0:00:16 > 0:00:18The seven years of World War Two
0:00:18 > 0:00:21were filled with constant threat and danger
0:00:21 > 0:00:25but they would transform one British art form forever.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33It's my belief that the Second World War
0:00:33 > 0:00:35was the making of British ballet,
0:00:35 > 0:00:37and in this film I want to find out
0:00:37 > 0:00:41just how fundamental those years of hardship and adversity were
0:00:41 > 0:00:44in getting the British public to embrace ballet.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48It's the story of how one courageous woman
0:00:48 > 0:00:51and her small company of dancers
0:00:51 > 0:00:55took what was essentially a foreign art form and made it British,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58despite the falling bombs, the rationing and the call-up.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01And it's the story of how Britain as a nation
0:01:01 > 0:01:03fell in love with ballet.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24As a dancer and choreographer I've spent nearly 40 years
0:01:24 > 0:01:26working with some of the great artists
0:01:26 > 0:01:29who made British ballet a world-renowned success.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33Now, as director of Birmingham Royal Ballet,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36I can trace a direct line back from my company
0:01:36 > 0:01:39to those early pioneering dancers and choreographers
0:01:39 > 0:01:42that kept ballet going throughout the war years.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46In this film I'll be following in the footsteps
0:01:46 > 0:01:47of the key group of dancers
0:01:47 > 0:01:51who would rise from the crucible of the Second World War
0:01:51 > 0:01:53to become Britain's national ballet company.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57Night after night we had full houses.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59I mean, it was amazing.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03Where they found flowers from, and things to give people,
0:02:03 > 0:02:04I don't know.
0:02:06 > 0:02:11Bouquets arrived. A lot of flowers from gardens, I suppose.
0:02:11 > 0:02:16We had a 10 o'clock class every morning. It was like a roll call
0:02:16 > 0:02:19to see if everyone was still alive. Who had been bombed out?
0:02:19 > 0:02:22No, really. To see if anyone was dead and had to be replaced.
0:02:22 > 0:02:27Someone had to stand on guard outside my room every night.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29There were no naughty goings-on
0:02:29 > 0:02:32with lovely officers coming back from the front for me!
0:02:33 > 0:02:36We did so many new ballets.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38Despite all the restrictions.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42You know, you were rationed with materials and things.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45It was extraordinary.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Before World War Two, ballet in Britain was dominated
0:02:51 > 0:02:55by foreign, mainly Russian ballet,
0:02:55 > 0:02:57with companies like Diaghilev's Ballets Russes
0:02:57 > 0:02:59performing at the Royal Opera House
0:02:59 > 0:03:03while Britain's home-grown companies struggled in small theatres.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08There was no British national company or national style.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12But when war broke out, it introduced
0:03:12 > 0:03:15a brand-new set of challenges for Britain's ballet companies
0:03:15 > 0:03:17and those challenges were to prove the testing ground
0:03:17 > 0:03:19for one company in particular -
0:03:19 > 0:03:22the Vic-Wells Ballet lead by Ninette de Valois.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27Known as the godmother of British ballet,
0:03:27 > 0:03:31de Valois would become one of the most influential figures in dance.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35She was born into a military family in Ireland in 1898
0:03:35 > 0:03:38and had a successful career as a dancer herself.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43She was one of the very few English women
0:03:43 > 0:03:46to dance with Diaghilev's great Ballets Russes company
0:03:46 > 0:03:48and, of course, when she was in Diaghilev's company,
0:03:48 > 0:03:53not only was she surrounded by these extraordinary teachers and traditions
0:03:53 > 0:03:55but also great artists.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57She could have stayed with the Ballets Russes
0:03:57 > 0:03:59much longer than she did.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03She was only 28 when she left and I think that she left when she did
0:04:03 > 0:04:08because it had filled her so much with the absolute conviction
0:04:08 > 0:04:14that we had to establish in this country a company,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18a school modelled on the sort of school and company
0:04:18 > 0:04:22which had given rise to the sort of artistry that she had encountered
0:04:22 > 0:04:24and become a part of.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32I first met Madam, as Dame Ninette de Valois came to be known,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35as a 17-year-old student at The Royal Ballet School.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37On one particular occasion,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39we were learning a solo from one of her ballets
0:04:39 > 0:04:42when her face appeared at the window and she duly marched in
0:04:42 > 0:04:46and, ignoring the teacher, ignoring all of the other students,
0:04:46 > 0:04:51took MY hand and proceeded to take ME through one of her solos.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56Terrified? Exhilarated? It was like holding the hand of God.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02She treated us as a lot of school children, I think.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05She really did boss us around a bit.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07I don't think today's dancers
0:05:07 > 0:05:10would probably have accepted it so willingly.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14No, I think we all had great, great respect for her
0:05:14 > 0:05:19and I always felt that I felt great admiration for her but not adoration.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22I don't think anyone could say that they loved de Valois,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25but you had great admiration for her as a person.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29There was an Australian dancer in the company, Gordon Hamilton,
0:05:29 > 0:05:34and he was just a brash little... He didn't care about anything.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37The story was that she corrected him on something,
0:05:37 > 0:05:41corrected him again and again and he said, "All right, Madam."
0:05:41 > 0:05:46You know, it just came out like that and that stuck from then on.
0:05:46 > 0:05:51She wouldn't have "Madame", she wouldn't have anything. That's it.
0:05:51 > 0:05:52So she was Madam
0:05:52 > 0:05:56and she went on being Madam for the rest of her life -
0:05:56 > 0:05:58without an E.
0:05:58 > 0:05:59Frightening.
0:05:59 > 0:06:06Yes, because when she lost her temper she could be really very frightening.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09I think we were all in awe of her.
0:06:09 > 0:06:15Everybody says how tough she was, how cruel she was. I don't agree.
0:06:15 > 0:06:20I think she was just magnificent and inspirational
0:06:20 > 0:06:23and I would have killed for her, really I would.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25And she shouted at me the same as everyone.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31With the aid of another formidable woman, Lilian Baylis,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35the manager of both the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells theatres,
0:06:35 > 0:06:39Ninette de Valois founded the Vic-Wells Ballet Company in 1931.
0:06:41 > 0:06:42Her aim was quite simply
0:06:42 > 0:06:45to create the best ballet company in the country
0:06:45 > 0:06:49and by the mid-1930s she had a roster of dancers and choreographers
0:06:49 > 0:06:54that included Margot Fonteyn, Robert Helpmann and Frederick Ashton.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Her big ambition of course was to found a school and a company
0:06:58 > 0:07:01that would synthesise the great traditions of the Russian ballet
0:07:01 > 0:07:04with recent developments on the continent,
0:07:04 > 0:07:06but to make it uniquely British.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11But it was going to be an uphill struggle.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15Although there were several fledgling British ballet companies
0:07:15 > 0:07:17like the Vic-Wells Ballet and Ballet Rambert,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20most critics in London believed the British
0:07:20 > 0:07:22didn't have the right temperament for ballet
0:07:22 > 0:07:26and only the visiting Russian companies deserved to perform
0:07:26 > 0:07:28at Covent Garden's Opera House.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32For anyone beyond the niche audience in London, ballet hardly existed.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38I think for highbrow audiences, ballet was well established.
