© Robert Barnett 'Allegro Brillante' reviews Atlanta Ballet reviews NYCB reviews Pamela Gaye reviews

The setting for my interview with Robert Barnett was pre-rehearsal, backstage at the Atlanta Ballet, awaiting the premiere performance of Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, one of George Balanchine’s key ballets of the 50s. The first thing I noticed about Barnett, who had traveled from his home in Asheville, North Carolina to set this work on a company he had directed for thirty-two years, was his wit and agility gleaned from a composite background as dancer whose career began with De Basil’s Original Ballets Russes and had crisscrossed the Atlantic synthesizing a variety of styles: first as student of Bronislava Nijinska, then as soloist with the Original Ballets Russes and New York City Ballet, and finally, as director of America’s oldest regional ballet company, the Atlanta Ballet. After opening its doors in 1929 under the direction of Dorothy Alexander, The Atlanta Ballet under the direction of Barnett was the first regional company to turn professional in 1967. Our conversations took place in one of the anti-rooms of the company as two casts prepared upstairs for rehearsals of Allegro.

Critic Anna Kisselgoff once wrote of the company’s change toward a “clean neo-classic look” under Barnett’s direction, citing the influence of George Balanchine, due to Barnett’s years as soloist with the company, yet one “that does not overwhelm.” It was, however, the witnessing of a performance by American Ballet Theater that propelled Barnett into his career. “You see I was in the service,” Barnett explained, “and I didn’t start studying ballet until I was twenty-one. During World War II, I was in the Navy and was stationed in San Pedro, just South of Los Angeles. I used to go up to the city to see what was going on. I saw this poster that the company was appearing there, so I bought a ticket and went in to see it. That’s what turned me on. I saw Igor Youskevitch dance and thought that I had died and gone to heaven.” Barnett describes how Youskevitch was the first male dancer of a high professional caliber that he had seen and that, witnessing the latter’s performance in Les Sylphides, with Alicia Markova and Annabelle Lyon; thus he was determined to follow in his footsteps.

Recalling a childhood spent in the Pacific Northwest, Barnett told me that he had only studied tap. As an art form, ballet first entranced him while serving in the Navy in Tokyo during World War II. “They hired a Japanese gentleman, Michiro Ito, who had been in Los Angeles and had been in over twenty films. He had gone back to Japan and, toward the end of the war, had started a company. In Tokyo, the Takarazuka Theater had functioned as a theater for the Kabuki featuring only female performers but, since the Kabuki did not perform in wartime, the American Army and Navy presented shows there, not only for those in the service, but also for local residents.”

“And so I auditioned for a Navy liaison unit that did Broadway shows. They had invited Ito to come do a show. So I worked with him, despite my limited experience, and he added a bit of ballet to the show that I picked it up quickly. He encouraged me, saying ‘You should go home and study.’ So I ‘found’ ballet in Japan, since at that time all I knew about dance was the movies.”

Finding ballet led Barnett to Los Angeles following the war where he had a great aunt who taught at Pasadena Junior College. “She knew that they had a theater company attached to the school, and told me that she would speak to someone there who could guide me.” A lady whose friend studied with a tap teacher by the name of Harold Prince knew of a ballet teacher whose classes would be paid for under the GI bill for returning servicemen. And, of course, with a proven knack of being in the right place at the right time, Barnett found himself in classes with resident ballet teachers, Bronislava Nijinska and her daughter, Irena.

In describing his early impressions of Nijinska, Barnett admitted “She was the best teacher that I could think of for a beginning student; she taught the old Cecchetti School where on different days you do different combinations in the center. But the barre was basically the same every day. I first started out with Irena under whom I studied for six months, but Nijinska herself would often choose dancers from the class that she wanted to work with.” At age twenty-one, Barnett had definitely found himself in the right place at the right time and admitted, “I couldn’t have found a better teacher than Nijinka. My age made no difference. She looked at somebody’s facility and talent and built on that. She was a very generous teacher who had tremendous strength. All of us, particularly the male dancers, appreciated that. I had studied with her for a year and eight months when, after auditioning in Los Angeles with dancer David Lichine, I joined the Original Ballets Russes of De Basil during their final tour in Spain and Portugal.

