Photo Flash: Glen Tetley Legacy Completes its First Virtual Ballet Staging THE RITE OF SPRING

Glen Tetley Legacy completes its first virtual ballet staging. The Rite of Spring (1974) one of choreographer Glen Tetley's most technically difficult works received its premiere engagement by Suzhou Ballet Theatre on September 12, 13, 2020 in China at the Suzhou Culture and Arts Center before a live audience.

See photos below!

American choreographer, Glen Tetley (1926-2007), made his career crossing the globe from his USA home base to Europe, Scandinavia, Australia and North and South America. Following his death, Glen Tetley Legacy continued this itinerary while pursuing a long held desire to reach a broad Asian audience. The September 2020 Suzhou Ballet Theatre premiere is the first Tetley repertory engagement in China. Furthermore, it is the first time Suzhou Ballet Theatre presented a work from abroad. The collaboration is a very special event for both organizations.

Discussions between Glen Tetley Legacy and Suzhou Ballet Theatre about licensing rights, staging and production details began in September 2019 with the anticipated opening performance in July 2020. Both organizations acknowledged the short preparation time but were eager for this opportunistic first collaboration. In March 2020 with the immediate Covid-19 international world shut down, all plans needed to be reexamined and decisions quickly made. Glen Tetley Legacy and Suzhou Ballet Theatre decided to go forward with the The Rite of Spring production.

Initially, Glen Tetley Legacy proceeded with the hope that its Representative and Rèpètiteur, Alexander Zaitsev, would eventfully be allowed to travel to Suzhou, China for in person teaching and coaching of the choreography. With Covid national and international restrictions changing daily, it became evident by April 2020 that the only possible way forward was to proceed remotely.

What followed became an intense work period for Glen Tetley Legacy and Suzhou Ballet Theatre. Flexibility became fundamental for their constant e-correspondence exchanges across multiple time zones, USA, China, Russia, Germany, England and requiring English/Chinese translations; e-correspondence about the choreography, the set, the costumes, the lighting, the brochure, press notes, changing program repertory (the Kylián and Balanchine organizations bowed out) and premiere dates and most essential the setup for virtual in studio and stage rehearsals.

Like many arts organizations, Glen Tetley Legacy experienced cancellations and postponements. In Oslo on March 10, 2020 the opening night performance of the Norwegian National Ballet's Tetley work entitled Voluntaries was cancelled a few hours before the curtain was to go up. Two 2020 performance commitments were postponed and tentatively rescheduled. The decision to stage The Rite of Spring virtually was one of Glen Tetley Legacy's hardest to make and most difficult to execute.

In the face of the pandemic, the September 12, 13, 2020 premiere program gave a nod to hope and a brief respite through the beauty of dance. The program is life affirming: Suzhou Ballet Theatre's A Distance of Breathe, Choreographer Jiabin Pin: "It is good to be alive, to breathe, to have temperature, to have love. Love makes human life precious and priceless"; and The Rite of Spring, Choreographer Glen Tetley: "When earth seemed to die without a leaf to survive, man heaped the sins of blame on a single person, a chosen victim who was killed and then buried within the earth, ritually mourned and then miraculously reborn bringing the gift of new life to the earth."

In this most unusual of times, Glen Tetley Legacy is pleased to have completed its long desired first appearance in China for Asian audiences and its first virtual choreographic ballet staging.

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