0:07:38 > 0:07:44I think for the man in the street, it was still very much peripheral,
0:07:44 > 0:07:50exotic, something they wouldn't consider going to themselves.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Quite happy to encounter it for five minutes in a music hall,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55but that was about it, I think.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58You know, it was for the tiara set,
0:07:58 > 0:07:59not mass entertainment,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02not understood as being part of national culture at all.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06I think if you'd said a ballet dancer, somebody would have said,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09"Oh, you know, the Russians. Them Russians."
0:08:13 > 0:08:17I think the idea that it could be anybody home-grown
0:08:17 > 0:08:18really hadn't sunk in.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22But De Valois was determined,
0:08:22 > 0:08:26and in eight years she had gathered a company of 30 young dancers,
0:08:26 > 0:08:30a prodigiously talented music director and composer, Constant Lambert,
0:08:30 > 0:08:32and had amassed a repertoire
0:08:32 > 0:08:36of both traditional classics, as well as new British choreography,
0:08:36 > 0:08:39like Frederick Ashton's Facade.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47Nurturing the star quality of a 20-year-old Margot Fonteyn
0:08:47 > 0:08:50and the growing choreographic talents of Ashton,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53de Valois was beginning to woo sceptical critics
0:08:53 > 0:08:55and her company were slowly beginning
0:08:55 > 0:08:57to pull ahead of their rivals.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01But on 3rd September 1939,
0:09:01 > 0:09:03everything changed.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09This morning, the British Ambassador in Berlin
0:09:09 > 0:09:14handed the German Government a final note stating that,
0:09:14 > 0:09:18unless we heard from them by 11 o'clock
0:09:18 > 0:09:23that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland,
0:09:23 > 0:09:27a state of war would exist between us.
0:09:27 > 0:09:33I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received
0:09:33 > 0:09:40and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43I think, obviously,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45with the outbreak of war things did change.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48OK, so immediately the companies stop performing
0:09:48 > 0:09:50but that's actually for only a very brief period.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54It was quickly realised that people needed entertainment
0:09:54 > 0:09:56even more during a war period than in peacetime.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59So it was only a brief break
0:09:59 > 0:10:01and dance companies in fact got going
0:10:01 > 0:10:04and remained active through the war
0:10:04 > 0:10:07as much, if not more, than any other art form.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11I think it's very interesting. It really is a big moment for dance.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15The first thing the Vic-Wells Ballet Company did
0:10:15 > 0:10:18after the outbreak of war was embark on a short tour.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22Madam gathered us all together
0:10:22 > 0:10:25and they organised a tour
0:10:25 > 0:10:27which I always think
0:10:27 > 0:10:29was the beginning of making the company,
0:10:29 > 0:10:33because then it was at least seven performances a week.
0:10:33 > 0:10:38It wasn't like it was in London where you did two performances a week,
0:10:38 > 0:10:41it was seven. Hard work. But that's where you learn.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45The dancers were accompanied on tour
0:10:45 > 0:10:48not by an orchestra but by two pianos.
0:10:49 > 0:10:55At first the musicians were able to play, but very soon, of course,
0:10:55 > 0:10:59the call-up had an effect. The musicians went off one by one.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01This left Constant Lambert,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04who was the company's music director,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07to transpose the scores down to a two-piano version,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11which he and the company rehearsal pianist, Hilda Gaunt,
0:11:11 > 0:11:15apparently a great character, played from the orchestra pit.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19Frederick Ashton used the two pianos to great effect
0:11:19 > 0:11:23in his seminal choreography Dante Sonata.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25Inspired by the beginning of the war,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29this ballet explored the conflict between good and evil
0:11:29 > 0:11:33in a way that no British choreographer had ever done before.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36It shows Ashton pulling away from the grand spectacle
0:11:36 > 0:11:40of the Russian and Continental classics
0:11:40 > 0:11:44and developing a unique physical style of story-telling.
0:11:45 > 0:11:50From its premiere in January 1940 at the Sadler's Wells Theatre,
0:11:50 > 0:11:53Dante Sonata was a huge hit
0:11:53 > 0:11:56and the company performed it regularly throughout the war.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02It was a very good ballet.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05I think, personally, in my opinion, it was his best one.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09It was completely different
0:12:09 > 0:12:12to anything that Fred or anybody else had done.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14There were bare feet.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20No pointe shoes. It was very moving.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31It was a powerful work.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35It's created at the beginning of the war, the Phoney War period,
0:12:35 > 0:12:37so before the blitz has started,
0:12:37 > 0:12:39and people didn't know what was going to happen.
0:12:39 > 0:12:44Here was a sense of struggle being put on.
0:12:44 > 0:12:45It was interesting
0:12:45 > 0:12:48because it was very much more a free sort of style of movement
0:12:48 > 0:12:51rather than the formal, academic ballet.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53I think perhaps for some of the audiences
0:12:53 > 0:12:57that was going to appeal more than perhaps a traditional ballet.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12Ashton created Dante Sonata during a break from the RAF
0:13:12 > 0:13:15after he had been conscripted.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19But he had to return to national service after making the piece.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23# This is the army, Mr Jones
0:13:24 > 0:13:28# No private rooms or telephones
0:13:29 > 0:13:32# You had your breakfast in bed before
0:13:32 > 0:13:36# But you won't have it there any more... #
0:13:36 > 0:13:39With all men between 18 and 41 being called up,
0:13:39 > 0:13:43Ninette de Valois's company faced a shortage of male dancers,
0:13:43 > 0:13:46but rather than ask for her men to be exempted,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49de Valois insisted that they sign up.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54I think it's important with de Valois to remember
0:13:54 > 0:13:58that she came from a family where her father had been killed
0:13:58 > 0:13:59in the First World War
0:13:59 > 0:14:03and she felt that conscription was something that they had to accept.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07She really felt that her men had to serve.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12Having access to dancers from Europe and the Commonwealth
0:14:12 > 0:14:14really enabled the company to survive.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18If you were Australian or South African, or whatever you were,
0:14:18 > 0:14:22Lithuanian, you could get a job at the company
0:14:22 > 0:14:26because she needed male dancers.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Some of them weren't so good and some of them were very good.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32Being Madam, she always coped.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35She just cut out all the parts for the men
0:14:35 > 0:14:37and we just did it as girls, you know.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42She adapted everything. Very clever, brilliant woman.
0:14:44 > 0:14:50Even with a rather fluid presence of men, the company still grew in size.
0:14:50 > 0:14:56By 1940 it had 41 dancers and had outgrown the Old Vic stage,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00so they changed their name to become the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06In May 1940, the British Council and the Foreign Office
0:15:06 > 0:15:09decided to cement the wartime relationship
0:15:09 > 0:15:10between Holland and Belgium
0:15:10 > 0:15:14by sending the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company there on tour.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18Ballet, British ballet, had become a valuable cultural export
0:15:18 > 0:15:21and there are wonderful pictures of the company
0:15:21 > 0:15:25striding down the railway platform arm in arm on their way to Holland.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27It looks like it's going to be great fun!
