Ms Abaigh K McKee BMus, MMus

Postgraduate research student

Abaigh McKee is a PhD candidate at the University of Southampton. Her thesis title is: ‘Ballet music in Paris during the Nazi Occupation, 1940-44.’

Abaigh is researching the ballets created and premiered at the Paris Opéra during the Occupation. Her thesis argues that the ‘Occupation ballets’ presented hidden resistance themes to their collaborationist audience; the Nazis’ perception of ballet as frivolous and unimportant ultimately gave ballet a political agency. A historical musicologist, Abaigh holds undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Sheffield (2013, 2015). Her wider research interests include dance and music in Europe and America during the Second World War, the Ballets Russes, and intersections between dance, music, politics and gender. Abaigh is funded by World ORT and writes for the Music in the Holocaust website.