History

Touring was often part of theatre life in the late 19th century. Individual actors, dancers and singers as well as entire troupes toured both through the United Kingdom, Europe and even the Americas. The Carl Rosa Opera Company is a well-known example of this, touring the United Kingdom to Manchester, Glasgow and London among other cities. The actress Sarah Bernhardt famously toured throughout Europe and even to America, and dancers such as Adeline Genée and Anna Pavlova are famous for their tours, as is the ballet troupe of Diaghilev’s Russian Ballet.

William Thompson seemed to have disliked tours, preferring both himself and the troupe to remain in London. There is evidence that the idea of the troupe going on a tour was floated whilst Marta Draeger was still in the troupe, with some even crediting this suggestion to Richard Hague, though the attribution cannot be definitively proven. Despite this anecdote, the troupe would not tour during Thompson’s time as balletmaster, as his views would influence what was allowed and what initiatives were pursued. 

 Following Thompson’s 1896 retirement, the idea of a tour seems to have been reintroduced sometime after Hague’s investiture as balletmaster in chief. The idea seems to have become firmer by 1898, as by then the tour had ceased to be discussed in theoretical terms and had started to be discussed in terms of repertory, theatres and members of the troupe. 

The Tour of 1900

Sometime during the spring of 1900, it was announced that the ballet troupe of the Royal Opera House would be embarking on a six-week tour to three cities, spending two weeks each at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool, the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh and the Palace Theatre in Manchester. The dates of the tour were to be set from early October to mid-November, so that the tour would not affect the winter and pantomime engagements of several of the dancers of the troupe.  

The official announcement caused quite the stir backstage, as there were many who believed that though a tour had been talked about for months, it would never fully materialise. Though the tour had been announced, the repertory had not yet been decided, and would be finalised in the subsequent months to three ballets: The Pasha’s Harem, The Village Fête and Diavolina.

The Pasha’s Harem

The Pasha’s Harem was fashioned from the second act of The Corsair. The rôle of Médora was given to Sarah Nicholson, partially as compensation for the fact that Hague had given the 1897 full-length revival to the guest danseuse Maria Nardella. Hague had invited Nardella to Covent Garden to replace Marta Draeger, but Nardella had declined the invitation for a permanent contract as she did not much like the English style of dancing. Nicholson had wanted to add the rôle of Médora to her repertory as she had danced Gulnare to Draeger’s Médora in 1889. However, the full-length ballet would not be revived until 1904 for Giulia Moretti, by which time Nicholson had left the troupe. 

Musically, the structure was only slightly altered from the full-length version. The primary changes were the interpolation of the Valse de la Coquetterie from the first scene of the first act for Médora’s entrance, the the interpolation of the Pas des Éventails to replace the Pas des Fleurs. These changes served to increase the dancing of Médora and reduce the dancing of Gulnare, as in the full-length ballet the second act was Gulnare’s act, the first act was Médora’s act and the third act had both danseuses appearing together, though Médora still dominated the dancing. 

This also marked the first time Nicholson danced with Lucien Rigaud. Nicholson’s most frequent partner, Anotine Férat, had retired at the end of the 1900 summer season, and so was not available to dance in the winter tour. As Nicholson did not wish to dance with James Elton, the most senior ranking danseur at the time, she instead trialled several sujets and settled on Rigaud. Rigaud and Nicholson worked well in The Pasha’s Harem together, and during the 1901 season they would dance Ondine and Esmeralda together with successful reviews, securing Rigaud’s promotion to premier danseur shortly before the 1902 season.

