Mark Baldwin: Putting His Own Voice On Tradition
Mark Baldwin is an imposing figure radiating excitement in his voice and movements. Born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand, his interest in dance began with his balletomane mother, who took him to matinee performances, and his nextdoor neighbor, who just happened to be a ballet teacher. His father used Mark’s ballet lessons as a tool to get him to further his academic studies, and along with the dancing he garnered a BFA degree. While in university, Baldwin started the Limbs Dance Company, modeled after the American-styled touring companies. It was with this university-based company that he started to choreograph. He began his professional dancing career with the Royal Ballet of New Zealand. His mentors John and Jackie Trimmer and Christine Harrison saw his potential and encouraged him. Knowing that his future was not going to be in classical ballet, he took advantage of an invitation to perform with the EMMA Dance Company in England and caught the eye of Glen Tetley, who brought him to the attention of Ballet Rambert.
Marie Rambert was an innovator. Born to a Jewish Polish father and a Russian mother, her interest in dance became a prominent part of her life after viewing a performance by Isadora Duncan. She began her lessons at the Paris Opera where Diaghilev saw her and invited her to perform with the Ballet Russe. In 1918, Rambert moved to England and studied under Enrico Cecchetti. The following year she began to teach and subsequently formed the first professional dance company in the United Kingdom – Ballet Rambert (now Rambert Dance Company). Rambert was made a Dame of the British Empire, having had a great influence on British ballet as a teacher and company director, nurturing the talents of promising dancers and choreographers (most famous of which were Frederick Ashton and Antony Tudor). She and her husband purchased the Mercury Theatre in the Notting Hill section of London and turned it into a mecca for dance in the UK. It was Norman Morrice, later to become one of the directors of The Royal Ballet, who first introduced modern dance into the company.
Mark Baldwin and Rambert Dance Company members
Photo by Carl Fox
Baldwin, a noted free-lance choreographer in his own right, succeeded Christopher Bruce as the present director of Rambert Dance Company. With this company’s imposing history of dance in England and rooted in English dance history, it has taken on a new persona with 22 dancers, most of them classically trained, performing a wide range of styles but centered on the ballet idiom and Merce Cunningham’s technique. The current company members have international backgrounds and there is a waiting list of dancers eager to join. Baldwin also encourages his dancers to choreograph. He says, “If someone is not making the pieces, make them yourself.” This small company is unique in its practice of commissioning music and, with its own orchestra, the company always dances to live music.
With many classical companies on the scene, Ballet Rambert changed direction in 1966, reduced its size and took on a more contemporary look with its dancers and choreographic endeavors. The name change to Rambert Dance Company became official in 1987. The repertoire is made up of works by mostly English choreographers. Baldwin prefers to give chances to up-and-coming choreographers rather than to use choreographers who repeatedly set works on other companies. He wants the company to be unique in its presentations. Rambert Dance Company performs in London and tours the UK and Europe.
Being a company director is a 24/7 job but Baldwin adds music, painting watercolors, going to films and working out at the gym as his other interests. His advice to aspiring dancers: “Go for your dream!”
The melding of classical and contemporary ballet has taken what was Ballet Rambert to where it is today, and Rambert Dance Company, under Baldwin’s direction, has found its own voice. Hopefully the company will soon find its way across the pond for an American tour.