National Ballet of Washington, D.C.

The National Ballet of Washington, D.C. was an American national ballet company founded in 1962 by Jean Riddell [1][2] granddaughter of the founder of PET Evaporated Milk and artistic director Frederic Franklin,[3] with financial support from the Ford Foundation.[4] Its studios were located at 2801 Connecticut Avenue, NW, in Washington, DC.[5]

The company debuted on January 3, 1963 at the George Washington University Lisner Auditorium, changed residency upon the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1972, and officially ended on June 13, 1974.

The National Ballet brought ballet to every state in the United States but two, and also performed in Canada and Mexico.

Ben Stevenson OBE was co-artistic director from 1971 to 1974.[6]

History

In 1958, Frederic Franklin was appointed co-director of the Washington Ballet by its founder, Mary Day. Franklin choreographed two original works – Etalage to music by Franz Liszt and Homage au Ballet with music by Charles-François Gounod – for the Washington Ballet. In 1960, Franklin said in an interview, "We are working towards a resident company in the nation's capital." He resigned in April 1961 after a dispute over the future direction of the company.

The National Ballet of Washington, DC was co-founded in 1962 by Jean Riddell, chairman of the board of the Washington Ballet Guild and a committed patron of the arts, and Frederic Franklin, artistic director, with financial assistance from the Ford Foundation. Mrs. Riddell was named president of its sustaining organization, the National Ballet Society. Franklin and Riddell also created the National Ballet School with an enrollment of 250 girls and boys with class size limited to 15 students.

Franklin said: "The school and the company are for America and for all the good dancers that we can find and develop. Our intention is to establish a national company in the nation's capital based on artistic policies similar to those of the New York City Ballet and the original policy of the Sadler's Wells Ballet." Riddell said, "The National Ballet is the only logical name for this company – it's designed not only for Washington, but also for growth."

After three months of rehearsal, the company debuted on January 3, 1962 at the George Washington University Lisner Auditorium, with New York City Ballet co-founder and choreographer George Balanchine in the audience. The company received 13 curtain calls.[7]

Dancers

Principal dancers included Sonia Arova, Alida Belair,[8] Marilyn Burr, Eugene Collins, Jean-Paul Comelin,[9] Ivan Dragadze, Roderick Drew, Anita Dyche,[10] Stevan Grebel (1965–1971),[11] Daniel Franck, Jacqueline Hepner,[12] Claudine Kamoun, Desmond Kelly, Roni Mahler,[13] Kevin McKenzie,[14][15] Ivan Nagy,[16] Kirk Peterson,[17] Yvonne Meyer, Andrea Vodehnal.[18][19][20]

Soloists included James Capp, Roy Gean,[21] Helen Heineman, Judith Helman, Hiller Huhn, Linda Kintz,[22] Michelle Lees, James Maher, Lucy Maybury, Patricia Mideke, Jane Miller, Judith Reese, Judy Rhodes, Judith Rigler, Ilona Russell, Thomas Russell,[23] Frederic Strobel, James Thompson, Franklin Yezer.

Corps de Ballet included Mariana Alvarez, Charlotte Belcher, Roger Bigelow, Phyllis Blake, Karen Brown, Nancy Davis,[24] Evelyn Ebel, Susan Frazer, Susan Gore, Christy Knoblauch, Katherine Laqueur, Maxine Mahon, Sheryl McKechnie, Andrea Price, Betty Risen, Susan Smith, Patricia Sorrell, Llanchie Stevenson, and James Thompson.

Guest artists included Dame Margot Fonteyn of the Royal Ballet, and Violette Verdy, Patricia McBride and Edward Villella of the New York City Ballet. Other guest artists included Gaye Fulton of the Zurich Ballet Company, Fleming Flint of the Paris Opera Ballet, and Seija Simonen of the Helsinki Dance Company[25] of Finland.

The first graduates of the National Ballet School to be accepted into the company were Sheryl McKechnie, Judy Rhodes and Betty Risen.

Staff

Ralph Black, former manager of the National Symphony Orchestra[26] was General Manager.[27] Oleg Tupine was the Ballet Master.[28] Ottavio DeRosa was Principal Conductor. James McInnes was Associate Conductor. James Gamble was Stage Manager. May Ishimoto was costumer.[29]

Repertoire

The repertoire of the National Ballet of Washington, D.C. included Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Giselle, Les Sylphides, La Sylphide, Coppelia[30] Con Amore,[31] Homage au ballet,[32] Raymonda Pas de Dix, Sylvia (ballet) Pas de Deux, Bachianas Brasileiras, Tribute, Legend of the Pearl, Night Song, Four Temperaments, La sonnambula (Balanchine), Othello,[33] Danse Brilliante, Le Combat, and Serenade (ballet).[34]

