Notes · DanceUK · A-Levels

Area of Study: Rambert Dance Company 1966-2002

Rambert Dance Company 1966-2002 is the compulsory Area of Study of Component 2, studied in Section A alongside the set work. It covers the period in which the company - founded by Marie Rambert as Ballet Rambert - reinvented itself in 1966, under Norman Morrice, from a classical ballet company into one of Britain's leading contemporary dance companies, strongly influenced by American modern dance. This topic teaches the reinvention, the American modern-dance influence (especially Glen Tetley), the named practitioners and their works (Tetley, Bruce, North, Alston, Davies, Page), the company's development, and its style, context and significance in British dance.

5 sections~19 min reading time2 competenciesLevel Foundation 1 · Standard 2 · Advanced 2

T·101010 / 15

Exam profile

AO3 · Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the area of study Rambert Dance Company 1966-2002 and its contextAO4 · Analyse, interpret, evaluate and critically appreciate the works and practitioners of the area of study

Operators:identifydescribeanalyseinterpretevaluate

basic level

AS-Level study of the area expects accurate knowledge of the company's reinvention, its main practitioners and their works, and its context.

higher level

The full A-level expects analysis, interpretation and evaluation of the practitioners and works of the period, linked to the company's development and to context, in essay form.

Depth

Text

Contents · 5 sections

Area of Study: Rambert Dance Company 1966-2002

Rambert 1966-2002: an overview#

FoundationAQA 7237 Component 2 Section A (Area of Study: Rambert 1966-2002)Ofqual GCE Dance subject content

Rambert 1966-2002: milestones

Fig. 1Key milestones of the Area of Study period - from the 1966 reinvention, through defining works and the 1987 renaming, to the end of the period in 2002.

The company now known as Rambert was founded by Dame Marie Rambert, one of the most important figures in British dance, and for its first decades (as Ballet Rambert) it was a classical ballet company that nurtured British choreographers. The Area of Study, however, focuses on the period 1966-2002, which begins with a decisive reinvention: in 1966 the company transformed itself from a classical ballet company into a small, creative, contemporary ensemble, and over the following decades became one of Britain's leading contemporary dance companies. This is why the study period begins in 1966.

The defining feature of the period is the fusion of ballet and CONTEMPORARY (modern) dance, driven by the influence of AMERICAN MODERN DANCE - especially the work of the American choreographer Glen Tetley and the Graham technique. The company deliberately turned away from a purely classical repertory towards creating new, contemporary work, becoming a home for choreographers to make and dancers to perform bold, modern dance. This gave British audiences a leading contemporary company and launched the careers of major British choreographers.

The period is studied through its NAMED PRACTITIONERS - the choreographers whose work defined the company - and their works. The specification names Glen Tetley, Christopher Bruce, Robert North, Richard Alston, Siobhan Davies and Ashley Page. Each brought a distinct style and made significant works for the company, and together they trace the development of British contemporary dance across the period. Knowing these practitioners and representative works is the core knowledge the Area of Study requires.

Studying the Area of Study means understanding the reinvention, the influences that drove it, the practitioners and their works, and how the company and British contemporary dance developed across 1966-2002 - and being able to analyse, interpret and evaluate this in essay form. The following sections take the reinvention, the practitioners (in two groups), and the style, context and significance of the period. Throughout, link the practitioners and works to the company's development and to context, as the essays require.

Worked example

Explaining the start date of the Area of Study

Why does the Area of Study 'Rambert Dance Company 1966-2002' begin in 1966?

State what the company was before
Before 1966 the company (Ballet Rambert, founded by Marie Rambert) was a classical ballet company with a largely classical repertory.
State what changed in 1966
In 1966 the company reinvented itself - under Norman Morrice - as a smaller, creative company dedicated to making new contemporary work, influenced by American modern dance.
Explain the significance
This transformation from a classical ballet company into a contemporary one is the reason 1966 is chosen: it is the beginning of the Rambert that the Area of Study is about.
Conclude
So 1966 marks the turning point at which the company's modern, contemporary identity - the subject of the Area of Study - began.

