In 1972, hundreds of locals clambered to their seats at Armadillo World Headquarters for one thing only: Sunday night ballet. Stanley Hall, the British-born artistic advisor of Austin Ballet Theatre, watched on as guests settled in with overflowing baskets of nachos and ice-cold Lone Stars, the smell of marijuana drifting up to the lofted ceilings as the curtain rose.
Surely, ’Dillo manager Eddie Wilson was holding his breath. After all, a stage filled with tutu-wearing twirlers was no substitute for, say, Frank Zappa. But between Austin Ballet Theatre’s plea for a permanent home and the Armadillo WHQ’s desperate need for cash, an unlikely union was made that would last nearly a decade.
The collaboration had a rocky start. One of the ballet’s first shows, “Dante,” included dancing demons that left mothers swearing they’d never come back. But sure enough, the crowd returned the next month to watch the 30-piece troupe take to the cramped stage once again.
The performers went unpaid, but they weren’t alone; the president of Austin’s Planned Parenthood volunteered to do custodial cleanup post shows, while library worker Kate Bergquist designed the programs and schoolteacher Judy Thompson helped with rehearsals. As for the audience, the typical hippies and deadheads at the Armadillo were transfixed by the choreography, and many signed up for dance classes with the theatre to hone their own pliés.
Despite the success of the shows—and Hall having finally found a home for his theatre—Wilson’s attempt to keep the venue afloat fell flat in 1980. Armadillo World Headquarters and its monthly ballet program permanently closed on Dec. 31, ending an eight-year stint. “We were different as night and day, but we were perfectly suited for each other,” said Wilson in a 1973 issue of Texas Monthly. “One band of renegades found another.”