![Todd bolender](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Todd_bolender.jpg)
Todd Bolender (February 27, 1914 – October 12, 2006) was a renowned
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director. He was an instrumental figure in the creation and dissemination of classical dance and ballet as an American art form. A child of the American Midwest during the
Great Depression, he studied under
George Balanchine and led the
Kansas City Ballet
The Kansas City Ballet (KCB) is an American professional ballet company based in Kansas City, Missouri. The company was founded in 1957 by Russian expatriate Tatiana Dokoudovska. The KCB presents five major performances each season to include ...
in
Kansas City,
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
, from 1980 to 1995.
Early life
Born in
Canton, Ohio on February 27, 1914, Bolender grew up in a family in which the arts, music and theater in particular, were an important part of life. The extremely lively child—one of four—was early on dubbed the dancer of the family and his physical energy channeled in lessons in acrobatic tap. In 1931, when he was 17, Bolender went to New York, which he said in an interview in 2002 seemed to him like a “kind of heaven”, to study theatrical dance. In 1933 he moved to New York for good, taking up full-time residence there at about the same time
George Balanchine arrived in this country.
Early years of dance
Attendance at a concert by
Mary Wigman
Mary Wigman (born Karoline Sophie Marie Wiegmann; 13 November 1886 – 18 September 1973) was a German dancer and choreographer, notable as the pioneer of expressionist dance, dance therapy, and movement training without pointe shoes. She is con ...
led Bolender to
Hanya Holm
Hanya Holm (born Johanna Eckert; 3 March 1893 – 3 November 1992) is known as one of the "Big Four" founders of American modern dance. She was a dancer, choreographer, and above all, a dance educator.
Early life, connection with Mary Wigman
Bo ...
, who he said later saved him from bad teaching. Social acquaintance with Balanchine, however, made a strong impression. Under Balanchine’s supervision, Bolender studied at the fledgling
School of American Ballet with such Russian teachers as
Pierre Vladimiroff,
Felia Dubrovska,
Anatole Oboukhoff and
Ludmilla Schollar
Ludmilla Schollar (March 15, 1888 – July 10, 1978) was a Russian-born dancer and educator.
Biography
Born Lyudmila Frantzevna Shollar in Saint Petersburg, Schollar attended the Imperial Theatre School there. She studied with Enrico Cecchet ...
. He also trained with
Muriel Stuart and, pursuing a strong interest in modern dance, studied with
Louis Horst Louis Horst (born January 12, 1884, Kansas City, Missouri – died January 23, 1964, New York City) was a composer, and pianist. He helped to define the principles of modern dance choreographic technique, most notably the matching of choreography t ...
and
Harald Kreutzberg
Harald Kreutzberg (December 11, 1902 – April 25, 1968) was a German dancer and choreographer associated with the Ausdruckstanz movement, a form in which the individual, artistic expression of feelings or emotions is essential. Though largely fo ...
. The two greatest influences on his choreography, Bolender was to say later, were Wigman and
Uday Shankar
Uday Shankar (8 December 1900 – 26 September 1977) was an Indian dancer and choreographer, best known for creating a fusion style of dance, adapting European theatrical techniques to Indian classical dance, imbued with elements of Indian cl ...
, both of whom he saw perform in New York in the early thirties, along with Kreutzberg. Asked why he became a ballet dancer, Bolender said simply it was the Depression and he needed a job.
As a dancer, Bolender had an unusually long career, lasting from 1936 to 1972 when he performed onstage for the last time in
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...
’s Stravinsky Festival, for which he also choreographed two pieces, ''
Serenade in A'' and ''
Piano-Rag-Music
''Piano-Rag-Music'' is a composition for piano solo by Igor Stravinsky, written in 1919.
Stravinsky, who had, by that time, emigrated to France after his studies with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in Russia, was confronted with American jazz combos a ...
''. Not only was he a member of every permutation of the company that became New York City Ballet, he also danced with
Littlefield Ballet in the late thirties, performing in
Catherine Littlefield
Catherine Littlefield (1905–1951) was an American ballerina, choreographer, ballet teacher, and director.
She founded the Philadelphia Ballet (originally the Littlefield Ballet) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1935. It was the first American b ...
’s ''
Barn Dance'' and the first American ''
Sleeping Beauty
''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...
''. He performed with
Les Ballets Russe de Monte Carlo for one season (1945-46) and with
Ballet Theatre for four months in 1944 before being sidelined with an injury.
Bolender was a versatile dancer, originating roles in the work of Balanchine — most notably ''
Four Temperaments'', ''
Renard'', and ''
Agon'' — and in much of the choreography of
Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television.
Among his nu ...
as well. In
Lew Christensen’s work, he originated the State Trooper in ''
Filling Station
A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel.
Ga ...
'' and Alias in ''
Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at th ...
''. Critic and historian
Doris Hering, writing in the ''
International Dictionary of the Ballet'' calls him “a superb comedian with a penchant for high camp.” Describing him in Jerome Robbins’ ''
The Concert'', she writes: “
ewas a henpecked husband who constantly escaped into daydreams of sexual conquest. Clad in a vest and long underwear and chewing on a huge cigar, he was the prototype of ... J.