Result: The start date is explained by the 1966 reinvention from a classical to a contemporary company - the pivotal event that defines the whole Area of Study.

Typical mistakes

Not knowing why the study period begins in 1966 (the reinvention from ballet to contemporary company).
Being unable to name the practitioners of the period or their representative works.

Active revision

Write a short overview of the Area of Study: who founded the company, what changed in 1966, the main influence on the change, and the six named practitioners.

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA AS and A-level Dance (7236 / 7237) specification (AQA)

1966 and the reinvention under Morrice#

StandardAQA 7237 Component 2 Section A (the 1966 reinvention)Ofqual GCE Dance subject content

The 1966 reinvention

Fig. 2The 1966 reinvention transformed the classical Ballet Rambert into a small contemporary creative company, driven by the influence of American modern dance.

By the mid-1960s Ballet Rambert, though historically important, was struggling to sustain itself as a touring classical ballet company. The decisive response, associated above all with Norman Morrice, was a radical reinvention in 1966: the company was reorganised as a smaller ensemble whose purpose was to CREATE new work - a creative company of dancer-choreographers rather than a large classical corps performing an inherited repertory. This was a bold break with the company's classical past and set the direction for the whole period.

The reinvention was driven by the influence of AMERICAN MODERN DANCE. Morrice had encountered the American modern-dance scene, and the model of companies built around creating new contemporary work - and the technique of Martha Graham and the choreography of Glen Tetley - offered a way forward. The new Rambert would fuse the classical training its dancers had with modern, contemporary technique and a commitment to new choreography, making it something new in Britain: a company with the discipline of ballet and the creative freedom and expressive range of modern dance.

The practical shape of the reinvention was a small company in which dancers were also choreographers and new works were central. This nurtured British choreographic talent - figures like Christopher Bruce and, later, Richard Alston and Siobhan Davies emerged as choreographers from within the company - and made Rambert a powerhouse of new British dance. The importation and creation of contemporary works, including bringing in Glen Tetley's choreography, gave the company a distinctive modern repertory very different from its classical past.

The 1966 reinvention is the foundation of everything else in the Area of Study, and understanding it is essential to explaining the period. It accounts for the company's contemporary identity, its fusion of ballet and modern technique, its role in developing British choreographers, and the American modern-dance influence that runs through the period. Whenever an essay asks about the character or development of Rambert in this period, the 1966 reinvention - what changed, why, and with what consequences - is the starting point.

Worked example

Linking the reinvention to the company's later character

How did the 1966 reinvention shape the character of Rambert for the rest of the period?

Contemporary identity
By dedicating the company to creating new contemporary work, the reinvention gave Rambert a modern, contemporary identity that defined it for the whole period (and led to the 1987 renaming as Rambert Dance Company).
Fusion of technique
By fusing the dancers' classical training with modern technique and the American modern-dance influence, it created the company's distinctive blend of ballet and contemporary dance seen in its works.
Nurturing choreographers
By making creation central and dancers also choreographers, it nurtured British choreographers - Bruce, Alston, Davies and others emerged from within the company.
Conclude
So the reinvention set the company's contemporary identity, its fused technique and its role as a seedbed for British choreography - the character that defines the Area of Study.

Result: The reinvention is linked to Rambert's lasting character - contemporary identity, fused technique, and choreographer development - showing how the 1966 turning point explains the whole period.

Typical mistakes

Describing the reinvention vaguely without naming its cause (American modern-dance influence) or its nature (a small company dedicated to creating new work).
Missing that the reinvention nurtured British choreographers from within the company, a key consequence for British dance.

Active revision

Explain the 1966 reinvention in a short paragraph: what the company became, who drove it, what influence shaped it, and two consequences for the company and for British dance.