References
  1. "Jean M. Riddell, 100, dies; patron of the arts". 25 September 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  2. "Jean Montgomery Riddell's Obituary on Washington Times". Washington Times. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  3. Halzack, Sarah (6 May 2013). "Frederic Franklin, ballet dancer, coach and director, dies at 98". Washington Post. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  4. Norton, Leslie; Franklin, Frederic (5 July 2007). Frederic Franklin: A Biography of the Ballet Star. McFarland. ISBN 9780786430512. Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via Google Books.
  5. National Ballet (Washington, D.C.) (18 March 1962). Records of the National Ballet. OCLC 042278446. Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via Open WorldCat.
  6. Ben Stevenson, Wikipedia
  7. Norton, Leslie; Franklin, Frederic (5 July 2007). Frederic Franklin: A Biography of the Ballet Star. McFarland. ISBN 9780786430512. Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via Google Books.
  8. Belair, Alida. "Out of Step: A Dancer Reflects". Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via Amazon.
  9. "Bio, Jean-Paul Comelin, www.DanceMasterClass.com". Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  10. "Herald-Journal – Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  11. Dance, Grebel. "Stevan Grebel....Le Grand Ballet Marquis de Cuevas, Deutsch Oper am Rhein, Ludmilla Tcherina, Rosella Hightower, Paris, Monaco, Dusseldorf". www.grebeldance.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  12. "Meet the Faculty of Ballet Society". www.elissadesigns.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  13. "Roni Mahler's Biography". ronimahler.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  14. "Kevin McKenzie's Recollections of his Time with the Joffrey, www.joffreymovie.com, March 1, 2012". Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  15. "ABT: Faculty Bios: Kevin McKenzie". www.abt.org. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  16. "Ivan Nagy". www.the-ballet.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  17. "ABT: Inside ABT". www.abt.org. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  18. "Andrea Vodehnal-Ballerina". Vimeo. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  19. "HOUSTON BALLET REMEMBERS PRINCIPAL DANCER ANDREA VODEHNAL". 1 December 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  20. "National Ballet of Washington DC – Dance Studio Life". www.dancestudiolife.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  21. Sullivan, Patricia (5 April 2006). "Roy Gean; Ballet Dancer, Teacher". Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  22. "About the Directors Linda Kintz, Mark Mejia, accessed 3.1.2013". Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  23. "Six Dancers Reminisce, by Carol Egan, Juilliard Journal, November 2011". Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  24. "Portland Ballet Instructor Bios, accessed 5.16.13". Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  25. "Helsinki Dance Company – History". www.hkt.fi. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  26. Black, Ralph; French, Catherine (18 March 1983). "The Best of Black Notes". American Symphony Orchestra League. Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via Amazon.
  27. "The National Ballet, program, The University of Michigan, Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan, January 24, 1968" (PDF). Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  28. Bein, Barbara (27 July 2006). "A Ballet School's Lasting Legacy". Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  29. After Internment, seamstress created costumes for ballet's greats, by Matt Schudel, The Washington Post, January 17, 2010.
  30. Franklin, Frederic; Sergeev, Nikolaĭ Grigorʹevich; Saint-Léon, Arthur; Waring, James D; Lewis, Joseph H; Ishimoto, May; Zulin, Jacob; Delibes, Léo; National Ballet (Washington, D.C.); Lisner Auditorium (Organization : Washington, D.C.); Richard L. Coe Theater Programs Collection (Library of Congress) (18 March 1965). Coppelia. OCLC 689031277. Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via Open WorldCat.
  31. Franklin, Frederic; Christensen, Lew; Waring, James D; Lewis, Joseph H; Ishimoto, May; Buscemi, Vita; Zulin, Jacob; Rossini, Gioacchino; National Ballet (Washington, D.C.); Lisner Auditorium (Organization : Washington, D.C.); Richard L. Coe Theater Programs Collection (Library of Congress) (18 March 1965). Con amore. OCLC 689031174. Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via Open WorldCat.
  32. Franklin, Frederic; Butler, Diane; Ishimoto, May; De Rosa, Ottavio; Gounod, Charles; National Ballet (Washington, D.C.); Lisner Auditorium (Organization : Washington, D.C.); Richard L. Coe Theater Programs Collection (Library of Congress) (18 March 1967). Homage au ballet. OCLC 689031463. Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via Open WorldCat.
  33. Shakespeare, William; Brown, Ivor John Carnegie; Moiseiwitsch, Tanya; Ridley, M. R (18 March 1967). Othello. Folio Society. OCLC 689031388. Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via Open WorldCat.
  34. "George Balanchine Catalogue". balanchine.org. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
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