Barnett explained that the Original Ballet Russes had come to Los Angeles for a series of performances and had come to Nijinska’s studio looking for ‘supers’ to appear in Scheherezade. Along with four others, Barnett was chosen. “They had some wonderful young dancers,” he exclaimed, “both from the States and from South America: George Skibine, Oleg Tupine, Marjorie Tallchief, among others. With the Ballets Russes, I experienced the fabulous repertory and touring with such dancers as Lubov Tchernitcheva, who danced along with dancers from Sweden, Norway, and all countries of Eastern Europe. I was new to the company and thus in the corps de ballet. I didn’t do too many roles, but I did dance the role of Rumor in the Fokine ballet, Paganini, and understudied for the role of the Drummer Boy in Lichine’s Graduation Ball. Artists Vladimir Doukodovsky, Nina Stroganova, and Gladys Loubert were young dancers who impressed with their talent. Artists from the past such as Tatiana Riabouchinska, and Nina Verchinina were there as well.”

“You see the first time I saw the Ballets Russes in 1947, they had only recently returned from Cuba. They had come through Los Angeles with the dancer Oleg Tupine whom they had picked up in Argentina. Marjorie Tallchief and her sister Maria were in the company. It was this fabulous company that I saw and from whom I learned.”

“When De Basil went to New York en route to Europe following the Los Angeles tour, we stopped, and in the following April (1948) I returned to New York and auditioned for summer stock.” Barnett ruefully admits that, as a young dancer, he needed the money, so went to Saint Louis, Missouri where he danced in musical theater for several months. “I saved my money, and then returned to New York to start auditioning. I auditioned for High Button Shoes, a Jerome Robbins ballet and got the job!”

“I was torn apart. I thought, ‘how can I do this; I don’t want to be a Broadway dancer, I want to dance ballet.’ So I called the stage manager and told him I didn’t want the job. Of course, he was furious. They threatened to blackball me from the Union; but I decided, ‘it’s my life.’ Right after that, in December, 1949, I auditioned for the New York City Ballet. The New York City Ballet audition was for one male dancer and I believe every male dancer in New York was there. Again, I got the job!”

Barnett’s tenure in the New York City Ballet is legendary as remarked upon by critics Kisselgoff and others. He did a lot of dancing, stating “there were many roles that I inherited. All of that excellent counterpoint that Balanchine created, such as in the 3rd movement of Symphony in C (that had originally been choreographed for the Paris Opera as Palais de Crystal in 1947) was given to me.” Anecdotally, Barnett related yet another tale of marvelous luck, how the dancer originally assigned to the role had injured his back. “Mr. B, (as dancers affectionately called George Balanchine) asked who knew the role. As I was one of those dancers who always learned whatever was needed to dance, I said, ‘I do.’ So Balanchine said, ‘you’re on,’ and I performed the role.”

“I also danced the 3rd movement in Western Symphony in addition to all of Jerome Robbins’ ballets, except The Cage. Stars was made for me as was the candy cane variation in Nutcracker.”

Barnett’s tenure in two of the world’s most important companies offered important insight concerning the training of the contemporary dancer. Referring to himself as ‘a hybrid’, he added, “I think it’s terribly important for today’s dancer to be able to ‘cross over mediums. You simply can’t be a ballet dancer; you’ve got to know jazz, modern; and you’ve got to be able to do the whole nine yards [laughs]. In this day and age,” he added, “modern dance companies often have a specialized technique and repertory, far more than ballet companies.”

Under Barnett’s direction the Atlanta Ballet, a company that he directed for thirty-two years, became the first regional company to turn professional. “Regional Ballet started with Atlanta with Dorothy Alexander,” he related. “She invited several ballet company directors to come to Atlanta for a conference on starting their own regional companies. Alexander’s premise was to start a regional ballet movement so that people could dance in their own communities and go to other communities as well.” Lucille Arkin, Barbara Weisberger, Virginia Williams, the Crockets from California….all were there for this conference in 1956 to host the first regional dance festival.”

Barnett’s admiration for his predecessor is perhaps best expressed in his ballet Reflections for, premiered in New York in 1988. Kisselgoff speaks of a ballet of clear patterns which “offers no surprises,” yet contains “fine classical partnering in ensembles composed of a five-man unit with ten women to contend with.” Under Barnett’s direction, the Atlanta Ballet, as the oldest regional company in the United States, turned professional in 1967.

“When I came to Atlanta,” he explained, “there was only a small group of very good dancers who studied and rehearsed three days a week. So I worked with them on a professional level and the Atlanta Ballet was born. This was in the mid-60s. The National Endowment for the Arts approached us, and we toured and eventually made our first New York appearance at the Delacorte Theater. Thus we became professional. When I first came to Atlanta, the budget for the company was $16,000; when I left in 1994, the budget was one million, six hundred dollars,” he added. Under Barnett’s direction, the Atlanta Ballet Company would also become the first company in the States to perform a full-length SwanLakeand The Sleeping Beauty.