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA AS and A-level Dance (7236 / 7237) specification (AQA)

The practitioners: Tetley, Bruce and North#

StandardAQA 7237 Component 2 Section A (practitioners: Tetley, Bruce, North)Ofqual GCE Dance subject content

Rambert practitioners and their works (1)

Fig. 3Three practitioners of the Area of Study and representative works: Tetley (the American influence), Bruce (the leading home-grown choreographer) and North.

GLEN TETLEY (an American) was the key early influence on the reinvented Rambert. He was a choreographer who fused classical ballet with Graham-based modern technique, and bringing his work into the company was central to its new contemporary direction. His Pierrot Lunaire (originally created in 1962) entered the Rambert repertoire, and he created works such as Embrace Tiger and Return to Mountain (1968) for the company. Tetley demonstrated in practice the fusion of ballet and modern dance that became the company's hallmark, and his influence on the young Christopher Bruce was profound.

CHRISTOPHER BRUCE emerged from within the company as its outstanding dancer and, increasingly, its leading choreographer, and he is the practitioner most central to the Area of Study (and the choreographer of the set work, Rooster). Shaped by his Rambert training and by Tetley, Bruce developed a humane, accessible, character-driven style fusing ballet and contemporary technique and using gesture. His works include the acclaimed Ghost Dances (1981), a powerful piece on political oppression in South America. Bruce's long association with the company culminated in his becoming its artistic director in 1994.

ROBERT NORTH was another dancer-choreographer of the company who contributed significant works. His best-known Rambert work is Troy Game (1974), an all-male piece full of humour, athleticism and physical display, drawing on martial arts and Brazilian influences (including capoeira). Troy Game shows another facet of the reinvented company's range - a witty, virtuosic, popular work - and demonstrates how the company's choreographers each brought a distinct voice while sharing its contemporary, fused foundation.

Together these three practitioners show the early and middle development of the reinvented company: Tetley the American influence and model of ballet-modern fusion; Bruce the home-grown leading choreographer whose humane, character-driven work defined the company; and North a further distinctive voice. Knowing a representative work for each - Tetley's Embrace Tiger and Return to Mountain or Pierrot Lunaire, Bruce's Ghost Dances, North's Troy Game - and being able to characterise each choreographer's contribution is core knowledge for the Area of Study, and material for comparison essays.

Worked example

Explaining a practitioner's contribution

Explain Glen Tetley's importance to the reinvented Rambert.

Who he was
Tetley was an American choreographer who fused classical ballet with Graham-based modern technique - exactly the kind of contemporary fusion the reinvented company sought.
What he brought
Bringing his work into the repertoire (Pierrot Lunaire) and creating new pieces (Embrace Tiger and Return to Mountain, 1968) gave the company a distinctive contemporary repertory and a living model of ballet-modern fusion.
His wider influence
Tetley influenced the company's young dancer-choreographers, above all Christopher Bruce, shaping the style that would define Rambert.
Conclude
So Tetley was central to the reinvention: he embodied and transmitted the ballet-modern fusion and the American modern-dance influence that became the company's identity.

Result: Tetley's importance is explained through what he was, brought and influenced - the American fusion, the new repertory, and his influence on Bruce - modelling how to write about a practitioner's contribution.

Typical mistakes

Confusing the practitioners' works or attributing a work to the wrong choreographer.
Treating the practitioners as interchangeable rather than each bringing a distinct voice to the company's shared contemporary foundation.

Active revision

For Tetley, Bruce and North, write one line each on their contribution to Rambert and name a representative work; then note what Tetley's influence meant for Bruce.

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA AS and A-level Dance (7236 / 7237) specification (AQA)

The practitioners: Alston, Davies and Page#

AdvancedAQA 7237 Component 2 Section A (practitioners: Alston, Davies, Page)Ofqual GCE Dance subject content

Rambert practitioners and their styles (2)

Fig. 4Three more practitioners of the Area of Study and their distinct styles - Alston's cool abstraction, Davies's lyrical exploration and Page's collaborative crossover.

