Australia Dancing - Ballet Guild (1946

Ballet Guild (1946 - 1967)

Stringer, Walter: Patricia Cox as Sylvia and Raymond Trickett as Orion in Laurel Martyn's 'Sylvia', Ballet Guild, 1963

Ballet Guild was established by Laurel Martyn in Melbourne in 1946 at the request of the Melbourne Ballet Club. The Club had been formed in 1938 and had fostered the early work of the Borovansky Ballet. By the mid 1940s the Borovansky Ballet was well established and the Club set out to develop an alternative company that would have as its aim the creation of new work. Ballet Guild was a non-profit making organisation which was financially dependent on subscriptions from members and on a small government subsidy. Martyn was the Guild's director.

The Guild's first season opened at the Repertory Theatre, Middle Park, on 5 November 1946. The program consisted of four new works, all with choreography by Martyn: Ballade, Contes heraldiques, Dithyramb and Ruritania. Two of those works had scores by Australian composers - Contes heraldiques had a score by Dorian le Gallienne and Dithyramb was composed by Margaret Sutherland - and all were designed by Australian artists.

Martyn continued this policy of creating new works throughout the history of the Guild. She also created a number of works on Australian themes including The Sentimental Bloke with a score by John Tallis and Mathinna with a score by Esther Rofe. Ballet Guild also performed the classics as mounted by Martyn. They included productions of Les Sylphides in 1947, Le Carnaval in 1949, Giselle in 1950 and Coppelia in a two act production in 1951. Other notable works choreographed by Martyn include Voyageur (1956) and a three act Sylvia (1963). The company performed regularly in Melbourne and toured to regional Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. The Guild also established a school, which provided dancers for the company, and which trained its students in both classical and modern techniques.

From late 1959 programs for company seasons began to bear the name Victorian Ballet Guild and in 1963 the company was renamed Victorian Ballet Company. Under these new names Martyn's policy of creating new work while also mounting the classics continued. In 1967 Poul Gnatt was appointed artistic director for twelve months and Martyn became executive director. During 1967 the company also underwent its most significant name change to Ballet Victoria.

Bibliography:

Brolga, 4 (June 1996) is a special issue devoted to the work of Laurel Martyn and includes a list of Martyn's choreography and several articles on the work that was created for Ballet Guild. See also Edward H. Pask, Ballet in Australia: the second act 1940-1980 (Melbourne: Oxford University Press), 1982, pp. 158 ff.

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