1960s Glen Tetley Dance Company & Nederlands Dans Theatre
1961-1962
Tetley danced with Jerome Robbins' shortlived company, Ballets: USA from 1961-1962.
1962
Having achieved critical acclaim as a performer with dance companies such as the Joffrey Ballet, the Martha Graham Company, and the American Ballet Theatre, Tetley shifted his attention to choreography. In 1962 he formed his own company and created "Pierrot Lunaire", a work focusing on the interaction of three commedia dell’arte characters and set to the atonal song cycle of the same name by the experimental composer Arnold Schoenberg.
Publicity photograph of Glen Tetley and two dancers in costume for his ballet "Pierrot Lunaire". Also pictured is the ballet's designer, Rouben Ter-Arutunian, on the far right. Photographer unknown (possibly Jack Mitchell).
The success of "Pierrot Lunaire" gained Tetley a position as guest artist with the Nederlands Dans Theatre in The Hague. He staged several innovative works with the Dutch company, including The Anatomy Lesson (1964), which was based on the 17th-century Dutch master Rembrandt’s painting Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, and Embrace Tiger and Return to Mountain (1968), which incorporated movements from the ancient Chinese exercise T’ai Chi Ch’uan.
Jaap Flier and a female dancer with the Nederlands Dans Theatre performing in Tetley's "The Anatomy Lesson", which was created for the company in 1964. Photographer Ger J. Van Leeuwen.
Glen Tetley Dance Company in costume for Tetley's ballet "Embrace Tiger and Return to Mountain" in 1969. Photograph by Jack Mitchell.
1969
Tetley became the codirector of the Nederlands Dans Theatre company in 1969, the same year that he disbanded his own company. Mutations (1970) was among the most-discussed works he created during this period, largely because of Tetley’s controversial use of nudity. Tetley was codirector until 1971.
Portrait of Glen Tetley while director of the Nederlands Dans Theatre. Photographer unknown.