0:15:34 > 0:15:37# Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye
0:15:37 > 0:15:42# Cheerio, here I go, on my way
0:15:42 > 0:15:45# Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye
0:15:45 > 0:15:50# Not a tear, but a cheer Make it gay. #
0:15:50 > 0:15:52I'm on my way to see Julia Farron.
0:15:52 > 0:15:57Julia is the last surviving member of the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company
0:15:57 > 0:16:01that was on that tour to Holland in May 1940.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05# Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye
0:16:05 > 0:16:09# Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye
0:16:09 > 0:16:12# Cheerio, here I go, on my way... #
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Julia! How lovely to see you.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29So when did you very first hear about the Holland tour?
0:16:29 > 0:16:31I can't remember hearing about it.
0:16:31 > 0:16:37It must have, I suppose, gone on the notice board that we were going to do it.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39I think, with us, we were all young
0:16:39 > 0:16:42and we probably were quite excited about it.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46It was really only when we went home and told our parents
0:16:46 > 0:16:48and they weren't very excited about it.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51My father happened to be in the Air Ministry at the time
0:16:51 > 0:16:54because he was put there for the war.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59He was able to find... He was panic-stricken.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01He said, "You can't go."
0:17:01 > 0:17:06Then luckily there were about six of us all under 17
0:17:06 > 0:17:09and suddenly they were told they couldn't take us
0:17:09 > 0:17:11because then we must have a chaperone
0:17:11 > 0:17:14and so my mother was chosen to be a chaperone.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16So she went with you. So she went with us,
0:17:16 > 0:17:20which upset my father even more!
0:17:23 > 0:17:27The Hague is now home to the Nederlands Dans Theater,
0:17:27 > 0:17:30one of the foremost dance companies in the world,
0:17:30 > 0:17:34but back in 1940, dance in Holland was still in its infancy
0:17:34 > 0:17:38and the arrival of the Sadler's Wells Ballet was a big event.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44Jessica Voeten is an author and journalist
0:17:44 > 0:17:47who has written about the company's tour to Holland.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49She's brought me to the Hall Of Knights
0:17:49 > 0:17:52where the company posed for photographs in 1940.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56Wow.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58And here are the greats.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01De Valois, Ashton, Margot Fonteyn,
0:18:01 > 0:18:03Robert Helpmann. It looks wonderful.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07It looks joyous, the sun's shining, they're feeding the pigeons.
0:18:07 > 0:18:12It's a very friendly atmosphere. They look so happy,
0:18:12 > 0:18:16but, I mean, we were at war with Germany at that point,
0:18:16 > 0:18:18but Holland was neutral.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22What was the atmosphere like in Holland at that time?
0:18:22 > 0:18:23It looks relaxed.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27Yeah, but on the other hand of course there was anxiety
0:18:27 > 0:18:31because of the situation since '39.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36You know, there were talks of maybe an invasion of Holland.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42So the company performed here in The Hague the opening night...
0:18:42 > 0:18:44On the same day this picture was taken. The same day.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51Controversially, de Valois had decided
0:18:51 > 0:18:54to bring many of the company's new works,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57including Dante Sonata, to Holland.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00She wanted to bring the best and boldest of British ballet
0:19:00 > 0:19:01to international attention,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04and she got what she wanted, as critics from across the country
0:19:04 > 0:19:09flocked to their first night at The Hague's Royal Theatre.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12It was very exciting
0:19:12 > 0:19:16because we had never been in a big opera house before, you know.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19We'd only been at Sadler's Wells.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22So this was very exciting.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26Boxes, and the royal family were there, and so on.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Then at the end of the performance,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32people in the gallery threw flowers on to the stage.
0:19:32 > 0:19:37Being Holland, they were all the spring flowers, tulips and daffodils.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39It was very beautiful.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42First time I had ever seen that done.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46It must have been a great start to the tour.
0:19:46 > 0:19:52Yeah, it must have been. For the dancers, for the company,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55and also for the public,
0:19:55 > 0:19:58because of the good reviews.
0:19:58 > 0:20:03All the critics from all over came to this performance
0:20:03 > 0:20:05and everybody was blown away by it.
0:20:05 > 0:20:10The following performances were all fully booked.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12The company went on to perform
0:20:12 > 0:20:16to packed houses in Hengelo, Eindhoven and Arnhem
0:20:16 > 0:20:19and were set to go to Amsterdam and Haarlem,
0:20:19 > 0:20:21but things didn't go as planned.
0:20:23 > 0:20:24Four days into the tour
0:20:24 > 0:20:27and circumstances began to catch up with the company.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31When they returned to The Hague to check into the Hotel du Passage,
0:20:31 > 0:20:32which used to be here,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35they knew that the Germans were hot on their heels.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37EXPLOSIONS
0:20:47 > 0:20:49When the sun rose on that fateful day,
0:20:49 > 0:20:51the Nazis invaded the Netherlands.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54Without warning or the slightest provocation,
0:20:54 > 0:20:56they unleashed upon their innocent neighbour
0:20:56 > 0:20:59the full terror and fury of a devastating blitzkrieg.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03We'd come back from the last place that we were at
0:21:03 > 0:21:06and we arrived back late at night,
0:21:06 > 0:21:08it must have been after two, I think,
0:21:08 > 0:21:11and then everybody went to bed.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15And then a couple of hours later, the planes started coming over.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17Woke us all up.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20But everybody went up on the roof.
0:21:25 > 0:21:30I'm standing on the roof of what used to be the Hotel du Passage
0:21:30 > 0:21:32in the exact spot
0:21:32 > 0:21:35where the dancers of the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company were
0:21:35 > 0:21:37on the morning of the 10th May 1940,
0:21:37 > 0:21:42Margot Fonteyn reputedly in her lilac dressing gown.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44From here, the company would have seen
0:21:44 > 0:21:47countless thousands of airborne troops dropping.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49They would have heard gunfire, bombing,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52as the Germans attempted to take out strategic points
0:21:52 > 0:21:54in and around the city.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57And what we have to remember is that many of the company were teenagers,
0:21:57 > 0:22:00others barely out of their teens.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03It must have been a terrifying experience.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08Thousands of leaflets were dropped on The Hague from the Nazi planes.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10The leaflets assured Dutch residents
0:22:10 > 0:22:13that Germany's war was with England and not Holland,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16but threatened that any resistance to the invasion
0:22:16 > 0:22:19would be met with lethal force.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24We heard gunfire. It was quite frightening.
