Glen Tetley (February 3, 1926 – January 26, 2007) was an American ballet and modern dancer as well as a

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who c ...

who mixed ballet and modern dance to create a new way of looking at dance, and is best known for his piece ''Pierrot Lunaire''.

Biography

Glenford Andrew Tetley, Jr. was born on February 3, 1926 in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...

. While in medical school, Tetley found a passion for dance. After graduating from

Franklin and Marshall College Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It employs 175 full-time faculty members and has a student body of approximately 2,400 full-time students. It was founded upon the merger of Frankli ...

in 1946, Tetley moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to study dance. He began his career as a dancer, dancing in

Hanya Holm Hanya Holm (born Johanna Eckert; 3 March 1893 – 3 November 1992) is known as one of the "Big Four" founders of American modern dance. She was a dancer, choreographer, and above all, a dance educator. Early life, connection with Mary Wigman B ...

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production of '' Kiss Me, Kate'' in 1948 and ''Juno'' in 1959, as well as with the New York City Opera Ballet, John Butler's American Dance Theatre, and the

Joffrey Ballet The Joffrey Ballet is one of the premier dance companies and training institutions in the world today. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the Joffrey regularly performs classical and contemporary ballets during its annual performance season at Lyric ...

where he was an original member. Later he danced with

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

and Jerome Robbins's Ballets: USA. Tetley's choreographic style rises from his experiences with modern dance teachers like Holm and

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She ...

as well as his time with ballet teachers such as

Antony Tudor Antony Tudor (born William Cook; 4 April 1908 – 19 April 1987) was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer. He founded the London Ballet, and later the Philadelphia Ballet Guild in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., in the mid-195 ...

and Margaret Craske. Because of this mix in dance education, Tetley's choreography is a distinct blend between ballet and modern dance. Tetley wanted to achieve a mix of "modern dance's visceral earthiness with the ethereal lyricism of classical ballet".

Mary Hinkson Mary De Haven Hinkson (March 16, 1925 – November 26, 2014) was an African American dancer and choreographer known for breaking racial boundaries throughout her dance career in both modern and ballet techniques. She is best known for her work ...

, a former dancer from the original Martha Graham company, has assisted Tetley all over the world. Her knowledge of the Graham technique helped shaping ballet dancers into Tetley's choreography.

Choreography

What made Tetley stand out among other choreographers was his ability to seamlessly mix ballet and modern dance. Tetley choreographed over 50 ballets for some of the world's most famous dance companies. Tetley made his choreographic premier in 1962 with ''

Pierrot Lunaire ''Dreimal sieben Gedichte aus Albert Girauds "Pierrot lunaire"'' ("Three times Seven Poems from Albert Giraud's 'Pierrot lunaire), commonly known simply as ''Pierrot lunaire'', Op. 21 ("Moonstruck Pierrot" or "Pierrot in the Moonlight"), is a m ...

'' which he choreographed for his newly formed chamber company. Tetley based this piece on music of the same name by composer

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

. Though this piece was one of his first choreographic ventures, it is heralded by many as one of his best and most iconic. It is also here where audiences first saw his iconic mix of ballet and modern dance. Other works choreographed by Tetley include: ''Contredances'', ''Gemini'', ''Odalisque'', ''Ricercare'', '' Le Sacre du Printemps'', ''Sargasso'', ''Sphinx'', and ''Voluntaries''. Tetley moved to Europe and became the Artistic Director for the Netherlands Dance Theatre in 1969 and the Stuttgart Ballet where he also danced from 1974–1976, before returning to North America to work with the National Ballet of Canada. While in Europe and Canada, Tetley choreographed many new pieces such as ''Alice'' in 1986 for the National Ballet of Canada. At the time of his departure, many in the American dance community would either train in ballet or modern dance, but never both. Some believe that because of this rigidity and inability to accept the fusion of modern dance and ballet, Tetley moved to Europe where the atmosphere was more artistically free.

Style

Throughout his choreography Tetley displayed "fervid intensity, sinuous nonstop propulsion, and voluptuous physicality". While Tetley does not intentionally create abstract pieces, he uses his movement in order to "convey his meditations on themes from myth, music, theater, and literature".

Personal life

His long term partner of 40 years was Scott Douglas. On January 26, 2007, Tetley died in Florida, aged 80, following a battle with

skin cancer Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. There are three main types of skin cancers: basal-cell skin cancer (BCC) ...

. Dancers, such as Karen Kain, a member of the National Ballet of Canada, remember Tetley as a choreographer who had a "ferocious demand for total artistic commitment", while David Allan recalls that Tetley "fired up your imagination and made you look at yourself differently".Michael F. Crabb, "Glen Tetley (1926-2007)". Among the members of his chamber company was

Christopher Bruce Christopher Bruce (born 3 October 1945 in Leicester) is a British choreographer and performer. He was the Artistic Director of the Rambert Dance Company until 2002. He has choreographed many pieces from Andrew Lloyd-Webber/Alan Ayckbourn mu ...

, the lead in his signature work, ''Pierrot Lunaire'' who cites Tetley as one of his inspirations.

Works

* 1977: ballet "

Mythical Hunters Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

References

External links

''The New York Times'' obituary for Tetley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tetley, Glen 1926 births 2007 deaths American choreographers American male ballet dancers American expatriates in Canada American expatriates in the United Kingdom Franklin & Marshall College alumni Artists from Cleveland Artists from New York City Deaths from skin cancer Deaths from cancer in Florida Modern dancers Stuttgart Ballet 20th-century American ballet dancers