Andrée Howard (3 October 1910 – 18 April 1968), originally Andrea, was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. She created over 30 ballets, of which almost nothing remains.

Early life

Andrée Howard was born in London on 3 October 1910. Her career as a dancer began as a pupil of

Marie Rambert Dame Marie Rambert, Mrs Dukes DBE (20 February 188812 June 1982) was a Polish-born English dancer and pedagogue who exerted great influence on British ballet, both as a dancer and teacher. Early years and background Born to a liberal Lithuan ...

and she also studied in Paris where she danced in early performances of

Léonide Massine Leonid Fyodorovich Myasin (russian: Леони́д Фёдорович Мя́син), better known in the West by the French transliteration as Léonide Massine (15 March 1979), was a Russian choreographer and ballet dancer. Massine created the wo ...

's '.

Career

Her ballet ''Death and the Maiden'' (choreography and costumes) for

Ballet Rambert Rambert (known as Rambert Dance Company before 2014) is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it exerted a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingd ...

based on the music by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

was premiered at the

Duchess Theatre The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street near Aldwych. The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest West End theatres with a proscenium arch. It has 494 se ...

, London, on 23 February 1937, danced by herself as The Maiden, and John Bryon as Death. On 18 January 1940, it received its

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

premiere at The Center Theatre, New York, danced by Howard, and with Kurt Karnakoski as Death. Her 1939 ''Lady into Fox'' was based on

David Garnett David Garnett (9 March 1892 – 17 February 1981) was an English writer and publisher. As a child, he had a cloak made of rabbit skin and thus received the nickname "Bunny", by which he was known to friends and intimates all his life. Early ...

's 1922 first novel under his own name ''

Lady into Fox ''Lady into Fox'' was David Garnett's first novel using his own name, published in 1922. This short and enigmatic work won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and the Hawthornden Prize a year later. Being a work of fantasy set in the present-da ...

''. Reviewing the 2006 reinterpretation, Judith Mackrell of

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

called it "a seminal Ballet Rambert work". Unfortunately, all that choreographer Mark Baldwin could find of the original choreography was a 12-minute jerky silent film. Baldwin stated: "There are all these fabulous ballets like Lady Into Fox still waiting for us to dip into. The past is such a fabulous resource." Her best known work is ' (1940) created for the short-lived

London Ballet London Ballet was a short lived British ballet company founded by the British choreographer and former Ballet Rambert dancer Antony Tudor in 1938, along with Rambert members Hugh Laing, Andrée Howard, Agnes de Mille, Peggy van Praagh, Maude Lloyd a ...

and premiered at the

Arts Theatre The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. History It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre censorship by the Lord Chamberl ...

, London on 23 May 1940.Royal Opera House Collections
/ref> It was based on an episode in

Alain Fournier Alain Fournier (1943–2000) was a computer graphics researcher. Biography Alain Fournier was born on November 5, 1943, in Lyon, France. He was married twice, first to Beverly Bickle (married 1968, divorced 1984) and later to Adrienne Drobnies ...

's novel ', with a significantly adapted libretto by

Ronald Crichton Ronald Crichton (28 December 1913 – 16 November 2005) was a music critic for the ''Financial Times'' in the 1960s and 1970s. He was a scion of the Earls of Erne. In his ''Times'' obituary he was described as "one of the last of the school of ...

, who also chose the six piano pieces and songs used in the score (orchestrated by

Guy Warrack Guy Douglas Hamilton Warrack (6 February 1900 – 12 February 1986) was a Scottish composer, music educator and conductor. He was the son of John Warrack of the Leith steamship company, John Warrack & Co., founded by Guy's grandfather, also c ...

). Stage design and costumes were by

Sophie Fedorovitch Sophie Fedorovitch ( be, Сафія Федаровіч; 3 December 1893 – 25 January 1953) was a Russian-born theatrical designer who worked with ballet choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton from his first choreographed ballet in 1926 until her a ...

. The piece was so successful that it was taken up by

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

in 1958 and has since been performed over 200 times by them and by

Scottish Ballet Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1969, ...

. A 1958 film of the Royal Ballet production exists. More recent revivals have used am orchestration by

Lennox Berkeley Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley (12 May 190326 December 1989) was an English composer. Biography Berkeley was born on 12 May 1903 in Oxford, England, the younger child and only son of Aline Carla (1863–1935), daughter of Sir James Char ...