Résume des Scènes et Danses

1) Introduction et Scène 1re

2) Entrée des Odalisques

3) Pas des Odalisques

a) Valse des Odalisques

b) Variation I [Lily Clifford]

c) Variation II [Teresa Montoro]

d) Coda 

4) Scène Dansante

a) Entrée de Gulnare 

b) Entrée du Seyd Pasha

c) Variation Espiègle de Gulnare [Louise Grignon]

d) Galop

5) Scène

a) La Plainte de Zulmée

b) Entrée de Médora et Lanquedem

c) Valse de la Coquetterie [Sarah Nicholson]

d) Danse des Almées

e) Rentrée de Gulnare

6) Entrée des Pèlerins et Derviches

7) Pas des Éventails

a) Andante Sostenuto

b) Valse d’Ensemble

c) Danse des Coryphées

d) Variation de Conrad [Lucien Rigaud]

e) Variation de Médora [Sarah Nicholson]

f) Coda

8) Scène Finale

The Village Fête

The Village Fête was fashioned from the second act of The Wayward Daughter. The rôle of Lise was given to Harriet Linwood, who had been second cast to Nicholson when the ballet was last revived in 1899. Linwood retained the original variation for the Pas de Deux, as Nicholson did not allow Linwood to use the variation that she had interpolated when she debuted as Lise in 1890. James Elton, Linwood’s most frequent partner, portrayed the rôle of Colin. Elton had also partnered Linwood in the rôle in 1899. 

Résume des Scènes et Danses

1) Introduction

2) Scène 1re

Divertissement

3) Danse Bohémienne

4) Valse Comique

5) Pas de Quatre [Elisabeth Charron, Ada Ross, Jane Wheaton, Helen Davenport]

6) Valse Ballabile de Bouquet

7) Pas de Deux

a) Entrée

b) Adage

c) Variation de Colin [James Elton]

d) Variation de Lise [Harriet Linwood]

e) Coda

8) Galop 

9) Scène Finale – Orage

Diavolina

Diavolina was already a one-act work and so could be exported as is. Giulia Moretti danced the titular heroine, partnered by Gavril Saveliev, her usual partner, as Genariello. Diavolina had been revived for Moretti and Saveliev in 1899, so the ballet was associated with the partnership and would continue to be until Linwood made her debut as the titular heroine in the 1901 season.

There was some concern over the length of the work, as it was longer than both The Pasha’s Harem and The Village Fête. Additionally, there was the matter of the number of appearances of the première danseuse. The Pasha’s Harem had to be revised to allow Nicholson more stage time, as the Valse de la Couqetterie was moved from the first scene of the first act in order to allow her a second pas in addition to the Pas des Éventails. Linwood was dissatisfied that she only danced the Pas de Deux in The Village Fête, but she also had an entrance in the Galop (a general final dance) and was involved in the action of the scène at the top of the ballet. As such, both Nicholson and Linwood took issue with Moretti’s Diavolina, as in dancing the ballet she would dance three pas (the Pas de la Scarpetta, the Pas de Deux and Le Bon Vieux Temps) whereas Nicholson and Linwood received only two pas (with Linwood arguing that she technically only received one).

Thus, Hague examined the ballet and decided to cut one of Moretti’s three pas, both to bring the length more in line with the other two ballets and to appease the two premières. Moretti indicated that she would prefer if the Pas de la Scarpetta were cut, as the Pas de Deux was her main pas (being newly composed for her and Saveliev for the 1899 revival of the ballet) and Le Bon Vieux Temps, an exciting group dance in which she portrayed the rôle of the drum major. Linwood pushed for the Pas de Deux to be cut instead, citing the fact that it did not contribute to the plot and so its removal would cause the least disruption. Hague unfortunately agreed, and to Moretti’s disappointment, the Pas de Deux was cut from the ballet. This had the effect of cutting the principal variations of both Moretti and Saveliev, which originally occurred in the Pas de Deux. Moretti danced another variation in Le Bon Vieux Temps, and thus was not completely without a variation, but Saveliev did not. As such, Hague inserted Saveliev into the Pas de Trois Comique, a pas that was originally performed by Don Chichillo and two female sujets, with Saveliev taking Chichillo’s part and interpolating his variation from the Pas de Deux. 

