Australia Dancing - Ballets Contemporains, Les (1938

Ballets Contemporains, Les (1938 - 1950)

Les Ballets Contemporains evolved from a proposal by Joseph (Joe) Siebert in 1938 that ballet be included in programs of the Adelaide University Guild. The first such performance took place on December 13, 1938 at the 'Hut' on the university grounds. Tchintya, choreographed by Siebert and danced by him with Jean Robertson and Elizabeth Howard, was included in a program alongside musical and dramatic items.

The dance group that continued to perform at the Hut formed a cohesive unit led by Siebert. In 1939 he transformed the Citizens Militia Forces Drill Hall, a large shed in Tynte Place North Adelaide used by his undertaker father to store hearses, into a theatre for the group which now took the name 'Les Ballets Contemporains'. The first performance at this 'Studio Theatre' took place on May 17, 1940, and consisted of three works choreographed by Siebert – L'experience de beaute, Tchintya and Les Galantes chez Marie.

Artists and art students involved with design for the group's performances included Dorrit Black, Dora Cant, Marje Fisher, Lorna Schlank, Jacqueline Hick, May Voke, Margaret Murray, Ernest Milston, Vanessa Lambe, Nan Hambidge, Keith Klenke, Marion Stewart, John Rogers, Robert Pulleine, Gwen Goddard, Erica McGilchrist, Allan Sierp and Frank Flanagan. Many of these artists also appeared in character parts in the ballets and their work was often displayed for sale in the foyer.

Siebert was supported as the driving force behind the group by Jean Robertson. Walter Desborough and other volunteers including Siebert's sister Kathleen were responsible for constructing the costumes. The music was generally provided by amplified gramophone recordings. Local dance teachers such as Dorothy Slane (who had been one of Siebert's early teachers along with Vera Van Rij), Wanda Edwards (who had trained Robertson), Joanna Priest, Nora Stewart, Eileen Groper, Walter Desborough and Zell Sanders were supportive of the group and in some cases choreographed works for the repertoire. Most of the proceeds from the performances were donated to local charities.

In 1944 Les Ballets Contemporains began performing at the Tivoli Theatre (now Her Majesty's), and in that year performed for the visiting Borovansky company, presenting a program of Les Sylphides and two ballets choreographed by Siebert - Les Galantes Chez Marie and Promenade. The final performance by the group took place at the Norwood Town Hall in 1950.

The repertoire of Les Ballets Contemporains included the following works choreographed by Siebert: Tchintya; Harlequin the Flute; Chopin; The Honest Woman; Ulysses; Fetes; L'experience de Beaute; Les Galantes chez Marie; Iberia; White Fire; Daphne and Apollo; Tales from Mother Goose; Promenade; Circus; Bourree Fantasque; Masquerade and various divertissements. Also performed were classics such as Swan Lake (with choreography by Wilf Stevens, Raisse Kouznetsova and Zell Sanders after Ivanov and Petipa), Les Sylphides (with Fokine choreography supervised by Raisse Kouznetsova, Valery Shaievsky and Edouard Sobishevsky), and Le Carnaval and Le Spectre de la rose, both with choreography after Fokine.

Bibliography:

Les Ballets Contemporains, North Adelaide, S. Aust. : Studio Theatre, [1945?] - Available from Mr Murray Bassett, 56 Lasscock Avenue, Lockley, S.A. 5032. Copies held in National Library of Australia.

Note: The 'Studio Theatre' created by Siebert is unrelated to that of the same name used by Joanna Priest in North Adelaide around 1954.

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