The history of ballet in New Zealand can be divided into two distinct periods: before, and after, the Second World War. In the first period, from 1840 to 1946, New Zealanders relied principally on overseas artists and companies to provide them with ballet entertainment, though in the twenties and thirties amateur dancers were active in a limited way; while in the second period, from 1946 until the present day, overseas companies have had to share honours with the New Zealand Ballet Co. and amateur ballet companies in Wellington, Auckland, and Christchurch.
Exactly when ballet–as distinct from amateur dance recitals–was first introduced into New Zealand is difficult to establish. Dancing was certainly part of the earliest theatrical productions, but it was not until 1926 when the celebrated ballerina Anna Pavlova and a full company, including many international stars as well as the choreographer Michel Fokine, visited the Dominion, that theatregoers were given the opportunity of seeing full-length ballet of international standard. As in Australia, Pavlova's visit sowed the seeds of classical ballet in New Zealand. A New Zealander, Thurza Rogers, was a soloist with Pavlova's company, and after the tour young girls and would-be ballerinas flocked by the hundred to dancing classes in all the principal towns.
The Pavlova company's tour proved so successful that J. C. Williamson Theatres, who promoted the tour, had no hesitation in arranging tours in 1937 and 1939 by Colonel de Basil's Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo (the second company) and the Covent Garden Russian Ballet (de Basil's first company).
Thus, from 1926 until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, New Zealanders were not isolated from the influence of ballet at international level for the Covent Garden company included such famous ballet personalities as Irina Boronova, Anton Dolin, and David Lichine. These visits also paid rich dividends outside the box office; they kept interest in the art alive and provided a valuable stimulus to the strong body of amateur dancers who continued year after year to study the art without much hope of their ever being able to take up a professional career as a dancer.
After each visit by an overseas company, there was, of course, talk about the possible establishment of a ballet company in New Zealand but it was not until 1947 that any active move was made towards formation of a national ballet company. Throughout 1947 and well into the next year, letters were published in daily newspapers as well as weekly and monthly magazines and newspapers urging the Government to take active steps towards the establishment of a national theatre which would include drama, opera, ballet, and music. On all sides there seemed a keen demand for a national ballet company, and when the Government in 1947 made bursary grants to promising dancers to further their studies overseas the future looked bright. But six years later the enthusiasts were still talking and writing to the newspapers and nothing had been done in connection with the establishment of a national ballet company.
During this period interest in the art was kept alive by visits by the Ballet Rambert, the Borovansky Ballet, the Bodenweiser Ballet, and the Australian National Ballet Co. The Borovansky and Bodenweiser companies included New Zealanders in their ranks and this served to spur ballet enthusiasts into action. Early in 1954, therefore, a national ballet began to take shape. A School of Ballet was organised in Auckland by the Regional Council for Adult Education and conducted by Poul Gnatt, a distinguished dancer who, prior to his arrival in New Zealand, had been a principal danseur with the Royal Danish Ballet. Fired by the enthusiasm of the dancers who attended the school, Poul Gnatt founded the New Zealand Ballet Co. later in the year, and subsequently made limited tours throughout the country.
As with every other ballet company in the world, the New Zealand Ballet Co. was, and still is, seriously hampered in its activities by the lack of adequate finance. In its infancy it received invaluable support from the New Zealand Players Co., the Community Arts Service, and the various Regional Councils for Adult Education. The Government, too, assisted with generous grants from time to time, but it was not until the Government of the day established the Arts Advisory Council in 1960 and set aside the sum of £60,000 for the development of the arts generally, that the New Zealand Ballet Co. began to make financial headway. Certainly, in the years prior to 1960 the company would have foundered had it not been for the devoted enthusiasm of its founder and principal dancer/choreographer, Poul Gnatt.
The visit in 1959 of the Royal Ballet, headed by Dame Margot Fonteyn, served to whip up public interest in the art of ballet to a pitch previously unknown in the Dominion, and as a result the New Zealand Ballet Co. benefited. The company's first major national tour in 1960 was an outstanding success and demonstrated to New Zealanders in no uncertain manner that local dancers could present ballet on a professional scale. For this first national tour the company was fortunate in securing the services of Sara Neil (Wellingtonian Doreen Brown) who had returned home with her husband (Walter Rands-Trevor) after some years as a soloist with the Royal Ballet. Her husband had also been a soloist with the Royal Ballet and, together with Russell Kerr, who had also returned from overseas, Graeme Pickering, and Gloria Young, they provided a solid core around which Poul Gnatt was able to build a first-rate company. The programme included Les Patineurs, the Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor, Dream Visions, and Prismatic Variations.
Since 1960 the Company has made annual tours on a national scale presenting standard works and new ballets, notably Arthur Turnbull's Do Wack-A-Do and the Gnatt-Kerr ballet Prismatic Variations. In 1962 the company had the privilege of being the first company outside Denmark to produce the three-act Napoli ballet. Since 1962 the Company has added Petrouchka, One in Five, Casse Noisette, and Pavane to its repertoire.
While in recent years the New Zealand Ballet Co. has tended to dominate the ballet scene, a great deal of enterprising work has been performed by the United Ballet Co. and Ballet Workshop in Auckland and the Wellington City Ballet.
To the Wellington City Ballet goes the honour of being the company to produce the first completely all New Zealand two-act ballet. This was Children of the Mist, based on an adaptation of Maori legend by Leigh Brewer and James Carney, with choreography by Leigh Brewer, costumes and decor by Harry Baker, and original music by Christopher Small. The ballet proved highly successful at the box office and the music has since been recorded by the National Orchestra and broadcast on occasions.
Although Children of the Mist was a New Zealand “first” in many respects, it was not the first time music had been composed by a New Zealander for ballet. The honour for this goes to Alfred Hill who in 1908 composed special music for Canoe and War Cry, two ballets which were included in his Maori opera Tapu.
While, in a professional sense, ballet in New Zealand is a young art, many New Zealanders have already made their mark overseas as dancers. Three–Rowena Jackson, Alex. Grant, and Bryan Ashbridge, of Royal Ballet fame–have attained international status. Undoubtedly they have acted as an example and inspiration to hundreds of aspiring dancers, while others, such as Jonet Wilkie, Pauline Jones, Anne Rowse, Gloria Young, Russell Kerr, and Graeme Pickering, have attained soloist status with such well known companies as the Festival Ballet and the now defunct Borovansky Ballet.
by John James Carney, Chairman, Wellington City Ballet.