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SERENADE, 1942/43 BRdMC season


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this scan of a page from the 1942/43 edition of a BALLET RUSSE DE MONTE CARLO souvenir catalogue, shows a moment from the "Elegy" of Balanchine's SERENADE - the caption duly identifies the dancers.

i know i've seen single portraits of individual BRdMC ballerinas in this ballet previously, but it wasn't until this photo of an iconic grouping from the Elegy that the 'hair-down' look, so surprising to many in the late 1970s at NYCB, struck me as a precedent for the later look. (the earlier BRdMC photos i have show the dancers with their hair loosely styled, consistently arranged w/ hair-bands of twisted fabric, but none has her hair free and loose the way these three women do.)

i can't find any credits for the ballet itself in the booklet's list of current repertory, but i assume the costumes were still credited to Lurcat.

post-848-1220998593_thumb.jpg

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this scan shows a SERENADE page from a souvenir prog. for the American Ballet (presumably late'30s; there are no dates anywhere in the booklet).

this too shows the ballerinas w/ their hair down, and the fact, no longer seen in the BRdMC photo, that one of the dancers has dark tights (black?) and toeshoes.

this booklet includes an inserted program from the all-Stravinsky bill at the Met, noting credits for APOLLON MUSAGETE, LE BAISER DE LA FEE, & THE CARD PARTY, but this addition has no photos, only reproductions of some of the designers' sketches.

post-848-1221860176_thumb.jpg

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this scan shows a SERENADE page from a souvenir prog. for the American Ballet (presumably late'30s; there are no dates anywhere in the booklet).

this too shows the ballerinas w/ their hair down, and the fact, no longer seen in the BRdMC photo, that one of the dancers has dark tights (black?) and toeshoes.

this booklet includes an inserted program from the all-Stravinsky bill at the Met, noting credits for APOLLON MUSAGETE, LE BAISER DE LA FEE, & THE CARD PARTY, but this addition has no photos, only reproductions of some of the designers' sketches.

Fascinating! Do we agree that the hair was let down only for these photos (i.e., they didn't yet do it in performance)?

Another study waiting to be written: The photographic history of Balanchine's work (or Tudor's, or Ashton's, or...).

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