Glen Tetley

Glenford Andrew Tetley, Jr. was born on February 3, 1926, in Cleveland, Ohio, and went on to become an American dancer and choreographer recognized for blending ballet and modern dance into a unified practice. He died on January 26, 2007, in Florida, following a battle with skin cancer.

Tetley initially pursued a pre-medical course of study at Franklin and Marshall College before his education was interrupted by service in the Navy. He subsequently relocated to New York, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree from New York University in 1948. His dance training in New York included study with Antony Tudor and Margaret Craske, as well as work at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet.

His performing career encompassed both Broadway and concert dance. On Broadway, Tetley appeared in productions between 1947 and 1959, with credits including Juno, Out of This World, Kiss Me Kate, and The Great Campaign. Alongside his Broadway work, he danced with the New York City Opera Ballet, John Butler's American Dance Theatre, and the Joffrey Ballet, of which he was an original member. He later performed with American Ballet Theatre and Jerome Robbins's Ballets: USA.

Tetley made his choreographic debut in 1962 with Pierrot Lunaire, a work he created for his newly formed chamber company and based on music of the same name by Arnold Schoenberg. Christopher Bruce, who danced the lead role in that production, has cited Tetley as a significant influence. Over the course of his career, Tetley choreographed more than 50 ballets for major dance companies worldwide. His other choreographic works include Contredances, Gemini, Odalisque, Ricercare, Le Sacre du Printemps, Sargasso, Sphinx, Voluntaries, and Alice, the last created in 1986 for the National Ballet of Canada. In 1977 he also created the ballet Mythical Hunters.

Tetley moved to Europe, serving as Artistic Director of the Netherlands Dance Theatre beginning in 1969 and later holding a position with the Stuttgart Ballet from 1974 to 1976, where he also danced. He subsequently returned to North America to work with the National Ballet of Canada. His choreographic approach drew on his training with both modern dance figures, including Hanya Holm and Martha Graham's techniques, and classical ballet practitioners, producing work that fused the two forms. Mary Hinkson, a former dancer from the original Martha Graham company, assisted Tetley in productions around the world, applying her knowledge of Graham technique to help ballet dancers adapt to his choreographic style.

Scott Douglas was Tetley's long-term partner for forty years. Dancers who worked with him, including Karen Kain of the National Ballet of Canada, recalled his demand for total artistic commitment, while David Allan described Tetley as someone who fired up the imagination and prompted dancers to see themselves differently.