RICHARD ALSTON brought a different strand of American influence to Rambert: that of Merce Cunningham, with whom he studied in New York. Alston's choreography is known for its musicality and its focus on pure movement and form rather than narrative, in a cool, clear, Cunningham-influenced style. He became a leading choreographer for the company and served as its artistic director in the later 1980s and early 1990s, shaping its repertoire in a more abstract, movement-centred direction before later founding his own company. Alston represents the abstract, musical strand of the company's contemporary work.

SIOBHAN DAVIES also emerged as a choreographer from within the company and developed a distinctive, refined contemporary style noted for its lyricism, subtlety and inventive use of the body and space. Works she made in her Rambert years contributed to the company's reputation for serious, exploratory contemporary dance, and she went on to become one of Britain's most respected independent contemporary choreographers. Davies represents the company's role in developing major British choreographic voices with their own distinctive, exploratory styles.

ASHLEY PAGE, working in the later part of the period, brought a crossover sensibility, often collaborating with contemporary composers and visual artists and blending balletic and contemporary movement in a sharp, modern idiom. His work reflects the company's continuing evolution and its engagement with contemporary music and design. Page represents the later development of the company's contemporary work and its collaborative, cross-art-form ambitions.

Together with Tetley, Bruce and North, these three complete the picture of the Area of Study's practitioners and show the RANGE of the reinvented company: from Tetley's and Bruce's fusion and Bruce's humane character work, through North's witty athleticism, to Alston's cool abstraction, Davies's lyrical exploration and Page's collaborative crossover. This range - many distinct voices sharing a contemporary, fused foundation - is itself a defining feature of Rambert in the period, and knowing how each practitioner differs is exactly what comparison essays reward.

Worked example

Comparing two practitioners' influences

Compare the American influences that Glen Tetley and Richard Alston brought to Rambert.

Tetley's influence
Tetley brought a Graham-based modern influence fused with ballet - an expressive, dramatic contemporary style, seen in works like Embrace Tiger and Return to Mountain.
Alston's influence
Alston brought a Merce Cunningham influence - a cooler, more abstract, movement- and music-centred style, focused on pure form rather than expression or narrative.
Contrast them
So both drew on American modern dance, but from different sources: Tetley's Graham-based expressiveness versus Alston's Cunningham-based abstraction - two contrasting contemporary strands within the company.
Link to the company
This contrast shows the range of the reinvented Rambert: it absorbed different American influences over the period, evolving from Tetley's dramatic fusion towards Alston's abstraction.

Result: Tetley's Graham-based and Alston's Cunningham-based influences are compared and contrasted, showing the company's evolving American influences - the comparative analysis the Area of Study essays require.

Typical mistakes

Blurring Alston, Davies and Page into one 'contemporary' style rather than knowing each one's distinct character.
Not being able to use the practitioners' differences for the comparison essays the Area of Study sets.

Active revision

For Alston, Davies and Page, write one line each capturing their distinctive style and contribution; then note how Alston's Cunningham influence differs from Tetley's Graham-based influence on the company.

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA AS and A-level Dance (7236 / 7237) specification (AQA)

Style, context and significance#

AdvancedAQA 7237 Component 2 Section A (style, context, significance)Ofqual GCE Dance subject content

Rambert's style, context and significance

Fig. 5Bringing the Area of Study together - Rambert's fusion style, its context in the rise of British contemporary dance, and its significance as a pioneer of the art form.

The STYLE of Rambert across the period is best summarised as a fusion of ballet and contemporary dance, animated by the influence of American modern dance and expressed through a range of distinct choreographic voices. The company combined the discipline and line of ballet with the weight, expressiveness and freedom of modern dance, and it prized the creation of new work. Because so many choreographers worked for it, there is no single 'Rambert step', but there is a shared foundation - trained, versatile dancers performing new, contemporary, technically fused work - and a shared commitment to choreographic invention.

