Awakening 'Sleeping Beauty': the creation of a national ballet in Britain
Awakening 'Sleeping Beauty': the creation of a national ballet in Britain
The post-war reopening of London’s Royal Opera House in 1946 has long been viewed as a turning point in policy-makers’ pursuit of national culture: the opulent new production of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty ballet seemed to abandon the wartime emphasis on amateur involvement in the arts in favour of a more elitist preoccupation with international prestige. By resituating the opening night within the broad history of mid-century British ballet culture, this article offers an alternative perspective—one that reveals the production to be far from straightforwardly elitist. In particular, it explores why ballet’s perceived reliance on spectacle made it a problematic vehicle for national culture. It also sheds new light on how the European art canon was appropriated in an attempt to bring Britain the international renown that many considered the hallmark of a ‘truly national culture’.
418-448
Guthrie, Kate
d005b936-78dd-4713-a623-63106ae8e082
Guthrie, Kate
d005b936-78dd-4713-a623-63106ae8e082
Guthrie, Kate
(2015)
Awakening 'Sleeping Beauty': the creation of a national ballet in Britain.
Music & Letters, 96 (3), .
(doi:10.1093/ml/gcv067).
(In Press)
Abstract
The post-war reopening of London’s Royal Opera House in 1946 has long been viewed as a turning point in policy-makers’ pursuit of national culture: the opulent new production of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty ballet seemed to abandon the wartime emphasis on amateur involvement in the arts in favour of a more elitist preoccupation with international prestige. By resituating the opening night within the broad history of mid-century British ballet culture, this article offers an alternative perspective—one that reveals the production to be far from straightforwardly elitist. In particular, it explores why ballet’s perceived reliance on spectacle made it a problematic vehicle for national culture. It also sheds new light on how the European art canon was appropriated in an attempt to bring Britain the international renown that many considered the hallmark of a ‘truly national culture’.
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Accepted/In Press date: 28 January 2015
Organisations:
Music
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Local EPrints ID: 373838
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/373838
ISSN: 0027-4224
PURE UUID: c36a2264-2f1a-4e53-a0ca-f8bc4613f8a0
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Date deposited: 02 Feb 2015 13:30
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 18:58
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Author:
Kate Guthrie
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