“Tribute to Tetley”
Stuttgart Ballet
Stuttgart State Opera
Stuttgart, Germany
April 25, 2026
by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf
In 1972, no one foresaw how fateful Glen Tetley’s (1926-2007) invitation to stage his 1965 piece, The Mythical Hunter, for Stuttgart’s junior company would be. He and the artistic director, John Cranko, got along, and Tetley was commissioned to create a new ballet for the main company. It was June 1973, and Voluntaries wasn’t yet finished when news of Cranko’s sudden death on a transatlantic flight reached Stuttgart. At the request of Marcia Haydée and Cranko’s heir, the late Dieter Graefe, Tetley subsequently took over as the company’s artistic director. But administrative work burdened him. After two seasons, he passed the reins to Haydée, relieved to renew his focus on choreography. Yet fate had something else in store. In 1986, just as Tetley agreed to become Erik Bruhn’s artistic associate at the National Ballet of Canada, Bruhn died. Tetley kept his word, took up the post, and stayed for five years. Continue reading “Retrospection”