The CONTEXT of the period explains this style. The reinvention responded to the pressures on a mid-century classical company and to the exciting example of American modern dance; the company then developed alongside the growth of British contemporary dance, of which it was a leader. The renaming from Ballet Rambert to Rambert Dance Company in 1987 formally marked its contemporary identity. Across the period the company both reflected and drove the establishment of contemporary dance as a major British art form, providing a stage for new choreography and new choreographers.

The SIGNIFICANCE of Rambert 1966-2002 is considerable. The company was central to the development of British contemporary dance: it launched or nurtured the careers of major choreographers (Bruce, Alston, Davies and others), it brought contemporary dance to audiences across the country through touring, and it built a distinctive body of work fusing ballet and modern dance. In the history of British dance it stands as a pioneer and a powerhouse of contemporary choreography, and the period ended a new phase when Christopher Bruce's directorship gave way to Mark Baldwin's in 2002.

For the highest-level essays, bring style, context and significance together and support them with the practitioners and works. You can evaluate the company as a defining institution of British contemporary dance whose fusion style, creative model and roster of choreographers shaped the art form - illustrating the claim with Tetley's fusion, Bruce's Ghost Dances and Rooster, North's Troy Game, Alston's abstraction, Davies's lyricism and Page's collaborations. Linking the works and practitioners to the company's style, context and significance, and reaching a judgement, is exactly the analysis, interpretation and evaluation the Area of Study rewards.

Worked example

Building an evaluation of the company's significance

An essay asks you to evaluate the contribution of Rambert 1966-2002 to British contemporary dance. Outline a strong answer.

State the claim
Argue that Rambert was one of the defining institutions of British contemporary dance in the period - a pioneer that helped establish the art form.
Support with the model
Support this with the company's creative model: by dedicating itself to new work from 1966 it nurtured major British choreographers (Bruce, Alston, Davies) who shaped the art form.
Support with works and reach
Support it with works (Bruce's Ghost Dances and Rooster, North's Troy Game, Alston's abstraction) and with the company's national touring, which brought contemporary dance to wide audiences.
Reach a judgement
Conclude with an evaluation: Rambert's fusion style, creative model and roster of choreographers made it a leading force in establishing British contemporary dance - a major and lasting contribution.

Result: The evaluation states a claim and supports it with the company's model, works and reach before judging - the evidenced, evaluative essay answer the Area of Study demands.

Typical mistakes

Claiming a single uniform 'Rambert style' rather than a shared fused foundation expressed through many distinct choreographic voices.
Asserting the company's significance without supporting it with specific practitioners and works.

Active revision

Write a paragraph evaluating the significance of Rambert 1966-2002 for British contemporary dance, supporting your claim with at least three named practitioners and their works.

Active recall

Recall the key points — then reveal.

Sources: AQA AS and A-level Dance (7236 / 7237) specification (AQA) · Ofqual - GCE AS and A level qualifications (Ofqual)

References & sources

Sources

AQA

AQA AS and A-level Dance (7236 / 7237) specification

Ofqual

Ofqual - GCE AS and A level qualifications

Area of Study: Rambert Dance Company 1966-2002

5 sections~19 min reading time2 competenciesLevel Foundation 1 · Standard 2 · Advanced 2

Area of Study: Rambert Dance Company 1966-2002

Key points

Explaining the start date of the Area of Study

Key points

Linking the reinvention to the company's later character

Key points

Explaining a practitioner's contribution

Key points

Comparing two practitioners' influences

Key points

Building an evaluation of the company's significance

Sources

Area of Study: Rambert Dance Company 1966-2002

Key points

Explaining the start date of the Area of Study

Key points

Linking the reinvention to the company's later character

Key points

Explaining a practitioner's contribution

Key points

Comparing two practitioners' influences

Key points

Building an evaluation of the company's significance

Sources