As my interview with Robert Barnett continued, the pounding of grand jetés in the studio above caused me to return to the subject of his mounting of Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante for the company in spring, 2007. Recalling the genesis of Allegro was easy, since Barnett was a member of The New York City Ballet Company in 1956 at the ballet’s premiere. “The genesis of Allegro Brillante,” he explained, “was in New York where Jerome Robbins was working on a piece having to do with subways, and with interactions concerning different people who rode. He just couldn’t pull it together.”

“It was five days before the premiere and Robbins’ piece was ready to be scrapped. Then Mr. B. took over, taking whatever dancers who were not in Jerry’s piece and a few others who were available. He took music that was originally part of the score for SwanLake, Tchaikovsky’s Third Piano Concerto that had begun as a symphony before being altered to include both piano and orchestra. Sohe made this wonderful ballet for Maria Tallchief and Nicholas Magallenes, in addition to what we used to call “chicken scratch soloists” who at the time included Barbara Walzac, Richard Rapp, Roy Tobias, and others.”

“He created the ballet in two days, and had Karinska do costumes…there were eye holes on lace tops on the boys, and puffed sleeves that didn’t fit with grey shoes, grey tights, and grey tops. The girls had little pink and blue chiffon dresses. They threw it on stage two days after it had been created. Every thing he knew: his technique, his approach to dance and choreography, all were contained in this ballet of thirteen minutes.”

When Barnett set Allegro Brillante on the contemporary Atlanta Ballet Company, he used two casts, proud that they contained several dancers he had trained. “One dancer, a boy, started in my school at the age of seven. I knew from the moment he walked in he would be a dancer. That dancer today is Christian Clark.” During rehearsal, Barnett worked with Clark, whom I had seen perform lead roles in contemporary works such as The Great Gatsby, premiering in February 2007, as well as classical works Giselle and Romeo and Juliette. Throughout the rehearsal the importance of setting Balanchine’s choreography as he would have wanted was underscored by Barnett’s attention to the minutest details of the choreography. With Clark’s partner and lead, Kristine Necessary, Barnett emphasized the split-second timing of ‘placement’ inherent in Balanchine’s work. “Hold your breath as you reach the height of the jump,” he called to the dancer, demonstrating the movements himself full center.

Today, at age 83, Barnett’s life is centered on his family and new home in Asheville, North Carolina. “Today, I do what I want to do,” he added. “I’m at a point in my life that enables me to choose….so when The Atlanta Ballet Company called me I simply came down from Asheville. Commenting on the rendering of Balanchine ballets to companies other than the New York City Ballet, he recounted, “Although there are wonderful teachers, stewardship sometimes gets lost in the reviving of ballets. I believe in the importance of setting ballets as faithful as possible to the original Balanchine would have wanted.”

As Robert Barnett and I conversed, I reminisced my own days of study in Cannes, watching Rosella Hightower rehearsing the variation from SwanLake, Act III through a studio keyhole. Barnett’s face lit up when I mentioned Hightower’s co-teacher Jose Ferran. “Jose was in my first company, De Basil’s Original Ballets Russes; he was one of the five dancers chosen from Los Angeles to for the final European season of the company.”

Barnett’s resignation from Atlanta Ballet in 1994 resulted from squabbles over funding, yet did not change the way he felt about the company. “I did not work here for thirty-six years to see it collapse,” he pointed out. “After quitting as Director, I taught for a while in the school because one of my ex-dancers directed it.”

“I also brought to the company a dancer from Moscow, Stanislav Issaev, whom I trained, and who is now directing a company in South Carolina for the Governer’s School for the Arts. He is creating a company of incredible boys, one of whom is Joseph Phillips, now dancing as principal with the San Francisco Ballet. I go in one semester per year and teach for Issaev; I also teach a summer session here in Atlanta. Basically I do what I love and what I want to do.”

As our interview concluded, I marveled at Barnett’s dedication to the art of ballet that is shown today through his versatility as teacher and performer in such diverse venues as the Jackson International Ballet Competition, The Governors School for the Humanities in South Carolina, and The Atlanta Ballet Company, and others. Thus, in doing ‘what he wants to do,’ Barnett is offering a rich legacy of his own gleaned from a brilliant past as both premier danseur and choreographer, that he gives to dancers and performers of today.