The genius of Antony Tudor: 5 ballets you can watch now, in your pyjamas

A big thank you to New York Theatre Ballet and to Amanda McKerrow of the Antony Tudor Ballet Trust for generously allowing us to post these Tudor ballets.

With life as we know it on ‘pause’ in this deadly war against the novel coronavirus, bless NYTB and other dance companies who are digging in to their archives to brighten up our forced isolation.

DIANA BYER, founder and artistic director of New York Theatre Ballet, reflected on Tudor’s legacy:

‘The influence of Antony Tudor’s work has been monumental to the development of ballet and to the training of dancers at New York Theatre Ballet (NYTB). Dance critic John Percival wrote: “Choreographers of major importance appear but rarely. Skilled craftsmen are common, but the man who conceives of dance in a new way and who, because of that conception, creates works of such beauty and power that the entire scope of the art is enriched – this is a special phenomenon. In our time, Antony Tudor has achieved this distinction.”

Tudor was the first to bring the complex psychological human experience center stage to ballet. His dances depict complicated characters and feelings. Dancer Hugh Laing notes, “You can’t be a dancer in Tudor ballets. Everything is based on classical technique, but it must look non-existent… He may want…four pirouettes. The turns are part of a phrase that may be saying, ‘I love you, Juliet,’ and you must not interrupt that phrase to take a fourth position preparation, because then you are paying attention to yourself as a dancer and not Juliet.”

I studied with Mr. Tudor at Juilliard, and his close colleague and friend, Margaret Craske, was NYTB’s Ballet Master and Coach until her passing. Sallie Wilson, one of the great Tudor ballet interpreters, then became NYTB’s Ballet Master. For over 20 years, she was unrelenting, ensuring that each dancer understood the role from the inside out, fighting to have each role done with simplicity and truth. How incredibly lucky everyone in NYTB was to have Margaret Craske and Sallie Wilson in their artistic life, and how honored we all are to have the ballets of Antony Tudor in our repertory.’

And AMANDA MCKERROW shared this personal insight:

‘One of the many things that I think defines the genius of Mr. Tudor’s choreography is the way he could shape the characters in his ballets by creating movement and gesture that authenticated each of them. It was a revelation to me when I worked with Mr. Tudor that if I just danced the steps as they were given I would not just become the character, I would actually experience an emotional response appropriate to that character. As he said to me in a rehearsal early on in my development as the Younger Sister in Pillar of Fire “ Don’t try to act like a little girl, just dance the choreography that I have given you and you will be a little girl.” This is one of the many gifts of truth given to me by Mr Tudor, and it brings me great happiness as a stager to pass his ballets on to new generations of dancers and witness their own moments of revelation through his work.’

Note: Video links now inactive.

JARDIN AUX LILAS

ROMEO & JULIET (PAS DE DEUX)

DARK ELEGIES

JUDGMENT OF PARIS

SOIRÉE MUSICALE

[Please note: these videos were available until April 28, 2020.]