. In 1938, she was one of the founding members of

Antony Tudor Antony Tudor (born William Cook; 4 April 1908 – 19 April 1987) was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer. He founded the London Ballet, and later the Philadelphia Ballet Guild in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., in the mid-1950 ...

's London Ballet along with

Hugh Laing Hugh Laing (6 June 191110 May 1988) was one of the most significant dramatic ballet dancers of the 20th-century. He danced with Marie Rambert's Ballet Club and New York City Ballet. He was the partner of choreographer Antony Tudor. Biography ...

Agnes de Mille Agnes George de Mille (September 18, 1905 – October 7, 1993) was an American dancer and choreographer. Early years Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMill ...

Peggy van Praagh Dame Margaret van Praagh (1 September 1910 – 15 January 1990) was a British ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher, repetiteur, producer, advocate and director, who spent much of her later career in Australia. Early life Peggy van Praagh ...

Maude Lloyd Maude may refer to: Places *Maude, New South Wales, a village on the lower Murrumbidgee River in Australia *Maude, South Australia, a locality in South Australia *Maude, Victoria, a town in Australia *Cape Maude, a high ice-covered cape forming ...

and

Walter Gore Walter Gore (8 October 1910 – 16 April 1979) was a British ballet dancer, company director and choreographer. Early life Walter Gore was born in Waterside, East Ayrshire Scotland in 1910 into a theatrical family. From 1924, he studied a ...

. With the onset of World War II, in 1940 was invited with them to New York, joining Richard Pleasant's and

Lucia Chase Lucia Hosmer Chase (24 March 1897 – 9 January 1986) was an American dancer, actress, ballet director and also the co-founder of the American Ballet Theatre. Life and career Chase was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, the daughter of Elizabeth ...

's reorganised Ballet Theater. Chase's company was later to become the

. In 1946, ''Mardi gras'' featured

Nadia Nerina Nadia is a female name. Variations include Nadja, Nadya, Nadine, Nadiya, and Nadiia. Most variations of the name are derived from Arabic, Slavic languages, or both. In Slavic, names similar to ''Nadia'' mean "hope" in many Slavic languages: Uk ...

's first created role, dancing alongside

John Cranko John Cyril Cranko (15 August 1927 – 26 June 1973) was a South African ballet dancer and choreographer with the Royal Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet. Life and career Early life Cranko was born in Rustenburg in the former province of Tran ...

Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. Ea ...

and

Peter Darrell Peter Darrell (''né'' Skinner; 16 September 1929 – 2 December 1987) was an English ballet dancer, choreographer, and founder of the Scottish Ballet. For almost four decades Darrell was one of the most productive and imaginative talents in Br ...

. In 1947, Howard created ''The Sailor's Return'' for Ballet Rambert, based David Garnett's 1925 novel, '' The Sailor's Return''. The story involves a West African princess marrying an English sailor and then encountering racial prejudice in England. In

Dance Research Dance research is the study of dance, including dance history, ethnochoreology, dance theory, dance anthropology, and dance science. Dance research as an academic discipline is relatively new. In 1967, the first volume of the ''CORD dance research ...

, Susan Jones noted that the ballet "offers a striking critique of racism in a realist mode" and comments on "her important contribution to narrative ballet and the distinctiveness of her presentation of female experience in the period". In 1948, the

Crown Film Unit The Crown Film Unit was an organisation within the British Government's Ministry of Information during the Second World War. Formerly the GPO Film Unit it became the Crown Film Unit in 1940. Its remit was to make films for the general public in ...

released the film, ''Steps of the Ballet'', with choreography by Howard, music by

Arthur Benjamin Arthur Leslie Benjamin (18 September 1893, in Sydney – 10 April 1960, in London) was an Australian composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. He is best known as the composer of '' Jamaican Rumba'' (1938) and of the ''Storm Clouds Cantata'', f ...

, directed by

Muir Mathieson James Muir Mathieson, OBE (24 January 19112 August 1975) was a Scottish conductor and composer. Mathieson was almost always described as a "Musical Director" on many British films. Career Mathieson was born in Stirling, Scotland, in 1911. A ...

