Book Review: Wardance Jenifer Sarver Bridgewater State University, [email protected]

Bridgewater Review Volume 36 | Issue 2 Article 12 Nov-2017 Book Review: Wardance Jenifer Sarver Bridgewater State University, [email protected] Recommended Citation Sarver, Jenifer (2017). Book Review: Wardance. Bridgewater Review, 36(2), 35-36. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/br_rev/vol36/iss2/12 This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Wardance Jenifer Sarver Karen Eliot, Albion’s Dance: British Ballet during the Second World War (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016). here is a famous war-era quote attributed to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. TWhen it was suggested that he cut government funding for the arts to support the fight against the Nazis, his fabled response was: “So, then, what are we fighting for?” Though this quip cannot be verified, the determination of Britons to fight to live according to their values and their steadfast refusal to be reduced to mere existence—even One of Eliot’s gifts is her ability to maintain an academic tone while during the psychological unease of the “Phony War” explaining and contextualizing the and later the genuine horror of the Blitz—is both many names and acronyms that pepper the ballet world in this period. These well documented and widely remembered. include the two main governing bod- ies that supported entertainment for Karen Eliot’s exquisitely researched Classical ballet has been seen as a civilian and military audiences: the Albion’s Dance: British Ballet during the “civilizing” force as far back as its Council for the Encouragement of Second World War provides a portrait of inception in the Florentine ballrooms Music and Arts (CEMA)—the precur- an important aspect of this time. Odd under the watchful eye of Catherine sor of the British Arts Council, which though it may seem, classical ballet de Medici. In the early 20th century, focused on funding and supporting actually flourished in Britain during it became powerful propaganda in the professionally oriented companies; the Second World War, and when peace Soviet Union, which used both ballet and Entertainments National Service arrived in Europe, English ballet found and folk dance to bring the illiterate Association (ENSA), which supported itself in a secure and respected place peasant population under the hopeful amateur groups as well as professional amidst post-war austerity. Eliot argues mantle of socialist realism. Later, ballet organizations. The author does not that despite the horror that reigned, the and, to a lesser degree, modern dance fall into the trap of simply tracking story of wartime ballet was more than a became tools of Cold War interna- the work of the two great British struggle of beauty vs fear. In retrospect, tional exchange. In all cases, plots and balletic grand dames, Ninette de the war years provided a “discrete time programs were carefully designed to Valois (1898-2001) and her Sadler’s period during which the British ballet serve the “party line” of whomever was Wells Ballet, and Marie Rambert formulated its identity as a classical art presenting the work. What makes bal- (1888-1982) and her Ballet Rambert. form after the eclecticism and choreo- let’s rise in wartime England particu- This is important because entire books graphic experimentalism of the 1920s larly interesting, then, was its apolitical could be written, for example, on the and 1930s, and describes a moment in nature; instead of ultra-patriotic ballets Sadler’s Wells Ballet company’s har- time when ballet flirted with populism that took political stances in the Soviet rowing escape from the Nazi invasion in spite of the pressures exerted by the Union later in the century, it was the of Holland. Eliot chooses to tell stories dyed-in-the-wool balletomanes to classical works that were presented to about other dances, choreographers, guard its elitist status” (3). the public in England. critics, impresarios and balletomanes November 2017 35 who worked with equal dedication, but instead the costumes, sets and color- for both troops and war workers, and in less public prominence. These include ful plots that delighted British audi- London, a series of “lunchtime” ballets sensitive portraits of Cyril Beaumont, ences used to traditional pantomimes? were produced at 1:00 pm in the cellar and his legendary bookshop and back- Mona Inglesby’s International Ballet of a small theater. These became so room on Charing Cross Road, and exemplified the populist view. Despite popular that management soon added Arnold Haskell, the fierce defender of her youth (she began the company in performances at 2:15 and, later, another ballet as an elite art, and his gradual her early 20s with family money), and at 3:15. Though the freelance dancers conversion to the idea that British ballet her scanty preparatory training, her were unionized, there was little respite was worthy of the affection and respect company was hardly an amateur affair. for these victims of artistic overwork; accorded his beloved Russian ballet. Nikolai Sergeyev (1876-1951), the in 1941, women without young chil- Eliot also assesses the work of P.J.S. famous former Imperial Ballet master dren were “called up” to contribute to Richardson, editor of Dancing Times who had smuggled notations of the war work. Performing professionally and author of some of the most impor- great Russian classics to Paris during allowed these women to defer the call, tant primary-source material that exists the Revolution, staged Act II of Swan which contributed to an eagerness to carry on with artistic work, however arduous. But things were far more dif- ficult for men. Unless rejected for mili- Eliot weaves in stories of tary service because of physical ailment (unusual among ballet dancers), there individual difficulty and heart- was no “decent” way of avoiding it. The emotional and practical difficulties break with those of the fierce, took their toll, not only on individual men, but on ballet generally, which resolute courage that was required developed an overly feminine look out to carry on with ordinary work of necessity. Eliot weaves in stories of individual and life in an extraordinary difficulty and heartbreak with those of the fierce, resolute courage that was era. Albion’s Dance provides required to carry on with ordinary work and life in an extraordinary era. numerous accounts of previously Albion’s Dance provides numerous accounts of previously unpublished unpublished stories, explained in stories, explained in the context of the the context of the time. time. This is where Eliot’s work shines: she has drawn a complete portrait of an art in an age, and one that inspires as much as it educates. on this period, including his erudite Lake for the International Ballet in column “The Sitter Out,” a series as 1941, and in 1942, a full-length Giselle. entertaining as it was informative. Inglesby’s company was dedicated Throughout the book, Eliot traces the to producing ballet as spectacle, with key debate in the theatrical world at this full costume and sets, and bringing it time: should ballet be less concerned to all of Britain, not just the London with strict classicism and move toward elite. It contributed enormously to a more populist appearance? Should the affection for ballet that developed it embrace dancers with less pristine among the British middle classes. training and pedigrees and emphasize These performances were not only Jenifer Sarver is Assistant Professor of a balm to war-beleaguered civilians, Ballet in the Department of Dance. however. Ballet evenings were provided 36 Bridgewater Review.

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