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By
Dawn Lille
“Hound
and Hare” published Ezra Pound, Katherine Anne Porter, Archibald MacLeish,
ee cummings and Edward Wilson, among others. The work of the art society
was assisted by Edward Warburg, son of the financier Felix, by Alfred
Barr (later the first Director of MOMA) and by A Conger Goodyear (the
first President of MOMA). Throughout his life his friends included artists,
writers, composers and most of the “movers and doers” in the arts and
outside of them. But
perhaps the greatest contribution of Lincoln Kirstein to America was
his decision to devote himself to the development of ballet as an art
form. In 1933 he brought from Europe George Balanchine, the Russian
choreographer who had spent four years with the Diaghilev Ballets Russes,
in order to start a school and, eventually, a company. He spent much
of his personal fortune (his father was an investor in the Boston department
store Filenes) in support of the School of American Ballet, which opened
in New York City in 1934, and of the New York City Ballet and the three
Kirstein companies that preceded it. In
honor of his centenary the New York Public Library for the Performing
Arts at Lincoln Center has mounted the exhibition “Lincoln Kirstein
Alchemist,” which can be seen in its Vincent Astor Gallery through January
26th. Kirstein
was a true genius who was also strong willed and, as his biographer
Martin Duberman points out, could be irrational and display a terrible
temper. Yet this rare talent, the alchemy of which “achieved magic in
American awareness,” eventually touched all the artists of his time. He fell in love with classical ballet when he first saw the
Diaghilev company in London and after his graduation from college made
the decision to devote himself to bringing ballet to America. One of
the exhibition quotes reads: We
are working toward the pure tradition of classic ballet as it has been
handed down to us. It is exquisite – pure and crystal like a precious
stone. We must put all our energy, heart and soul into it. Since
other NYC cultural centers, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
have presented exhibitions of his vast collection of painting, sculpture
and photography (he was a patron of many artists and had an intense
need to understand what they did), the Library exhibition, curated by
Madeleine Nichols and Nancy Lassalle, concentrates on the institutions
“that he variously co-founded, transformed and maintained as his gifts
to New York and the dance audiences of the world.” In addition to the
school (SAB) and the Dance Collection of the Library itself, these are
American Ballet, Ballet Caravan, American Ballet Caravan, Ballet Society
and the New York City Ballet. Each subject area contains photographs
and original drawings of set and costume designs. There is also some
of Kirstein’s own art work.
The
American Ballet (1934-1938) was the first company in the United States
with which Balanchine was associated, and, as Kirstein, the organizer,
had promised, it was Balanchine’s company. Its young dancers performed
in concerts and were in residence at the Met Opera House. This section
shows items from Serenade, the first Balanchine ballet in America,
which used Tchaikovsky’s music and had costumes by Jean Lurcat, and
from Mozartiana, with the same composer but with scenery and
costumes by Christian Berard.
Both ballets were first performed in 1934 on the estate of Felix
Warburg in White Plains. Ballet
Caravan (1936-1938) was solely Kirstein’s company, and through it he
tried to dedicate the future of American dance to using American music,
painting and characters, wishing to “give new meanings and new frontiers
to the classic form.” Lew
Christensen choreographed Filling Station, with characters such
as Mac, the attendant who was the hero, an intoxicated but rich girl
and boy and a gangster. The music is by Virgil Thompson and the sets
and costumes by Paul Cadmus. Billy The Kid, with a libretto by
Kirstein, was choreographed by Eugene Loring to Aaron Copland’s music
and had décor by Jared French. Based on the western folkloric tale of
the legendary Billy, it can still make one wonder why different periods
choose different heroes. Other ballets were Pocahontas (Christensen)
and Yankee Clipper (Loring), both contributing to Kirstein’s
belief that his company should present America in contemporary times,
still using the classical idiom. The
company changed its name to American Ballet Caravan in 1941 and Balanchine
joined for a tour of Latin America that included several of his new
works. It disbanded shortly after that. When
Kirstein returned from his army service during World War II he formed
Ballet Society in order to create a new contemporary theater that would
educate both the audiences and the young artists. The intention was
to promote new collaborations among all the artists involved and included
The Four Temperaments, with music by Paul Hindemuth and décor
by Kurt Seligman, and Renard, a Balanchine/Stravinsky partnership
for which Esteban Frances did the décor. What may be a repertory surprise
for many was The Seasons, choreographed by Merce Cunningham with
music by John Cage and costumes by Isamu Noguchi.
But
it was Orpheus, a Balanchine/Stravinsky/Noguchi ballet, that
was seen by Morton Baum of City Center and led to the invitation to
the company in 1948 to join City Center and become the New York City
Ballet. With Kirstein as general manger, Balanchine as artistic director
and Jerome Robbins as artistic co-director, it melded European tradition
with contemporary Americana and has become one of the leading ballet
companies of the world. The
exhibition has examples of the Balanchine/Stravinsky Firebird
(with décor by Marc Chagall), The Nutcracker and a revival in
1958 of Seven Deadly Sins (Balanchine/Kurt Weill) to celebrate
25 years of collaboration between Kirstein and Balanchine. The
visitor with time may sit and watch three complete ballets that are
shown continuously, all with Jacques D’Amboise in the lead role. There
is Filling Station in a 1954 performance that also features Janet
Reed and Todd Bolender, Afternoon of A Faun, choreographed by
Jerome Robbins to the Debussy score with a gorgeous Tanaquil Le Clercq
in a 1955 film and Apollo, which Balanchine created for Diaghilev
in 1928, working for the first time with Stravinsky. Jillana, Francia
Russell and Diana Adams are the three muses in a 1960 version. Kirstein’s
collection of books occupied several rooms in his home, one of which
was just for Shakespeare and British reference material. His writing,
a part of the exhibition, includes Dance A Short History,
Ballet: Bias and Belief, Nijinsky Dancing and Four Centuries
of Ballet in the dance area. There is also Mosaic, the first
volume of his memoir, and Quarry: A Collection in Lieu of Memoirs
.He wrote on August Saint Gaudens, Elie Nadelman, Henri Cartier-Bresson
and numerous other photographers, and produced many publication for
MOMA. Kirstein
once commissioned ee cummings to write a libretto for a ballet based
on Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. With music by Virgil
Thompson, décor by Ben Shahn and choreography by Balanchine, it was
never realized, but what a marvelous vision. If this is a bit reminiscent
of Diaghilev, his early inspiration, here is what Kirstein said in the
Forward to his book Movement and Metaphor:
Maybe
we should all reread Kirstein! |
