In October 1949, with much fanfare and celebration, Sadler’s Wells Ballet Company embarked on its first series of tours throughout the USA and Canada.
The tour premiered at New York's Metropolitan Opera House on 9 October with Tchaikovsky's ballet Sleeping Beauty. Visiting principal cities of the USA and Canada for 10 weeks, the tour was not only a way to generate funds after the hardships of the Second World War, it also promoted the company, as well as highlighting British fashion and design. It was at a time when the Sadler’s Wells Ballet Company was at its most glamorous, featuring World-renowned dancers such as Margot Fonteyn, Robert Helpmann, Moira Shearer, Pamela May and Beryl Grey.
The Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers used the opportunity provided by the dancers to promote the British fashion industry. Designers such as Norman Hartnell, Digby Morton and Bianca Mosca provided clothes and accessories for the whole company to wear on tour, including Ninette de Valois, the company’s director. The corps de ballet were all fitted out with a model travel outfit - coats, suits, shoes, hats, luggage, handbags and even umbrellas!
The logistics in organising such a tour was quite staggering. At the time, it was the biggest move ever made by a company on tour, with 75 personnel and over 7,000 items of scenery and costumes for 12 ballets that were transported from the UK to all over the USA and Canada. This included nearly half a ton of ballet shoes - all individually fitted for each dancer. The 1949 tour was a huge success for both the Sadler’s Wells Ballet and the British fashion industry and was the first of many such tours.
More information about Sadler’s Wells Ballet Company's series of tours throughout the USA and Canada can be discovered in the Sadler's Wells Theatre Archive at Islington Local History Centre at Finsbury Library.
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