, decor and costumes by Hugh Stevenson, and narration by

Robert Helpmann Sir Robert Murray Helpmann CBE ( Helpman, 9 April 1909 – 28 September 1986) was an Australian ballet dancer, actor, director, and choreographer. After early work in Australia he moved to Britain in 1932, where he joined the Vic-Wells Ballet (n ...

. The dancers were

Gerd Larsen Gerd Larsen born Gerd Elly (19 February 1921 – 4 October 2001) was a Norwegian ballerina who performed frequently with England's Royal Ballet, in a career lasting over fifty years up until her seventy-fifth birthday. In her later years she wa ...

, Alexander Grant, Gordon Hamilton,

Elaine Fifield Elaine Fifield (28 October 1930 - 11 May 1999) was an Australian ballerina, perhaps best known for creating the title role in John Cranko's comic ballet ''Pineapple Poll'' in 1951. Early life Elaine Fifield was born in Sydney, New South Wales o ...

, Michael Boulton, Michael Bayston, Jeanne Artois, Peter Wright,

Moyra Fraser Moyra Fraser (3 December 1923 – 13 December 2009) was an Australian-born English actress and ballet dancer, who is best known for playing Penny in the long-running sitcom '' As Time Goes By''. Her sister was the actress Shelagh Fraser. She mar ...

, Leila Russell Also in 1948, Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet premiered ''Selina'', choreographed to the music of

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

by Howard, with scenario and design by Peter Williams, conducted by Guy Warrack. Elaine Fifield was the lead dancer. ''A Mirror for Witches'' premiered on 4 March 1952, with the Sadler's Wells Ballet, at the Royal Opera House. It was based on the novel '' A Mirror for Witches'' by

Esther Forbes Esther Louise Forbes (; June 28, 1891 – August 12, 1967) was an American novelist, historian and children's writer who received the Pulitzer Prize and the Newbery Medal. She was the first woman elected to membership in the American Antiqu ...

, and consisted of a prologue and five scenes, with music by

Denis ApIvor Denis ApIvor (14 April 191627 May 2004) was a British composer, best known for his ballet score ''Blood Wedding''. He had a parallel career as a consultant anaesthetist.Leach, Gerald. ''British Composer Profiles'' (3rd. Ed, 2012), p. 10 Biograph ...

and set design by Norman Adams RA. ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' described Howard as "both brave and wise in her selection, because ballets of such serious import seldom enjoy a popular appeal, and because we are sick to death of those eternal period frolics which challenge neither choreographer, dancer nor spectator." ' premiered on 4 September 1958, with the Edinburgh International Ballet, Empire Theatre, Edinburgh. The Royal Ballet premiere was on 2 September 1959. The composer was

Alexander Goehr Peter Alexander Goehr (; born 10 August 1932) is an English composer and academic. Goehr was born in Berlin in 1932, the son of the conductor and composer Walter Goehr, a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg. In his early twenties he emerged as a centra ...

. It was based on the poem of the same title by

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...

. Howard also designed the sets and the costumes.

Clive Barnes Clive Alexander Barnes (13 May 1927 – 19 November 2008) was an English writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977, he was the dance and theater critic for ''The New York Times'', and, from 1978 until his death, ''The New York Post.'' Barnes had sign ...

for The Spectator called it a "weak-kneed, indeterminate work". In 1968, Howard died at her home in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

, London, of a drug overdose, while suffering from depression.

Ballets created

* ''Death and the Maiden'' (1937) * ''Lady into Fox'' (1939) * , or ''Assembly Ball'' (1940) * ''Carnival of Animals'' (1943) * (1944) * ''The Sailor's Return'' (1947) * ''Mardi gras'' (1946) * ''Selina'' (1948) * ''A Mirror for Witches'' (1952) * (1958) * ''The Mermaid'' * ''Cinderella''

Legacy

The Andrée Howard Archive is held by Ballet Rambert in its Special Collections.

References

External links

24 minute video of ''Steps of the Ballet''. Howard herself can be seen from 6:33 onwards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Andree 1910 births 1968 suicides British choreographers British ballerinas Ballet choreographers British costume designers Musicians from London Drug-related suicides in England Choreographers of American Ballet Theatre Suicides in Westminster Rambert Dance Company dancers 20th-century English musicians 1968 deaths