Now that the leaves have begun to turn, the fall performing arts season provides a welcome source of entertainment and amusement for many people. Live dance has a long tradition in Hartford, and the Hartford Ballet, an organization at which dancers including Mikhail Baryshnikov and General Hambrick once performed, had a long and fascinating history.
The first Hartford Ballet was founded as a dancing school for children in 1937 by ballet dancer and instructor Carmel Angelo, also director of the Angelo Studios of the Dance. Hartford Ballet’s performances took place in Avery Memorial Hall at the Wadsworth Atheneum. The school closed following Carmel Angelo’s death in 1943, but was revived by her sister Mary Angelo in 1956. The new school provided instruction for would-be professional dancers.
In 1964, the Hartford Ballet was reorganized as a regional ballet company under Joseph Albano, a teacher at the school, who served as its artistic director until 1971. The company recruited professional dancers as guest soloists while the corps de ballet consisted of advanced students, including students from the Hartford School of Ballet. While continuing to provide extensive programming for children, Albano also introduced new ballets, featuring his own choreography in some cases set to contemporary rock and roll music or the polytonal music of Charles Ives.
Michael Uthoff, a young Chilean dancer and choreographer became director in 1972. Productions included classics such as “Romeo and Juliet” and “Giselle,” as well as more modern works such as “La Malinche” by Jose Limon, and Enid Lynn’s rock ballet “Grandstand,” with set and costumes by Peter Max. Uthoff and his wife, ballerina Lisa Bradley starred in many productions. It was during Uthoff’s tenure as director that Baryshnikov came to Hartford for two performances and General Hambrick was featured in two productions of “The Nutcracker.”
The 1990s introduced another artistic director in Kirk Peterson, an innovative choreographer who sought to give the Hartford Ballet a “new look.” Notable productions included “Serenade,” George Balanchine’s first American ballet, which had premiered at the Wadsworth Atheneum in 1934, Peterson’s own “Cloudless Sulphur,” and a new version of “The Nutcracker.”
After years of financial struggle, the Hartford Ballet Company closed in 1999, but other companies, including Dance Connecticut of Stamford, the Nutmeg Ballet of Torrington, and the Hartford City Ballet continue to stage dance productions in Hartford, and “The Nutcracker” remains an annual holiday event at the Bushnell Memorial.
