extremely grateful to the Italian Cultural Institute and WEA for giving me the valuable experience of tutoring students. Thank you to also to my peer and friend, Keira Sinclair, who provided me with help by reading this thesis. Her words have been very motivational until the last moments of this journey. Finally, I acknowledge my family and friends. Thank you, Francesco Bailo and my partner Alessio Tacca for spending hours to catalogue archival documents on Zotero. I am grateful to my friend Alice Loda for gently teaching me the subtle art of time management. This gratitude extends to Carla Lever, who has been a true friend in our shared journey as International students at the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies. My gratitude goes to Levent Sahindokuyucu, who provided me with supportive, kind and lucid words; Nathalie Camerlynck, who has always treated me as a member of her family; Valentina Curcetti and Francesco Possemato, life companions with whom I shared special time in Australia; Ilenia Bonini, a true friend and a source of inspiration in my professional and personal life. This thesis is for my mother Giuseppina, my father Fausto, and my brothers Alessandro and Cristian: thank you for teaching me, since the first seconds of my life, the values of love, freedom and independence. Table of Contents APPROACHES TO BALLET-MAKING: THE LEGACY OF BALLETS RUSSES IN AUSTRALIA BETWEEN 1940 AND 1960 .......................................................................................................................................................... 3 ABSTRACT ...............................................................................................................................................................3 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND LIMITS ..................................................................................................................... 13 THESIS STRUCTURE ................................................................................................................................................. 20 ROMANISATION OF CYRILLIC ALPHABET AND REFERENCING STYLE .................................................................................... 22 CONTEXT ................................................................................................................................................. 24 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................................... 25 CHOREOGRAPHERS AND THEIR DANCERS..................................................................................................................... 37 1. AUSTRALIAN DANCERS IN THE 1940S: A BALLET STYLE ROOTED IN DIAGHILEV’S TRADITION ............... 45 1.1 PROMOTING A RUSSIAN TRADITION: THE TEACHING HERITAGE OF LÛBOV’ EGOROVA AND OL’GA PREOBRAŽENSKAÂ. ......... 51 1.2 A RUSSIAN BALLET METHOD? ............................................................................................................................. 61 1.3 FLOW AND NARRATIVE OF THE CECCHETTI METHOD......................................................................................... 72 2. FOLLOWING DE BASIL’S FOOTPRINTS: THE RESTAGING OF THE CLASSICS ................................................ 79 2.1 DEFINING THE CLASSICS ..................................................................................................................................... 80 2.2 ETHEREAL QUALITIES ......................................................................................................................................... 83 2.3 THE SEARCH OF A UNIQUE RHETORIC OF MOVEMENT............................................................................................... 97 3. AN ORIGINAL CHOREOGRAPHIC REPERTOIRE: THE INFLUENCE OF FOKINE AND MASSINE ...................... 108 3.1 THE INFLUENCE OF FOKINE’S MODERN BALLETS................................................................................................... 109 3.2 THE INFLUENCE OF MASSINE’S SYMPHONIC BALLETS ............................................................................................. 136 4. THE REPRESENTATION OF THE ‘NEW WORLD’ THROUGH THE ‘OLD’ ...................................................... 147 4.1 NEW LANDSCAPES, OLD MODELS ....................................................................................................................... 149 4.2 OF RITUALS AND ABORIGINAL DANCING.............................................................................................................. 164 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 172 APPENDIX .............................................................................................................................................. 176 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 180 1 PRIMARY SOURCES ........................................................................................................................................