Walter Mitty
Walter Jackson Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber's first short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", first published in ''The New Yorker'' on March 18, 1939, and in book form in '' My World—and Welcome to It'' in 1942. Thurber ...
.” Longtime New York City Ballet observer Robert Garis said of him in ''Agon'', “
iseasy wit and charm in the first pas de trois seem unrecapturable” (''ibid.'')
''
Mother Goose Suite'', made in 1943, was the first of some three dozen ballets Bolender made in the course of his long career, eleven of them for New York City Ballet. Bolender’s choreography is in the repertoires of Kansas City Ballet, New York City Ballet,
American Ballet Theatre, the
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo,
San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fra ...
,
Pacific Northwest Ballet
Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is a ballet company based in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004.
The company consists of 49 dan ...
,
The Joffrey Ballet, and the
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) is a modern dance company based in New York City. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey. It is made up of 32 dancers, led by artistic director Robert Battle and associate ...
. His best known works, both of which are still in active repertoire, are ''
Souvenirs
A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a ...
'' and ''The Still Point'', both made in 1955.
Later career
Todd Bolender's illustrious career allotted him the opportunity to work and cultivate relationships with Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson and Samuel Barber.
While the bulk of his choreography was for ballet companies, Bolender also choreographed for musical theater, opera and television, starting in 1952 with ''Time Remembered'' for Albi Marre Productions. In 1969, he choreographed ''The Conquering Hero'', followed by ''Cry for Us All'' in 1970. In Turkey, where he worked in the seventies, Bolender choreographed ''My Fair Lady'', ''Fiddler on the Roof'', ''
Man of La Mancha'', and ''Showboat''. In Kansas City, he choreographed for many operas, including ''
Samson and Delilah
Samson and Delilah are Biblical
figures.
Samson and Delilah may also refer to:
In music
* ''Samson and Delilah'' (opera), an opera by Camille Saint-Saëns
* ''Samson & Delilah'' (album), released in 2013 by V V Brown
* "Samson and Delilah" (t ...
'' for which the dancing got a better review than the singing.
Bolender taught throughout his career in New York and as a guest teacher all over the United States as well as in Turkey, Japan, Austria, and Germany. From 1963 to 1966, he was ballet director for the Cologne Opera House and from 1966-69 he filled the same role in Frankfurt. With
Janet Reed he was a founding director of Pacific Northwest Ballet in 1975 and for three years starting in 1977 he was ballet director in the
Atatürk Opera House.
Career in Kansas City
Todd Bolender’s appointment as Artistic Director in the winter of 1981 opened a new chapter of opportunity for the
Kansas City Ballet
The Kansas City Ballet (KCB) is an American professional ballet company based in Kansas City, Missouri. The company was founded in 1957 by Russian expatriate Tatiana Dokoudovska. The KCB presents five major performances each season to include ...
. Confident that a broader community support for classical ballet might be found, Bolender had a vision to build a company, a repertoire, and a school in the nation's heartland. Bolender did all three and at an age when most people have retired
Bolender became Artistic Director Emeritus in 1996 when he retired from Kansas City Ballet and William Whitener took over as Artistic Director. In the fall of 1997, Bolender was invited to New York by the George Balanchine Foundation to officially document for videotape the choreography of the solo that Balanchine created for him in The Four Temperaments. Bolender who created the role of the Fox in the original 1947 production of ''Renard'', resurrected this piece, which had initially vanished for a half century, in 2001 for Kansas City Ballet. Bolender has built a foundation of quality and grand proportion, scarcely imaginable in 1981 and now can enjoy the fruits of his own continuing creativity.
He was active in the preservation of Balanchine’s work, coaching dancers in his roles in the repertoire for the Balanchine Foundation’s Film Archive and reconstructing ''Renard'' for the Kansas City Ballet in 1998 as part of the Stravinsky Festival. In 2006, Bolender was awarded the Dance Magazine Award for his lifetime achievement in dance.
Just weeks before he was to receive the award, Bolender died on October 12, 2006 at age 92 from complications related to a stroke.
The
Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity opened on August 26, 2011. The building is the new home for the Kansas City Ballet and the Ballet School.
After 34 successful years, Kansas City Ballet performed its final Nutcracker featuring choreography by Todd Bolender during the 2014 winter season.
References
External links
The Kansas City Ballet (official site)Archival footage of Emily Frankel and Mark Ryder performing Todd Bolender's ''At the Still Point'' in 1955 at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.* New York Times Article https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/16/arts/dance/16bolender.html?fta=y&_r=0
*
*
*Todd Bolender Center For Dance and Creativity http://www.architectmagazine.com/projects/view/todd-bolender-center-for-dance-and-creativity/1293/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolender, Todd
1914 births
2006 deaths
People from Canton, Ohio
Ballet choreographers
American male ballet dancers
Ballet masters
Ballet teachers
New York City Ballet dancers
Choreographers of New York City Ballet
Todd Bolender
Musicians from Ohio
20th-century American musicians
20th-century American ballet dancers