Marie Rambert
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Born | Cyvia Rambam 20 February 1888 Warsaw, Congress Poland, Russian Empire |
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Died | 12 June 1982 | (aged 94)
Nationality | Polish British |
Occupation(s) | Ballerina and dance pedagogue |
Years active | 1912–1979 |
Known for | Founder of Ballet Rambert, now Rambert Dance Company |
Spouse(s) | Ashley Dukes (1918–1959; his death); 2 daughters |
Dame Marie Rambert, Mrs Dukes
Early years and background
Born to a liberal
Her father, Yakov Ramberg (1855–1928), born in Vištytis, a small town in Suwałki Governorate (nowadays in Lithuania), was a learned merchant and Hebrew publisher and lexicographer, and a Zionist. Her mother, Eiga Ramberg (née Lap), born in the town of Suchowola (nowadays in north-east Poland), daughter of Rabbi Elhanan Tzvi Lap, was a community worker.[3]
Rambert was the fourth of seven children. The eldest child, Rakhel, was the wife of Hebrew writer
Rambert met her husband Ashley Dukes, a soldier on leave, at a dinner party in 1917. In Rambert's autobiography she says "after four days of personal meetings, and seven months of correspondence we were married on 3 March 1918."[5] This was done partly as a joke so that Dukes could get four weeks of extended leave instead of two days. Their marriage lasted 41 years, until he died in 1959; the couple had two daughters, Angela (1920–2006) and Helena.[citation needed] The poet, Aidan Andrew Dun, is her grandson.
Training
Rambert began her dance training in her schooling early on. Subjects like foreign languages and history seemed to come easy; however she was a restless child and ended up getting bad marks because of her endless movements during class. At one point in her early training her dance instructor stated that 'In her, was the true spirit of dance.'[6] She was unimpressed with the structure and performance of ballet, and was not drawn into dance as a passion until she became enthralled by Isadora Duncan when she attended one of Duncan's performances, and was 'profoundly moved by the beauty of Duncan's dance.'[7]
In 1905, after becoming active in political riots, and the tragic day of May Day, Rambert's parents urged her at one point to move to Paris and take up medicine while safely living with her aunt and uncle who were also doctors. She attended a party where she danced a mazurka and danced it with such liveliness that there was applause afterwards; this was her first performance, whether she thought it or not. She met
One day at the Dalcroze College, Sergei Diaghilev, watched a class and then asked her to come back to Berlin and study with him in the Ballets Russes. There, Rambert aided them with figuring out Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring with Vaslav Nijinsky. She hesitantly accepted and collaborated with the Ballets Russes led by Diaghilev from 1912 to 1913. [citation needed] In Ballets Russes she was in the corps de ballet for ballet performances such as Swan Lake, Giselle, and Scheherazade. After a tour with Nijinsky and Ballets Russes, Rambert's contract was not continued and she decided it was time for a new chapter. In 1914 she moved to the United Kingdom, and studied under Enrico Cecchetti.[9]
Ballet Rambert
After studying with Cecchetti, she went back to study with Madame Rat at the Paris Opera, and took her studies quite seriously. She began teaching more ballet classes in 1919 and later founded her own ballet school in
Ashley Dukes, Marie's husband, renovated a building and made it into Mercury Theatre, where the majority of Ballet Rambert's performance occurred. It was said that 'Notting Hill Gate, where the Mercury Theatre stood, was on the slopes of Olympus'.[11] Ballet Rambert has performed such ballets as Coppelia, as well as Balanchine's Night Shadow.[12]
Rambert was adamant about finding new and upcoming choreographers. Some of her students and later her colleagues included Ashton,
Death
She died on 12 June 1982 and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on 17 June. Her ashes are within the Cloister Walk in section B.
Honours
- 1953, Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1953 Coronation Honours[16]
- 1957, Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur[1]
- 1957, Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award, presented by the Royal Academy of Dance[17]
- 1962, Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 1962 New Year Honours "for services to Ballet"[1][18]
- 1979, Gold Medal of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Rebecca Katz Harwood, "Marie Rambert," Jewish Women's Archive's Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia.
- ^ "Marie Rambert," in: Adrian Room, Dictionary of Pseudonyms, 5th ed., Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2010, p. 396. This was not an uncommon practice among Jews in the Russian Empire.
- ^ "Ramberg, Eiga," in: Sefer Halshim: Lexicon Eretzyisra'eli, Tel Aviv: Masada, 5697 [1937], p. 2023. (Hebrew)
- ^ Avner Holtzman, An Image Before my Eyes, Tel Aviv: Am Oved (Ofakim), 2001, pp. 29–33, 240 (Hebrew). Rambert had a third older Sister, Wella Alapin; younger twin siblings, Hanan and Dvora; and another young brother, Eliezer (Julius) (ibid).
- ISBN 978-0333347119
- ^ Mary Clark and Marie Rambert "Dancers of Mercury; the story of Ballet Rambert" (London, A & C Black, 1962), p. 15.
- ^ Marie Rambert, "Quicksilver", page 24.
- ISBN 0-03-020951-X.
- ^ Jane Pritchard, "Rambert: A Celebration of the Company’s First Seventy Years" (London, Rambert Dance Company 1996), pp. 13–20.
- ^ "Infographic on Rambert early history". Rambert.org.uk. 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
- ^ Jane Pritchard, "Celebration", p. 12.
- ^ "Rambert Performance Database". Rambert. 15 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
- ISBN 0916622436
- ^ "Millicent Hodson, Choreographer and Lecturer | Dance Consortium". 22 August 2005.
- ^ Jane Pritchard, "Celebration", p. 16.
- ^ "No. 39863". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1953. p. 2955.
- ^ QEII Coronation Award Archived 19 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine; accessed 16 October 2016.
- ^ United Kingdom list: "No. 42552". The London Gazette. 29 December 1961. p. 10.
Bibliography
- Marie Rambert (1972). Quicksilver: Autobiography. London: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-333-08942-1.
- Clement Crisp (1981). Ballet Rambert: 50 Years and on. London, Ballet Rambert. p. 111. ISBN 0-9505478-1-6.
External links
- Marie Rambert Collection, 1890s–1980s
- London Gazette notice of damehood for Marie Rambert, Mrs Dukes (1962); accessed 17 May 2014.
- Rebecca Katz Harwood, "Marie Rambert," Jewish Women's Archive's Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia