1939 – The Arts Theatre Ballet established

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Although London Ballet began in 1938, by 1940 it needed to combine with Rambert Ballet to survive. This picture explains the complications involved. The amazing annotations are definitely from Pauline Clayden’s hand!

The owner of The Arts Theatre, Harold Rubin, enlisted Keith Lester, former choreographer and dancer with the Markova-Dolin Ballet, to form The Arts Theatre Ballet as part of his mission to make his theatre a centre for the art form. The Arts Theatre Ballet ran from 1939 until September 1941, giving a series of lunchtime and teatime ballets, sharing The Arts Theatre with Ballet Rambert and Antony Tudor’s London Ballet. Notably, Margaret Craske was the company’s ballet mistress.

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