0:22:24 > 0:22:29You know, we literally went down into the basement and stayed there
0:22:29 > 0:22:33and we were frightened, very frightened.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35With the invasion of Holland,
0:22:35 > 0:22:39the situation in The Hague was becoming increasingly perilous.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43There is a story that Lambert, and Ashton, De Valois, and Helpmann
0:22:43 > 0:22:46were having coffee in a local cafe
0:22:46 > 0:22:51when a bullet from a German aircraft whizzed past, narrowly missing them.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53The Sadler's Wells Ballet Company
0:22:53 > 0:22:56had to find a way out of the city - and fast.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02Nobody wanted to be interned, which is what would have happened,
0:23:02 > 0:23:04patently obviously.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06The Germans, once they'd got in,
0:23:06 > 0:23:09would have pushed us into prison probably,
0:23:09 > 0:23:13and then found somewhere to put us for the war.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17And that would have been the end of the company.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Thanks to tireless negotiations by John Beek,
0:23:22 > 0:23:25the Dutch impresario who brought them to Holland,
0:23:25 > 0:23:29as well as daily representations by de Valois and Lambert,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32the British Embassy managed to get the company out of The Hague
0:23:32 > 0:23:35and on to a cargo ship bound for Britain.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38It was the penultimate boat out of the country
0:23:38 > 0:23:40and was closely followed by another boat
0:23:40 > 0:23:42carrying the Dutch Royal Family.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45We literally went down into the bowels of the ship
0:23:45 > 0:23:47and there we stayed.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51And they shut us in, you know, they didn't leave that open.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56We were there for, I think,
0:23:56 > 0:24:00about 18 hours - no food, no drink.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10When the company fled Holland in 1940
0:24:10 > 0:24:12they left everything behind.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16They'd brought with them six of their most important works
0:24:16 > 0:24:17and everything was lost -
0:24:17 > 0:24:21music, scenery, costumes.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24They managed to revive some of those ballets later,
0:24:24 > 0:24:26but one ballet, Horoscope,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29was completely lost and never danced again.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31Written by Constant Lambert,
0:24:31 > 0:24:36it made Margot Fonteyn a star and was a great loss to British ballet.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38But at least the company had escaped
0:24:38 > 0:24:40with their lives and with their liberty.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47A few days after the company had returned to Britain,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Holland surrendered to the Germans.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53With most of the company's modern repertoire lost,
0:24:53 > 0:24:58there was pressure for new work, both from audiences and dancers.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02So De Valois organised a new season at the Sadler's Wells Theatre
0:25:02 > 0:25:04and began to choreograph.
0:25:07 > 0:25:08On the 4th July 1940,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11de Valois' The Prospect Before Us
0:25:11 > 0:25:14burst onto the Sadler's Wells stage.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18A light-hearted romp based in 18th-century London's Theatreland,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22it featured a grandstanding comic solo for Robert Helpmann.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25The Prospect Before Us
0:25:25 > 0:25:28was the perfect example of de Valois' mission
0:25:28 > 0:25:31to create new ballets which were quintessentially British.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39Prospect Before Us was a marvellous piece
0:25:39 > 0:25:42of counterintuitive brilliance, really,
0:25:42 > 0:25:45on Ninette de Valois's part.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48She's looking to the past, she's giving a sense of continuity,
0:25:48 > 0:25:52a sense of Englishness, a sense of eccentricity,
0:25:52 > 0:25:56all the things that we know and love about ourselves.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00So it's a wonderful feel-good thing about who we are, where we come from.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03You would not have thought that at such a dark moment
0:26:03 > 0:26:07she would come out with something so light and bubbling, really.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12VIBRANT PIANO MUSIC PLAYS
0:26:37 > 0:26:41AIR-RAID SIRENS WAIL
0:26:41 > 0:26:42NEWSREEL: 'Now it's eight o'clock.'
0:26:44 > 0:26:46'Jerry's a little bit late tonight.'
0:26:48 > 0:26:51In September 1940, the Blitz began
0:26:51 > 0:26:56and the Sadler's Wells Theatre was closed and turned into a rest centre
0:26:56 > 0:26:59for people whose homes were bombed.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01The Sadler's Wells Ballet Company was homeless.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04NEWSREEL: 'But it won't be a quiet night.'
0:27:14 > 0:27:16'The searchlights are in position.
0:27:16 > 0:27:17'The guns are ready.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20'The people's army of volunteers is ready.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23'They are the ones who are really fighting this war.'
0:27:23 > 0:27:26The company briefly moved to Burnley
0:27:26 > 0:27:28but soon found themselves back in London
0:27:28 > 0:27:31when the government realised that, despite the Blitz,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34people still needed entertainment to lift their spirits.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37And they found themselves here -
0:27:37 > 0:27:39it's called the Noel Coward Theatre today,
0:27:39 > 0:27:41but during the war it was known as the New Theatre.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Whilst the company were here, at the New Theatre,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03the bombing of London intensified.
0:28:03 > 0:28:04At the height of the Blitz,
0:28:04 > 0:28:09the Germans were launching over 100 V1 flying bombs at London every day,
0:28:09 > 0:28:13their distinctive buzzing noise terrorising the populous.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17But the audiences kept coming and the dancers kept dancing.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20We had watchers on the roof who had three whistles.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25If there was one whistle it was, "Take care, the Doodlebug is coming."
0:28:25 > 0:28:26Because you could see them.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30Two - "Danger, get ready to go to the stairs."
0:28:30 > 0:28:32Three - "Get onto the stairs."
0:28:34 > 0:28:38And then you'd wait for this shattering crash,
0:28:38 > 0:28:42and you'd usually swear as much as one dared swear at that age,
0:28:42 > 0:28:44and then you'd rush back up to the dressing room
0:28:44 > 0:28:46and get on with your make-up.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49We had a lot of gunfire,
0:28:49 > 0:28:51we could hear the guns going
0:28:51 > 0:28:55when they were trying to shoot down the bombers going over.
0:28:55 > 0:28:56That made an awful racket.
0:28:56 > 0:29:01My only real experience of being quite close to it
0:29:01 > 0:29:03was in Sylphides.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05MELANCHOLY VIOLIN MUSIC
0:29:11 > 0:29:13And they had the flying bombs, you know,
0:29:13 > 0:29:15they used to grind and grind
0:29:15 > 0:29:18and the thing was that when they stopped,
0:29:18 > 0:29:22you heard them stop, you knew it was going to fall somewhere close to you.
0:29:29 > 0:29:31There's a point in Sylphides
0:29:31 > 0:29:36when the entire company has to turn upstage and hover,
0:29:36 > 0:29:40just hover for about three to four seconds,
0:29:40 > 0:29:42just bourree-ing on the spot,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45and arms going up and down.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47Well, that wretched thing
0:29:47 > 0:29:49had got nearly on top of us it seemed,
0:29:49 > 0:29:51when we got to that point.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54And we suddenly heard this. "Eeeeeeee" going,
0:29:54 > 0:29:56and we all kind of froze in our position.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59And I think it would only have taken one person to have run
0:29:59 > 0:30:02and everybody would have scattered,
0:30:02 > 0:30:04the audience and everything and everybody else,
0:30:04 > 0:30:06but we didn't, we just kind of froze.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10We had been told, de Valois said, "Don't you dare move",
0:30:10 > 0:30:13so we stood there and the music stopped,
0:30:13 > 0:30:15everyone got down under their seats.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19And we heard the great clunk and we knew that it had landed
0:30:19 > 0:30:23and it wasn't us and we all kind of sighed a sigh of relief and went on.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25It actually dropped two buildings away -
0:30:25 > 0:30:27but it wasn't on us.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30The bomb fell and it made an explosion... Everyone...
0:30:30 > 0:30:32The orchestra came up and they started again!
