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Ann Arbor, MI 48106 THE ROLE OF NICOLAS LEGAT IN TWENTIETH CENTURY BALLET by Alison Miller submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Dance Signatures of Committee: Chair ^ / O u ^ u a. _ ft H f c , 7._________ Dean of |the College 27 April 1990 Date 1990 The American University ""fO/pl Washington, D.C. 20016 TEDS AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ©<'COPYRIGHT BY Alison Miller 1990 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THE ROLE OF NICOLAS LEGAT IN TWENTIETH CENTURY BALLET BY Alison Miller ABSTRACT This thesis evaluates the contribution of Nicolas Legat to twentieth century ballet and places his work in the context of early Russian ballet history. New documen­ tation is brought to bear on his career in Russia as per­ former, ballet master, teacher; his extensive work in England and his worldwide influence in twentieth century dance. Although he taught great artists such as Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky and Anton Dolin there has been little recognition of his importance in current writings. Emphasis is placed in this study on full analysis of his methods and teaching. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS With deep gratitude, I acknowledge the following people. Naima for her patience and advice, Dora for her passion and love of the arts and Alon for his unconditional support. Also, many thanks to Anne and Mimi. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............. iii Chapter I. DEVELOPMENT OF THE RUSSIAN BALLET ............ 1 II. MARIUS PETIPA .................................. 20 III. CHRISTIAN JOHANSSON............................ 32 IV. NICOLAS LEGAT .................................. 37 V. TECHNIQUE OF NICOLAS LEGAT .................... 76 VI. A SYSTEM EVOLVES FROM LEGAT'S TEACHINGS ...... 92 VII. LEGAT AND THE ADVANCED STUDENT ................ 103 VIII. LEGAT'S IMPACT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF BALLET TODAY ................................... 124 Appendix A. Ballets Produced by Nicolas Legat ............ 133 B. Nicolas and Nadine Legat with dancers at Russian Border ca. 1917 .................... 134 C. Program from "The London Coliseum", Dec. 7, 1925 ................................ 135 D. Compilation of Legat Students from Student Register of the Legat Studio, Collett Gardens, Barons Court, London 1934-1937 .... 136 E. Society of Russian Style Ballet Syllabus ..... 144 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................... 155 iv CHAPTER I DEVELOPMENT OF THE RUSSIAN BALLET Dance was introduced to Russia early in the 17th century. First viewed as a court amusement, dance de­ veloped into a stylized art under the patronage of the Romanov Dynasty during the period 1613 to 1917. The growth of dance followed an erratic pattern for over 200 years. The direction dance followed was dependent upon the reign­ ing emperor's or empress' inclination and for a long time there was no clear progression for dance as a theatrical art. Over the years as ballet did develop into a theatri­ cal form it was influenced by the various foreign ballet masters engaged by the monarchs and included the different styles of the French, Italians and Swedes. From the beginning each visiting artist had their own system of teaching but there was little connection between what went on in performance and what was taught in class. The foreign artists brought different stage techniques but did not integrate these into the classroom. In the mid nineteenth century, Russia became the ballet capital of the world, attracting many fine artists and teachers from other countries. It was during this period that Nicolas Legat assimilated the "intimate link between class-room and 1 2 stage"* and a systematic development for training ballet artists was developed. He codified a system of teaching which would insure the continuing lineage and heritage of the Russian ballet system both in Russia and abroad. The history of ballet in Russia began in the court of Mikhail Romanov who was reigning monarch from 1613 to 1645. His succession to the throne of Russia in 1613 established a 300 year reign by the Romanov Dynasty. ,1h 1629, a for­ eign visitor, Ivan Lodygin, performed rope-walking and dancing for Tsar Mikhail in his "Poteshnaia palata or amusement room".^ His performance pleased the Tsar, and as a result, Lodygin was entrusted "with the teaching of dancing to a group of children of humble origin, and thus became the first Russian dancing-master".^ Lodygin, though not teaching stylized ballet technique, began a tradition of training Russian dancers. Tsar Alexis, son of Mikhail, reigned in the province of Moscovy, now known as the city of Moscow, from 1645 to 1676. Tsar Alexis was a great promoter of dance. In 1673, the first full length dance spectacle Ballet of Orpheus and Euridice was staged by the court at the Tsars summer home in the Preobrzhenskoy Village near Moscow. Alexis "was delighted with the performance, never leaving it for ten hours at a time."4 Alexis' daughter, Princess Sophia, also enjoyed dance and composed her own comedy and opera bal­ J 3 lets. One composition, The Slav Nymphsf a play with danc­ ing and singing, was presented in 1675. It was during the reign of Peter the Great (1682- 1725) that Western influences greatly affected dancing in Russia and dance made a transition from Court ballet to a public activity. Peter formed the Great Embassy of 1697 (a group of more than 250 Russians). They sailed to major European states to study Western life. He was very taken with Western court life and especially with the ballet Cupidon which he saw while in Amsterdam. Upon Peter's return, he advocated the incorporation of Western ideas into Russian life as a way to strengthen Russian supremacy. Peter the Great, realizing the advantage of a strong navy determined Russia needed a 'Westernized' city closer to Europe and on the coast where he could base a navy. This would also help establish Russia as a strong autocracy having a power base in the Baltic Provinces. In 1703, Peter began the arduous task of establishing a 'Western­ ized' port city at St. Petersburg. In 1712, St. Petersburg became the capital of the Great Russian empire, absorbing many ’Western' influences. Assemblies were held to enter­ tain nobility and visiting ambassadors, opening up the immediate court to outsiders for the first time. The first Russian theatre open to the public (and not just the immediate court) was constructed in St. Petersburg, date 4 unknown, to house entertainment in the Western fashion. Due to Russia's victory over Sweden in Poltava in 1710 during The Great Northern War (1700 to 1721), Russia was able to consolidate its hold on the Baltic Region. The celebration ofv the victory at Poltava was marked with music and Russian folk dancing in the street festivals. Swedish prisoners taken at Poltava were conscripted into Russian service and their customs began to be introduced in Russian life. The Swedes enjoyed dancing, and it was the captured Swedish officers who taught the first stylized dance forms - contredances and minuets, to the Russian nobility. Peter's summer palace in St. Petersburg was completed in the new Russian capital in 1715 and it includ­ ed a large ballroom for assemblies. In 1717, Peter traveled to Paris. Infatuated with the French style of social entertainment, he returned with an interest in holding balls and masquerades. This prompt­ ed him to hold elaborate gatherings at both his summer and winter palaces in St. Petersburg, where he introduced Western European ballroom dancing, held masquerades which included the minuet, courante and pavanne. These dances were taught by the Swedes assigned to the court and were incorporated as a noble activity. Peter the Great's mas­ querades sometimes lasted for days or a week at a time. The nobility were obliged to attend and were also required to dance. This inspired a new attitude towards dancing. 5 The nobility were not merely spectators to the dance but dancing became a symbol of aristocracy. By associating dance as a symbol of nobility and power, the status of the art was raised from a type of amusement to a "way to con­ firm dominate political ideas, and thus acquired a social significance".5 It was the Empress Anne Ivanovna, (reigning 1730- 1740) who established a school of ballet.