Résume des Scènes et Danses

1) Introduction

2) Scène 1re 

3) Scène 2e 

4) Scène du Filet

5) Pas de la Scarpetta 

6) Scène 4e – Après le Pas 

7) Pas de Trois Comique

a) Entrée

b) Variation I [Elisabeth Charron] 

c) Variation II [Gavril Saveliev]

d) Variation III [Ada Ross]

e) Coda 

8) Scène 5e – Après le Pas

9) Scène 6e 

10) Scène 7e 

11) Ballabile des Canotiers

12) Scène 8e

13) Le Bon Vieux Temps (Pas Militaire) 

a) Entrée – Tempo di Marcia

b) 1er Régiment – Les Guides

c) 2e Régiment – Les Dragons

d) 3e Régiment – Les Grenadiers

e) 4e Régiment – Le Tambour-major [Giulia Moretti]

f) Coda

14) Scène Finale

Outcomes

Much to Hague’s relief, the 1900 tour was successful. The troupe played to full houses as people were eager to see the ballet of the Royal Opera House in London in performance. Reviews were largely positive, with The Pasha’s Harem receiving the most consistent praise. When the troupe returned to London after the conclusion of the successful tour, Hague found that management seemed more receptive to conversations about further tours, a development which Hague eagerly seized upon.  

The Tour of 1904

Following the success of the 1900 tour, Hague immediately began to plan the next one. His plan was to tour within the next two years, capitalising on the success of the first tour and hopefully building a case for a more extensive touring schedule. However, the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901 and the lead-up to the 1902 coronation, the priorities of the theatre management were focused elsewhere. 1903 brought with it the double retirements of Sarah Nicholson and Auguste Péchard, further delaying plans for the tour. Finally, in the spring of 1904, the second tour of the ballet troupe of the Royal Opera House was finally announced.

It would again be a six-week tour to three cities, spending two weeks each at the Prince of Wales Theatre in Birmingham, the Theatre Royal in Glasgow and the Palace Theatre in Manchester. The dates of the tour were again to be set from early October to mid-November, so that the tour would not affect the winter and pantomime engagements of the dancers of the troupe. The repertory would be finalised in the subsequent months to three ballets: The Pasha’s Harem, The Vivandiere and The Enchanted Island.

Rôles

The Pasha’s Harem

• Médora: Giulia Moretti
• Conrad: Gavril Saveliev
• Gulnare: Jane Wheaton
• Odalisques: Elisabeth Charron, Teresa Montoro

The Vivandiere

• Kathi: Harriet Linwood (Montoro was technically dancing the rôle by 1904, but for the tour Linwood restored her 1895 variation in the Pas de Six to replace the 1890 variation that Montoro had danced)
• Hans: James Elton
• Pas de Six: Helen Davenport, Sofia Zacchini

The Enchanted Island

• Mab: Louise Grignon (she retained her Pizzicato Variation)

Outcomes

Unlike the 1900 tour, the 1904 tour was much less successful. This was due to two main reasons: the marketing and the repertory.

The planning of the 1904 was administratively less smooth than the 1900 season, and it took much longer to line up the theatres. Hague had wanted to return to Edinburgh but due to several failed negotiates with several theatres he was forced to pivot to Glasgow with less than a month before the troupe’s opening performance in Birmingham. As such, their Glasgow performances were not as well advertised, leading to fewer tickets being sold than Hague would have liked.

Additionally, the repertory was weaker for the 1904 tour. The 1900 tour had a strong first (The Pasha’s Harem), a good second (The Village Fête) and a serviceable third (Diavolina). On the other hand, the 1904 tour had a strong first (The Pasha’s Harem), a serviceable second (The Vivandiere) and a mediocre third (The Enchanted Island). The Enchanted Island in particular was a poor choice, as though the ballet was not beloved in London it could still remain in the repertory as it had other works given during the season to counterbalance it. As such, when the ballet was taken on tour its flaws were magnified, as there were no longer several other ballets to disguise it. The failure of the 1904 tour caused management to put a stop to all plans for future tours, and the 1904 tour would be the last tour the Royal Ballet troupe would take before the 1960s.