0:30:37 > 0:30:41Because the company had to share the theatre with drama and music hall,
0:30:41 > 0:30:43they didn't get many performances.
0:30:43 > 0:30:44So they went on tour,
0:30:44 > 0:30:48both to make money and to keep the dancers performing.
0:30:48 > 0:30:49And, boy, did they tour!
0:30:56 > 0:30:59We used to give three matinees a week,
0:30:59 > 0:31:01Wednesday, Thursdays, Saturday.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05And then every evening, Monday to Saturday.
0:31:05 > 0:31:10And very often if we were going from Edinburgh down to Bath or Bristol
0:31:10 > 0:31:12or wherever it might have been,
0:31:12 > 0:31:14we would be travelling in the train overnight.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18You only got Sunday off if you weren't travelling.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22If you were travelling it was... There went your Sunday
0:31:22 > 0:31:26and no break at all. It was pretty tough.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30We didn't really get enough rest, to be honest, we did not.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32When we toured around it was awful,
0:31:32 > 0:31:35because we used to spend the weekend on the train,
0:31:35 > 0:31:37you know, we'd do one-week stints
0:31:37 > 0:31:40and then we'd travel to another town next week.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44And we'd be shunted into a siding when the military things were going,
0:31:44 > 0:31:47we'd sit on the siding no heating, no food, nothing -
0:31:47 > 0:31:48it was a miserable time.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51It was really very hard on the dancers.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53But a very good training,
0:31:53 > 0:31:56it made everyone very strong, very resistant.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58We went everywhere.
0:31:58 > 0:32:02Where did we go? Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow,
0:32:02 > 0:32:03Leeds, Manchester,
0:32:03 > 0:32:06I loved the Opera House in Manchester.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10We certainly went to Cardiff and Bristol,
0:32:10 > 0:32:14Southampton, Brighton, Eastbourne.
0:32:15 > 0:32:19I think there's a lot of factors that came into touring.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21It was commercially successful for them to go
0:32:21 > 0:32:23and perform in the regions.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28And I think de Valois did want new audiences
0:32:28 > 0:32:30to see the ballet and to enjoy the ballet.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35When the company toured, they were paid up to ?4 a week
0:32:35 > 0:32:39which translates to about ?100 nowadays,
0:32:39 > 0:32:41so, not much, even back then,
0:32:41 > 0:32:44but at least the company had the opportunity to perform
0:32:44 > 0:32:48and to continue strengthening their technique.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52But the reality of dancing across the country with food rationed
0:32:52 > 0:32:55and at the height of wartime austerity
0:32:55 > 0:32:56certainly wasn't easy.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00I mean, it was hard, it really was hard.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03But you could get what we called digs, you know,
0:33:03 > 0:33:06on tour for about 30 shillings.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10Some of the digs were absolutely dreadful,
0:33:10 > 0:33:11some were quite good.
0:33:11 > 0:33:16I mean, some had bedbugs and not enough clothes on the bed
0:33:16 > 0:33:17and you put newspaper on the bed
0:33:17 > 0:33:20to have a little extra something over the top of you.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24We'd probably arrive at nine o'clock at night, in the blackout,
0:33:24 > 0:33:26with a heavy suitcase.
0:33:26 > 0:33:28We had to walk from the station and try looking for digs -
0:33:28 > 0:33:31if you hadn't got them in advance you were out of luck.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33Knocking, "Have you got any room?"
0:33:33 > 0:33:37I mean, it was monstrous, monstrous, I don't know how we survived.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40Then you had to give your food coupons to the landlady,
0:33:40 > 0:33:42sometimes you got something back from them,
0:33:42 > 0:33:44most of the time you didn't!
0:33:44 > 0:33:48You would hand over your ration book
0:33:48 > 0:33:51and pray that they didn't cheat you.
0:33:51 > 0:33:56You had two ounces of butter a week and two ounces of margarine.
0:33:56 > 0:34:02And, um, you never knew if they were really diddling you or not.
0:34:02 > 0:34:07I remember one, asking us what we wanted to eat for our suppers,
0:34:07 > 0:34:09and so we said, "What have you got?"
0:34:09 > 0:34:14And she said she'd got cheese, cheese, toasted cheese...
0:34:14 > 0:34:18baked cheese. We thought, "Ooh, what's that?"
0:34:18 > 0:34:20You would find yourself getting a bit plump
0:34:20 > 0:34:24and because it was bread, you know, and margarine
0:34:24 > 0:34:28and not vegetables and protein like we think we have to have now.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30Diet wasn't the only thing
0:34:30 > 0:34:34the dancers had to compromise on during the war.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38We had to buy our own make-up and our tights.
0:34:38 > 0:34:43And we were only given one pair a fortnight of ballet shoes,
0:34:43 > 0:34:47and you can imagine, that didn't go very far with...
0:34:47 > 0:34:52what... Three and six is nine, nine performances a week -
0:34:52 > 0:34:57so 18 performances, with one pair of shoes.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00So that's why we used to
0:35:00 > 0:35:03darn the pointes, always.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07And so we all got raw toes, you know...
0:35:07 > 0:35:09blisters and then they broke.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11But we coped all right.
0:35:11 > 0:35:12Got used to it.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17I think one was so happy to be dancing, really.
0:35:21 > 0:35:22As they toured around Britain,
0:35:22 > 0:35:26the company continued to build a reputation for ballet
0:35:26 > 0:35:28right across the country, turning an art form
0:35:28 > 0:35:31which had hitherto been the preserve of London's elite
0:35:31 > 0:35:33into a national treasure.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38I mean, when I first joined in '41,
0:35:38 > 0:35:40we didn't always have full houses,
0:35:40 > 0:35:43and by the end of the war we had.
0:35:43 > 0:35:49I think the very fact we were cut off from the rest of the world
0:35:49 > 0:35:53meant that people had to focus on what there was.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57I mean, we could see what it meant to people.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01I mean, people had nothing and yet they paid the money
0:36:01 > 0:36:05to come and see the ballet, and we were really moved by that.
0:36:05 > 0:36:10You know, that they would give away a little bit of their money,
0:36:10 > 0:36:13which they hardly had any of, to come and see us.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17So it drove us on, you know? We were determined to be wonderful.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21There were regular people that came, performance after performance,
0:36:21 > 0:36:24and I think there were a lot of people,
0:36:24 > 0:36:29it was like a club, really, especially further up in the gallery,
0:36:29 > 0:36:33in the amphitheatre, they all went to performance after performance
0:36:33 > 0:36:34and they made it their duty
0:36:34 > 0:36:37to kind of see every performance they could see
0:36:37 > 0:36:39and different people in different roles.
0:36:41 > 0:36:44One of de Valois' strengths in building an audience
0:36:44 > 0:36:47was the way she programmed the popular traditional Russian
0:36:47 > 0:36:49and Continental classics
0:36:49 > 0:36:51together with new British work.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53WALTZ-STYLE VIOLIN MUSIC
0:36:59 > 0:37:01Somebody who documented
0:37:01 > 0:37:05the way the company's repertoire was developing during the war
0:37:05 > 0:37:06was Lionel Bradley.
