International Ballet - Poster, 1952
Title
International Ballet - Poster, 1952
Date
14 July 1952
Description
Poster for a mixed programme of dance, including Coppelia and Swan Lake, presented by International Ballet.
What's the story?
International Ballet was a British ballet company that operated between 1941 and 1953. Therefore, this poster marks one of the final tours for the company.
International Ballet’s director was Mona Inglesby, who was also its principal ballerina.
Inglesby had volunteered to be an ambulance driver at the outbreak of the war, but with a £5,000 loan from her father, she formed the company Choreographic Productions Ltd, to perform under the name of International Ballet, touring wartime Britain.
The company’s first performance was in May 1941 at the Alhambra Theatre in Glasgow, with official government approval, as the company’s male dancers were exempt from military service. They were considered to be doing their part for the war effort by helping to keep up civilian morale.
International Ballet was Britain's largest ballet company during the war years and performed to an audience of between one and two million in wartime Britain.
Operating without any state aid, by 1953 International Ballet had become over-shadowed by subsidised companies, such as Sadler’s Well’s Ballet, Ballet Rambert and Festival Ballet and so was forced to close.
This poster is for a mixed programme of work including Giselle, Visions, Coppelia, Sylphides, Swan Lake, Capriccio Espagnol and For Love or Money.
On the reverse of the poster can be found hand-written lighting cues for a production of The Desert Song. Current archive records show that the closet production of that musical to 1952 was a production by Nottingham Operatic Society in 1955.
Was this poster left lying around at the Theatre Royal and then simply used three years later to jot down the cues for this local production?
International Ballet’s director was Mona Inglesby, who was also its principal ballerina.
Inglesby had volunteered to be an ambulance driver at the outbreak of the war, but with a £5,000 loan from her father, she formed the company Choreographic Productions Ltd, to perform under the name of International Ballet, touring wartime Britain.
The company’s first performance was in May 1941 at the Alhambra Theatre in Glasgow, with official government approval, as the company’s male dancers were exempt from military service. They were considered to be doing their part for the war effort by helping to keep up civilian morale.
International Ballet was Britain's largest ballet company during the war years and performed to an audience of between one and two million in wartime Britain.
Operating without any state aid, by 1953 International Ballet had become over-shadowed by subsidised companies, such as Sadler’s Well’s Ballet, Ballet Rambert and Festival Ballet and so was forced to close.
This poster is for a mixed programme of work including Giselle, Visions, Coppelia, Sylphides, Swan Lake, Capriccio Espagnol and For Love or Money.
On the reverse of the poster can be found hand-written lighting cues for a production of The Desert Song. Current archive records show that the closet production of that musical to 1952 was a production by Nottingham Operatic Society in 1955.
Was this poster left lying around at the Theatre Royal and then simply used three years later to jot down the cues for this local production?
Type
Poster
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Researcher: David Longford
