Colon Theater Ballet is a

ballet company A ballet company is a type of dance troupe which performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-round ba ...

based in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina. The company is attached to the Colon Theater, which is also home to the Buenos Aires Philharmonic orchestra and the Colon Theater Opera company. It was established in 1925 and is the oldest ballet company in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

History

The Colon Theater Ballet is based at the Colon Theater in Argentina's capital and largest city,

. The Colon Theater was built in 1908 and an opera company was created at that time at the new theater. Colon Theater is the largest classical music hall in South America. Although the current Colon Theater opened in 1908, it was not until 1925 that the Theater's own dance company gave its first performance. Before that, the Colon Theater had hosted foreign ballet artists on its stage, with touring companies from Europe presenting full ballets as early as 1867.

Vaslav Nijinsky Vaslav (or Vatslav) Nijinsky (; rus, Вацлав Фомич Нижинский, Vatslav Fomich Nizhinsky, p=ˈvatsləf fɐˈmʲitɕ nʲɪˈʐɨnskʲɪj; pl, Wacław Niżyński, ; 12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a ballet dancer and choreog ...

's final performance was at the Colon Theatre on September 26, 1911, when he danced in Le Spectre de la Rose and

Petrushka Petrushka ( rus, Петру́шка, p=pʲɪtˈruʂkə, a=Ru-петрушка.ogg) is a stock character of Russian folk puppetry. Italian puppeteers introduced it in the first third of the 19th century. While most core characters came from Italy ...

From the late 1930s to the late 1940s, the company developed to a larger scale under the choreographer Margarita Wallman. The Ballets Russes company, under Colonel de Basel, fled

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and found temporary refuge at the Colon Theater during the 1940s. Avant garde choreographers of the period worked in Buenos Aires, including

Bronislava Nijinska Bronislava Nijinska (; pl, Bronisława Niżyńska ; russian: Бронисла́ва Фоми́нична Нижи́нская, Bronisláva Fomínična Nižínskaja; be, Браніслава Ніжынская, Branislava Nižynskaja; – Febr ...

Michel Fokine Michael Fokine, ''Mikhail Mikhaylovich Fokin'', group=lower-alpha ( – 22 August 1942) was a groundbreaking Imperial Russian choreographer and dancer. Career Early years Fokine was born in Saint Petersburg to a prosperous merchant an ...

, who staged eight of his ballets at the Colon Theater Ballet;

Serge Lifar Serge Lifar ( ua, Сергій Михайлович Лифар, ''Serhіy Mуkhailovуch Lуfar'') ( 15 December 1986) was a Ukrainian ballet dancer and choreographer, famous as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century. No ...

;

Leonide Massine Leonide or Léonide is a masculine given name which may refer to: * Leonide or Leonid of Georgia (1861–1921), Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia * Leonid Berman (1896–1976), Russian Neo-romantic painter and theater and opera designer * Léo ...

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-195 ...

and

David Lichine David Lichine (russian: Дэвид (Давид) Лишин; 25 October 1910 – 26 June 1972) was a Russian-American ballet dancer and choreographer. He had an international career as a performer, ballet master, and choreographer, staging works fo ...

. Even larger productions were staged during the 1950s. By the 1960s, lavish productions with internationally known dancers such as Rudolph Nureyev were held at the Colon Theater. The dance world of Argentina suffered a serious setback on October 10, 1971, when 10 of the country's top ballet performers died in a plane crash. Argentine ballet gained a higher profile during the 1980s. Maximiliano Guerra rose to the position of principal at the

English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish ...

, and returned with that company to perform Swan Lake at the Colon Theater. Paloma Herrera was already well known while being a dance student at Colon Theater.

Julio Bocca Julio Adrián Lojo Bocca (born March 6, 1967) is an Argentine ballet dancer. Bocca spent twenty years as a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. From 2010 to 2018 he served as artistic director of the National Ballet of Uruguay, administe ...

studied dance at the Colon, then went on to perform internationally. He founded Ballet Argentino in 1990, with a focus on young Argentinian dancers. Colon Theater Ballet helped launch the newly renovated Colon Theater during its 2010 season.

Guest performers

Many internationally known ballet artists have performed on the Colon Theatre stage, including:

Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20t ...

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

Alicia Alonso Alicia Alonso (born Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad del Cobre Martínez del Hoyo; 21 December 1920 – 17 October 2019) was a Cuban prima ballerina assoluta and choreographer whose company became the Ballet Nacional de Cuba in 1955. She is best ...

Maya Plisetskaya Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya (russian: link=no, Майя Михайловна Плисецкая; 20 November 1925 – 2 May 2015) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer, choreographer, ballet director, and actress. In post-Soviet times, she he ...

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE (''née'' Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn, was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells ...

, Mikhail Barishnikov, Vladimir Vassileyev, and

Antonio Gades Antonio Esteve Ródenas or Antonio Gades (14 November 1936 – 20 July 2004) was a Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer. He helped to popularise the art form on the international stage. He was born in Elda, Alicante, and was the father ...

. Notable Argentinian dancers who have performed at Colon Theatre include: María Ruanova, Olga Ferri, Michel Borovsky, José Neglia, Norma Fontenla, Wasil Tupin,

Esmeralda Agoglia Esmeralda Agoglia (29 August 1923 - 24 October 2014) was a former Argentine prima ballerina, choreographer and director of Argentina's Ballet Estable. Biography Agoglia joined the Ballet Estable at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires Buenos A ...

, Jorge Donn,

, Maximiliano Guerra, and Paloma Herrera.

References

{{Authority control Culture in Buenos Aires Ballet companies Argentine culture History of ballet

History

Guest performers

See also

References