0:37:06 > 0:37:08A dedicated follower of ballet,
0:37:08 > 0:37:11he saw hundreds of performances every year
0:37:11 > 0:37:13and would write detailed bulletins
0:37:13 > 0:37:15to share with his closest friends.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22Every now and again he'll give us these wonderful retrospectives
0:37:22 > 0:37:24of the season that he's just seen
0:37:24 > 0:37:28and talk about how many performances the company has given,
0:37:28 > 0:37:31how many individual ballets they've performed.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33So here we have 1941-42.
0:37:33 > 0:37:38And he notes that, in fact, they're giving 208,
0:37:38 > 0:37:41compared with 110 the year before -
0:37:41 > 0:37:43that's an enormous increase in the amount of work.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46We do about 130 a year. Yes.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49208 - that's a lot of shows.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53He'll then talk about how many works are presented,
0:37:53 > 0:37:56and with Ashton there were 152 performances,
0:37:56 > 0:37:58Helpmann, 90.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02And de Valois' ballets, there were 67 of them,
0:38:02 > 0:38:06and Mikael Fokine, so the old, traditional Russian element
0:38:06 > 0:38:09coming through from the Ballets Russes, 47.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11So that's mainly Les Sylphides.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14It was largely mixed programmes that were being performed,
0:38:14 > 0:38:16with some light-hearted works,
0:38:16 > 0:38:18which was very useful for the escapism
0:38:18 > 0:38:20that I'm sure people wanted.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30Although many of the new works were light-hearted,
0:38:30 > 0:38:33it was the traditional classics like Les Sylphides
0:38:33 > 0:38:37which provided audiences with the beautiful fantasy worlds
0:38:37 > 0:38:38they could escape into.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46ETHEREAL VIOLIN MUSIC PLAYS
0:38:46 > 0:38:48SHE ISSUES INSTRUCTIONS
0:38:49 > 0:38:52Ballet teacher Ann Steedman was seven years old
0:38:52 > 0:38:54when she saw the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company
0:38:54 > 0:38:56in Nottingham during the war.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59The thing that I remember most,
0:38:59 > 0:39:02and stayed with me ever since,
0:39:02 > 0:39:05was a very young Margot Fonteyn.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09Must have been about 19 or 20 at the time... Yes, yes.
0:39:09 > 0:39:11..in Sylphides.
0:39:11 > 0:39:16Such a beautiful, understated, lyrical performance.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18Quite beautiful.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20And then I, as a seven-year-old,
0:39:20 > 0:39:23I was very impressed with the ballet Les Sylphides.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27I sat on the edge of my seat
0:39:27 > 0:39:30and had shivers going up and down my spine,
0:39:30 > 0:39:34and the music, and I loved it.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38That was when I thought, "That's what I want to do.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41"I want to be in a ballet company." And I did get my wish.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52After winning the hearts of audiences outside London,
0:39:52 > 0:39:56the Sadler's Wells Ballet had another challenge - the troops.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59Like many other entertainers, the company were asked
0:39:59 > 0:40:02to give performances for British soldiers,
0:40:02 > 0:40:03both at home and overseas,
0:40:03 > 0:40:07by the Entertainments National Service Association, or ENSA.
0:40:09 > 0:40:14We occasionally gave shows in aircraft hangars, you know.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17We did dance for the troops.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21They started coming and enjoying the performances.
0:40:21 > 0:40:23But the audiences,
0:40:23 > 0:40:26I think they probably found ballet
0:40:26 > 0:40:28as something beautiful
0:40:28 > 0:40:33amidst all the awful things that were going on.
0:40:33 > 0:40:37Half of these men would have laughed at the ballet
0:40:37 > 0:40:40and said a lot of poofters, you know, cos that was the... Wasn't it?
0:40:40 > 0:40:43I mean, fathers wouldn't let their children learn to dance,
0:40:43 > 0:40:45cos they said, "No, I'm not having that."
0:40:46 > 0:40:50On the ENSA tour, the boys got whistled everywhere,
0:40:50 > 0:40:52when we got off the bus, they were...
0:40:56 > 0:41:00Well, it was something which girls should be doing, not boys.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03Well, I think a lot of them went
0:41:03 > 0:41:05because there was nothing else to go to
0:41:05 > 0:41:07and a lot of them got hooked on it
0:41:07 > 0:41:11and I think we made a lot of fans, in that respect.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14When they came, of course they fell in love with it,
0:41:14 > 0:41:17they loved it, and all that nonsense about the men went out of the window
0:41:17 > 0:41:21and they saw how hard... They saw them holding a girl above their head
0:41:21 > 0:41:25and then they realised there was sex in it, of course,
0:41:25 > 0:41:28because there were girls, beautiful girls with long legs
0:41:28 > 0:41:31and tiny little tutus and things, so that cheered them up a lot.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35And so I think a whole generation of people
0:41:35 > 0:41:37who were interested in the ballet
0:41:37 > 0:41:40was formed in those ENSA tours.
0:41:43 > 0:41:45VIOLIN MUSIC PLAYS
0:41:48 > 0:41:52By 1944 the company were ready to move into larger premises,
0:41:52 > 0:41:55and they came here.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58It's called the Shaftesbury Theatre now, but during the war years
0:41:58 > 0:42:01it was called the Prince's Theatre
0:42:01 > 0:42:03and it was here that Robert Helpmann
0:42:03 > 0:42:07premiered his ground-breaking ballet Miracle In The Gorbals.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13Taking inspiration from the infamous Glaswegian slum
0:42:13 > 0:42:16which had been called the most dangerous place in the country,
0:42:16 > 0:42:20the multi-talented Helpmann fused his flair for drama
0:42:20 > 0:42:22with expressionistic movement
0:42:22 > 0:42:24to create a British myth
0:42:24 > 0:42:26that working-class audiences could relate to.
0:42:29 > 0:42:34It was about a Christ figure coming back to save a suicide.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36But the important thing about it
0:42:36 > 0:42:40was that it took place in the thick of the Gorbals,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43which then was a totally disreputable place.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49It was most unballetic in a way,
0:42:49 > 0:42:52but, er, thrilling nonetheless.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54And it was important for us,
0:42:54 > 0:42:56because I don't the company
0:42:56 > 0:43:00had anything else that was modern in that way.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03They didn't have anything really earthy.
0:43:03 > 0:43:08Sir Robert Helpmann, Bobby as we called him, was so brilliant.
0:43:08 > 0:43:10He said, "Get out to the streets,
0:43:10 > 0:43:14"look and learn and become real people."
