The First British Ballet: Constant Lambert's Romeo and Juliet

Composer Constant Lambert’s ballet for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, Romeo and Juliet, premiered in Paris in 1926, and was also performed in London in the same year. The ballet combined famous names in the ballet world such as Nijinska and Karsavina, with controversial painters Ernst and Miró, and the unknown twenty-year-old composer. This was the first occasion in which a British person had been asked to collaborate on the creation of a ballet with the famous company. This dissertation examines ballet in Britain before 1926 and the Ballets Russes’ reputation in London, discusses Romeo and Juliet’s score and designs in detail, and describes the rehearsal process and the ballet’s controversial premiere. This dissertation concludes that Romeo and Juliet was successful in London because of its use of a British composer, and argues that the decision to stage a “British” ballet inspired the formation of a ballet company in Britain.
Also included is a portfolio of three essays entitled 'Mr Vic-Wells': Constant Lambert's impact on the musical repertoire performed and broadcast in Britain, c. 1926-1951; 'A National Ballet': the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company during the Second World War; and Tiresias: the genesis and reception of Constant Lambert's final ballet