Glen Tetley

For more information on Glenford Andrew Tetley Jr., visit Britannica.com.

Tetley, Glen (b Cleveland, 3 Feb. 1926). US dancer, choreographer, and ballet director. He began by studying medicine at New York University (1946-8) but then took up dance, training with Holm, Graham, Craske, Tudor, and at the School of American Ballet. From 1944 to 1946 he served in the US Navy. He began as a dancer working with Holm, appearing with her company (1946-51) and then with New York City Opera (1952-4), John Butler's company (1953-5), Joffrey Ballet (1956-7), Martha Graham (1958), American Ballet Theatre (1960-1), and Robbins's Ballets: USA (1961). He appeared on Broadway in Holm's productions of Kiss Me, Kate (1948) and Juno (1959) and he danced in the premiere of Gian-Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors (NBC Television, 1951), which was choreographed by Butler. He created the role of the Stranger in Graham's Embattled Garden and Apollo in her Clytemnestra (both 1958). In 1962 he started his own company which made an impressive New York debut. In 1964 he started working with Netherlands Dance Theatre as a dancer and choreographer, eventually becoming co-director (with van Manen, 1969-71). In 1967 he began a fruitful relationship with Ballet Rambert which helped that company's transition from ballet company to modern dance troupe. In 1974 he took over the artistic direction of the Stuttgart Ballet, where he remained for two years, adding ten of his works to the repertoire. From 1987 to 1989 he was artistic associate of the National Ballet of Canada.

He began choreographing in the 1940s but his breakthrough came in 1962 with Pierrot lunaire, which he made for his own company in New York and which featured himself in the title role. Its design feature was a scaffold structure created by Ter-Arutunian, who went on to work with Tetley on many other occasions. In 1968 Tetley's Embrace Tiger and Return to Mountain reflected the choreographer's fascination with T'ai Chi. As his work progressed into the 1970s his style moved from the cool modernity of Pierrot lunaire to a more balletic lyricism and he became a key figure in the crossover between classical ballet and modern dance. He is one of America's leading freelance choreographers, and has worked with many ballet companies. Over the years his closest associations have been with Netherlands Dance Theatre, Ballet Rambert, the Stuttgart Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, and American Ballet Theatre. A list of his works includes Mountain Way Chant (mus. Chavez, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, 1959), Pierrot lunaire (mus. Schoenberg, Glen Tetley company, 1962), The Anatomy Lesson (mus. M. Landowski, Netherlands Dance Theatre, 1964), Sargasso (mus. Krenek, Netherlands Dance Theatre, 1964), Fieldmass (mus. Martinů, Netherlands Dance Theatre, 1965), Mythical Hunters (mus. O. Partos-Hezionot, Batsheva Dance Company, 1965), Ricercare (mus. M. Seter, American Ballet Theatre, 1966), Chronochromie (mus. Messiaen. Glen Tetley company, 1966), Psalms (mus. Partos-Tehilim, Batsheva Dance Company, 1966), Freefall (mus. M. Schubel, University of Utah Repertory Dance Theatre, 1967), The Seven Deadly Sins (mus. Weill, Glen Tetley company, 1967), Ziggurat (mus. Stockhausen, Ballet Rambert, 1967), Circles (mus. Berio, Netherlands Dance Theatre, 1968), Embrace Tiger and Return to Mountain (mus. Subotnick, Ballet Rambert, 1968), Arena (mus. Subotnick, Netherlands Dance Theatre, 1969), Field Figures (mus. Stockhausen, Royal Ballet, 1970), Imaginary Film (mus. Schoenberg, Netherlands Dance Theatre, 1970), Mutations (with van Manen, mus. Stockhausen, Netherlands Dance Theatre, 1970), Rag Dances (mus. A. Hymas, Ballet Rambert, 1971), Threshold (mus. Berg, Hamburg State Opera, 1972), Laborintus (mus. Berio, Royal Ballet, 1972), Small Parades (mus. Varèse, Netherlands Dance Theatre, 1972), Gemini (mus. Henze, Australian Ballet, 1973), Voluntaries (mus. Poulenc, Stuttgart Ballet, 1973), Le Sacre du printemps (mus. Stravinsky, Munich Ballet, 1973), Tristan (mus. Henze, Paris Opera, 1975), Daphnis and Chloe (mus. Ravel, Stuttgart Ballet, 1975), Greening (mus. A. Nordheim, Stuttgart Ballet, 1975), Sphinx (mus. Martinů, American Ballet Theatre, 1977), Contredances (mus. Webern, American Ballet Theatre, 1979), The Tempest (mus. Nordheim, Ballet Rambert, 1979), Dances of Albion (mus. Britten, Royal Ballet, 1980), Summer's End (mus. Dutilleux, Netherlands Dance Theatre, 1980), The Firebird (mus. Stravinsky, Royal Danish Ballet, 1981), Murderer, Hope of Women (mus. Percussion arranged by Tyrrell, Ballet Rambert, 1983), Pulcinella (mus. Stravinsky, London Festival Ballet, 1984), Revelation and Fall (mus. Maxwell, Australian Dance Theatre, 1984), Dream Walk of the Shaman (mus. Krenek, Aterballeto, 1985), Alice (mus. Del Tredici, National Ballet of Canada, 1986), Orpheus (mus. Stravinsky, Australian Ballet, 1987), La Ronde (mus. Korngold, National Ballet of Canada, 1987), Tagore (mus. Zemlinsky, National Ballet of Canada, 1989), Amores (mus. Torke, Royal Ballet, 1997), and Lux in Tenebris (mus. Sofia Gubaidulina, Houston Ballet, 1999).

Tetley, Glen (Glenford Andrew Tetley, Jr.), 1926–2006, American dancer and choreographer, b. Cleveland. He studied in New York City with Hanya Holm and trained with Martha Graham, subsequently dancing (1958–59) with her company. Also a member of the American Ballet Theatre, he later had his own modern-dance troupe, which disbanded in 1969; danced (1962–65) with the Netherlands Dance Theater, briefly becoming (1969) its co-director; and directed (1974–76) the Stuttgart Ballet. His influential choreography is marked by a fusion of ballet and modern-dance elements. Tetley made dances for many companies in the United States and in Europe, where he introduced American modern-dance approaches and techniques and where his work was particularly popular. His dances include Voluntaries (1973), his signature piece; Pierrot Lunaire (1962); Greening (1975); and Lux in Tenebris (1999).

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)