0:43:14 > 0:43:16So that was thrilling for all of us.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20It was a success in as much as people sort of said,
0:43:20 > 0:43:24"That's not ballet," you know, it's something quite different,
0:43:24 > 0:43:27but they enjoyed it. It was very dramatic.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31With its roots in gritty real life,
0:43:31 > 0:43:35Miracle In The Gorbals was a real cornerstone in British choreography
0:43:35 > 0:43:37and proved another success for the company.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42I'm hoping to restage this piece for the Birmingham Royal Ballet,
0:43:42 > 0:43:46so I've asked original cast member Pauline Clayden
0:43:46 > 0:43:50to teach the suicide solo to one of our dancers - Natasha Oughtred.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57Pauline was amazing and was very particular
0:43:57 > 0:43:59with the style and the thought,
0:43:59 > 0:44:01right from the beginning,
0:44:01 > 0:44:04as to what she felt when she was doing this piece.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06And considering how long ago this was,
0:44:06 > 0:44:09I think she's got incredible clarity on the ballet
0:44:09 > 0:44:14and how Helpmann really wanted it to look.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16DRAMATIC PIANO MUSIC
0:44:29 > 0:44:33A lot was left to one's own kind of imagination.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36I don't think he ever said to me, because I did the suicide,
0:44:36 > 0:44:40why I committed suicide, he never gave me a reason for that.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43By the steps of what he wanted me to do,
0:44:43 > 0:44:45one kind of put two and two together
0:44:45 > 0:44:48and made one's own story up as one went along.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45On the 8th May 1945,
0:45:45 > 0:45:49almost five years after the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company
0:45:49 > 0:45:51had narrowly escaped the Nazis in Holland,
0:45:51 > 0:45:55the German army surrendered and peace came to Europe.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59# When the lights go on again
0:45:59 > 0:46:05# All over the world
0:46:05 > 0:46:08# And the boys are home again... #
0:46:08 > 0:46:10We were doing Coppelia.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14Bobby was playing Dr Coppelius.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16We were at the New.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26I think the applause at the end was an amazement
0:46:26 > 0:46:29and I think Bobby, as far as I remember,
0:46:29 > 0:46:31made an outrageous speech,
0:46:31 > 0:46:35but basically what we all wanted to do was get out of our costumes,
0:46:35 > 0:46:36get in to our clothes,
0:46:36 > 0:46:39and run down St Martin's Lane to Trafalgar Square
0:46:39 > 0:46:41and join in the crowds.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43So, we were all there in Trafalgar Square.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46I mean, like, talk about cheek to jowl, you know,
0:46:46 > 0:46:48you could hardly move, but we were there.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51# Then we'll have time
0:46:51 > 0:46:55# For things like wedding rings
0:46:55 > 0:46:59# And free hearts will sing
0:46:59 > 0:47:03# When the lights go on again
0:47:03 > 0:47:07# All over the world. #
0:47:08 > 0:47:10By the end of the war, despite the lack of men
0:47:10 > 0:47:13and the air raids and the wartime shortages,
0:47:13 > 0:47:15de Valois' company had made great strides
0:47:15 > 0:47:19both in terms of creativity and their popularity.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23They were, in all but name, a national institution.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26But it would take the most influential economist
0:47:26 > 0:47:28of the 20th century
0:47:28 > 0:47:31to propel them to the next level.
0:47:32 > 0:47:34Apart from being an economist,
0:47:34 > 0:47:36John Maynard Keynes was also the chairman
0:47:36 > 0:47:40of the Council For The Encouragement Of Music And The Arts,
0:47:40 > 0:47:45or CEMA, which was to become the Arts Council in 1946.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48Maynard Keynes was also a keen balletomane
0:47:48 > 0:47:51who had married a Russian ballerina.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54He wanted the Sadler's Wells Ballet company
0:47:54 > 0:47:56to move to the Royal Opera House,
0:47:56 > 0:47:59which had been used throughout the war as a dance hall.
0:48:01 > 0:48:05Maynard Keynes had wanted to bring them into the heart of Theatreland,
0:48:05 > 0:48:10of course the Paris Opera had the Paris Opera Ballet,
0:48:10 > 0:48:15the great Kirov Opera had the Kirov Ballet at the old Mariinsky Theatre,
0:48:15 > 0:48:19but in England we only had visiting ballet companies
0:48:19 > 0:48:20at the opera house.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23He wanted to have one resident there.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25Negotiations got under way
0:48:25 > 0:48:28to bring the Sadler's Wells Ballet to Covent Garden.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31De Valois' dream of leading a national ballet company
0:48:31 > 0:48:33seemed within her grasp.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36But, curiously, she didn't jump at the proposal.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43She knew she had to come up with a very good cast.
0:48:43 > 0:48:44That was hard to find,
0:48:44 > 0:48:47because some of the boys were still in the forces.
0:48:47 > 0:48:52She may have been frightened to think that that would shunt us up
0:48:52 > 0:48:56into a realm of ballet companies that we had never been.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59I mean, we were a small... We were the best, but we were still small.
0:48:59 > 0:49:03And she may have been a little bit frightened, "Can we do it?"
0:49:03 > 0:49:07"Am I, Madam, am I up to it?"
0:49:07 > 0:49:10You know, maybe there were all sorts of fears like that.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14But whatever they were, she overcame them.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20In 1946 the Sadler's Wells Ballet
0:49:20 > 0:49:23moved into the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden
0:49:23 > 0:49:26to become the permanent company there.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33# Something to dance about
0:49:33 > 0:49:35# Someone to dance it with
0:49:35 > 0:49:38# Something to dance it to
0:49:38 > 0:49:40# To a foxtrot or a waltz... #
0:49:40 > 0:49:43That was so exciting.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46I mean, we couldn't believe it.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50We'd heard rumours that we might be going and that.
0:49:50 > 0:49:55And, I mean, we all felt it was such a privilege
0:49:55 > 0:49:58to even go through the stage door
0:49:58 > 0:50:01where all these great Russian dancers had been.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05It was really rather like going into a wonderful cathedral.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08I mean, it was such a hallowed place, you know,
0:50:08 > 0:50:11where only the greatest had ever performed.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20I think we felt we'd earned it,
0:50:20 > 0:50:23I think we'd done our bit, you know.
0:50:23 > 0:50:25Well, we'd worked damn hard, you know,
0:50:25 > 0:50:28we'd toured the provinces, we'd propagated ballet, which people...
0:50:28 > 0:50:31We went to towns where they'd never seen ballet before.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34The company deserved to be there,
0:50:34 > 0:50:37I mean, they deserved to be the national company.
0:50:37 > 0:50:43It was the best-run company, maybe with the best dancers.
0:50:43 > 0:50:49And a woman at the helm who really knew how to run a company.
0:50:50 > 0:50:55On the 20th February 1946, the Royal Opera House reopened
0:50:55 > 0:50:58with a performance of Petipa's The Sleeping Beauty
0:50:58 > 0:51:01to an audience which included the Royal Family.
0:51:02 > 0:51:04I mean, it was, you know, very exciting,
0:51:04 > 0:51:07and the royal family coming for the opening night and everything,
0:51:07 > 0:51:09it was marvellous.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12It was terribly exciting...
0:51:12 > 0:51:14and different, it was so huge.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17You see, we'd always been in sort of small theatres.
0:51:19 > 0:51:23I can remember the stage manager saying,
0:51:23 > 0:51:25"Places, please, ladies and gentlemen,"
0:51:25 > 0:51:29and we all went... We shook, absolutely shook.
0:51:33 > 0:51:35Well, it was magical.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39I mean, it's such a wonderful stage, that Covent Garden stage.
