The Ballet Guild was an English ballet company, active from 1941 until 1946. It is closely associated with the dancer-choreographer partnership of Molly Lake (1900–1986) and Travis Kemp (1914–1995).
Formation
The Ballet Guild was formed on 10 May 1941 by Deryck Lynham, the barrister
Christmas Humphreys
Travers Christmas Humphreys, QC (15 February 1901 – 13 April 1983) was a British jurist who prosecuted several controversial cases in the 1940s and 1950s, and who later became a judge at the Old Bailey. He also wrote a number of works on Maha ...
Allen & Unwin
George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian ...
, pp. 113-115 and others, and was based in
St John's Wood
St John's Wood is a district in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster, London, England, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Historically the northern part of the Civil Parish#An ...
, London. The company was formed to encourage the development of ballet as an art, and to provide opportunities for young dancers and creative artists.
Role
The Guild set up a ballet school, assembled a library of resources, and organised lectures, demonstrations and exhibitions.Janet Rowson Davis. 'Ballet on British Television, 1946-1947: Starting Again', in ''Dance Chronicle'', Vol. 13, No. 2 (1990), pp. 103-153 The company was short-lived, and had disbanded by 1946. At that time there were a dozen or more small ballet groups touring the UK and vying for audiences, including the Arts Theatre Ballet, the
London Ballet London Ballet was a short lived British ballet company founded by the British choreographer and former Ballet Rambert dancer Antony Tudor in 1938, along with Rambert members Hugh Laing, Andrée Howard, Agnes de Mille, Peggy van Praagh, Maude Llo ...
and the
International Ballet
International Ballet was a British ballet company that operated, with great success, between 1941 and 1953. Its director throughout its existence was Mona Inglesby, who was also its principal ballerina. Although it was Britain's largest ballet c ...
.
Seasons and productions
The Guild put on short experimental seasons and toured under
ENSA
The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...
using ad-hoc companies assembled by the dancers and choreographers Molly Lake and her husband Travis Kemp.Travis Kemp obituary in ''The Independent'', 13 August 1995 Lake and Kemp had both previously been in the
Pavlova
Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert. Originating in either Australia or New Zealand in the early 20th century, it was named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova.Boylen, Jeremy (reporter) (20 August 2004)Pavlova''George Negus Tonight'', Au ...
and Markova-Dolin companies, and Lake was an exponent of the
Cecchetti method
The Cecchetti method is variously defined as a style of ballet and as a ballet training method devised by the Italian ballet master Enrico Cecchetti (1850–1928). The training method seeks to develop essential skills in dancers as well as stre ...
. A quintet, later an orchestra, was formed by
Leighton Lucas
Leighton Lucas (5 January 1903 – 1 November 1982) was an English composer and conductor. His career was wide-ranging: he was associated with the revival of interest in 20th century English ballet, arranged music for dance bands, conducted chall ...
to provide the music. Most of the London performances took place at the Rudolf Steiner Hall near Baker Street, or the
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, ...
in Charing Cross Road.
One of the company's earliest productions was the new ballet ''Sawdust'', with music by
Mary Lucas
Mary Lucas (born Mary Anderson Juler, 24 May 1882–14 January 1952), sometimes referred to as Mary Anderson Lucas, was an English composer and pianist.Lewis Foremanée Anderson">'Lucas
Cyril Beaumont
Cyril W. Beaumont OBE (1 November 1891 – 24 May 1976) was a British dance historian, critic, technical theorist, translator, bookseller, and publisher. Author of more than forty books on ballet, he is considered one of the most important danc ...
in 1946. This later became the dance holdings of the Theatre Museum, London, and is now at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum.Sarah C. Woodcock. Dance Research : ''The Journal of the Society for Dance Research''. Vol. 8, No. 1 (Spring, 1990), pp. 62-77
In 1954, Molly Lake and Travis Kemp took up an appointment to teach and direct the Turkish National Ballet School (which the Turkish Government had asked
Ninette de Valois
Dame Ninette de Valois (born Edris Stannus; 6 June 1898 – 8 March 2001) was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russ ...
to establish), where they worked for the next two decades.