0:51:40 > 0:51:44Ninette was always telling us we had to project,
0:51:44 > 0:51:47we were on a much, much, much bigger stage
0:51:47 > 0:51:50and the theatre was enormous
0:51:50 > 0:51:53and we had to project to the back of the gallery.
0:52:01 > 0:52:03We knew it was our theatre.
0:52:03 > 0:52:07It was a magical moment, absolutely magical.
0:52:08 > 0:52:10We knew we were good.
0:52:10 > 0:52:12I mean, we'd been polished to within an inch of our lives,
0:52:12 > 0:52:15so we knew we were in a better state than we'd ever been.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22I think it was the most exciting thing I've ever seen.
0:52:22 > 0:52:24And this was the first big production they'd had -
0:52:24 > 0:52:27new costumes, new sets, everything.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29And a full-size orchestra.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31It was very good.
0:52:54 > 0:52:57The success of that first performance of The Sleeping Beauty
0:52:57 > 0:53:00was like an awakening, both for Britain
0:53:00 > 0:53:03and the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05After the long, dark days of the war,
0:53:05 > 0:53:08the country faced a bright new future
0:53:08 > 0:53:11and Britain's love affair with ballet had been ignited.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16The company were now supported by public funds
0:53:16 > 0:53:18from the newly formed Arts Council,
0:53:18 > 0:53:21a measure which John Maynard Keynes had put in place
0:53:21 > 0:53:23before his death in 1946.
0:53:24 > 0:53:28This gave de Valois' company a security they'd never had before.
0:53:30 > 0:53:32In their new home at Covent Garden
0:53:32 > 0:53:35the Sadler's Wells Ballet went from strength to strength,
0:53:35 > 0:53:38dancing the full-length classics alongside new works
0:53:38 > 0:53:40like Frederick Ashton's Symphonic Variations,
0:53:40 > 0:53:42which also premiered in 1946
0:53:42 > 0:53:47and remains one of his most potent and influential pieces.
0:53:47 > 0:53:49In fact, if The Sleeping Beauty can be viewed
0:53:49 > 0:53:52as the awakening of British ballet,
0:53:52 > 0:53:56then Symphonic Variations is surely it's apotheosis.
0:53:57 > 0:54:02This is footage taken from the dress rehearsal of Symphonic Variations
0:54:02 > 0:54:04back in 1946.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07It's never been seen publicly before
0:54:07 > 0:54:11and features the original cast of six dancers,
0:54:11 > 0:54:14out of whom only Henry Danton still remains alive.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19It was Ashton's first ballet after he'd been conscripted.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23So I think he put a lot into it.
0:54:25 > 0:54:27It was like a great sigh of relief
0:54:27 > 0:54:30and, oh, thank goodness we can relax.
0:54:30 > 0:54:31It was beautiful music.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39In a way, The Sleeping Beauty is saying,
0:54:39 > 0:54:41"Here we are, we are a major international company,
0:54:41 > 0:54:44"we can hold our own against anybody."
0:54:44 > 0:54:49But when you look at Symphonic Variations, it was saying,
0:54:49 > 0:54:55"We are an individual company and we can show what WE can do."
0:54:55 > 0:55:00Symphonic Variations is a sort of minimalist,
0:55:00 > 0:55:04but supremely clever way of saying,
0:55:04 > 0:55:08"This is how this little company can fill this space.
0:55:08 > 0:55:12"I can reduce it right back to six dancers
0:55:12 > 0:55:14"and look how this works."
0:55:17 > 0:55:20Symphonic Variations completes a creative arc
0:55:20 > 0:55:22that started with Dante Sonata
0:55:22 > 0:55:25and continued with The Prospect Before Us
0:55:25 > 0:55:26and Miracle In The Gorbals.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32These works show just how creative and innovative British ballet became
0:55:32 > 0:55:34during the war years,
0:55:34 > 0:55:37and you can see how Ashton, De Valois and Helpmann
0:55:37 > 0:55:40would go on to influence generations of British choreographers.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45The war had provided the nurturing ground
0:55:45 > 0:55:48for a world-standard national ballet company,
0:55:48 > 0:55:51with both a strong repertoire and a loyal audience.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54De Valois' dream had been fulfilled.
0:55:58 > 0:56:01She envisioned a British ballet and she did it,
0:56:01 > 0:56:06I mean, give her credit, against incredible difficulties.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09One always hates to say that war is a lucky thing,
0:56:09 > 0:56:12but I think in the case of the development of ballet in Britain
0:56:12 > 0:56:15it was very, very significant.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18I think it really pushed it up a notch.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21Before the war, de Valois' little company
0:56:21 > 0:56:26was possibly turning into a little bit of a precious institution,
0:56:26 > 0:56:30and the war absolutely broke all of that down.
0:56:30 > 0:56:32So they come out the other side
0:56:32 > 0:56:35an absolutely seasoned company
0:56:35 > 0:56:40of very strong dancers, strong individuals...
0:56:40 > 0:56:45troupers, a really strong sense of company repertoire.
0:56:46 > 0:56:52They know that if they can win over an audience of reluctant squaddies,
0:56:52 > 0:56:54they can win over anybody.
0:56:54 > 0:56:58It made us. I think without the war
0:56:58 > 0:57:00it would have taken probably another ten years
0:57:00 > 0:57:02to get to where we got.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05Might say one was thrown in the deep end
0:57:05 > 0:57:08and that's how you learn to swim
0:57:08 > 0:57:11and survive and get to the top.
0:57:11 > 0:57:16It made people who had never thought about that sort of thing,
0:57:16 > 0:57:19made them think about it and want to bother to go and see it.
0:57:19 > 0:57:23And then want to support it, which has blown it out.
0:57:23 > 0:57:28And so, yeah, I think the war did a great deal for ballet.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40It wasn't until 1956
0:57:40 > 0:57:43that de Valois' company officially became The Royal Ballet
0:57:43 > 0:57:47but, in the meantime, a sister company was formed
0:57:47 > 0:57:49to keep touring ballet around the country,
0:57:49 > 0:57:50in much the same way
0:57:50 > 0:57:53that the Sadler's Wells Ballet had done during the war.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57That touring company would eventually become
0:57:57 > 0:57:59the Birmingham Royal Ballet.
0:58:08 > 0:58:12I've been the Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet now for 18 years
0:58:12 > 0:58:14and, although I've worked with some wonderful companies
0:58:14 > 0:58:15right around the world,
0:58:15 > 0:58:18this is still the company which is closest to my heart.
0:58:18 > 0:58:22And as we tour around the country, and internationally,
0:58:22 > 0:58:25I like to think of de Valois' courageous little company
0:58:25 > 0:58:27and the extraordinary work that it did
0:58:27 > 0:58:29during those dark days of the war.
0:58:29 > 0:58:34And I like to believe that something of their pioneering spirit
0:58:34 > 0:58:35still resides in us.
0:58:45 > 0:58:52# Now I know you
0:58:52 > 0:58:55# I walked with you
0:58:55 > 0:58:59# Once upon a dream
0:59:02 > 0:59:05# I know you
0:59:05 > 0:59:10# The gleam in your eyes
0:59:10 > 0:59:15# Is so familiar a gleam... #