The American Ballet

[rg]

no date anywhere on the American Ballet tour brochure scanned here; see front and back as attached.

i assume someone here will know the location of the Civic Auditorium named here - i know there is such a venue in Portland, Oregon, but i can't say if that's the one indicated here.

the cover photo of ERRANTE isn't unfamiliar but the headshots are of some interest.

[RUKen]

The American Ballet performed during the mid-late 1930's. It was the first professional company that Balanchine worked with in the U.S. The flyer includes the date Friday, December 13th--this would place the performance in 1935. The flyer also states that the box office is at the J. K. Gill Company, which is based in Portland, Oregon.

i assume someone here will know the location of the Civic Auditorium named here - i know there is such a venue in Portland, Oregon, but i can't say if that's the one indicated here.

no date anywhere on the American Ballet tour brochure scanned here; see front and back as attached.

[bart]

Here's some information on the former Civil Auditorium in Portland:

http://www.pcpa.com/events/keller.php

This flier is a treasure, rg. It's interesting that the dancer headshots are in so many different styles. It's almost as though they provided their own photos. I love the striking profile shot of Elise Reiman.

[rg]

i'm aware of the American Ballet's plans, and also aware that the planned tour in '35 ended abruptly in Scranton, PA, the area, where, later, i grew up, when the money man absconded with the funds.

so i have no idea if the performances advertised in this flyer ever took place.

good to know, tho' that Portland is the likely location of the planned Dec. perfs.

the NYPL dance coll. has no ref. to any Civic Auditorium perfs. by the co. so far as i can tell.

[Mel Johnson]

Excellent sleuthing, rg. Ellison-White was a Chautauqua booking agency which also toured opera companies and road shows of Broadway musicals. (see Recollections of the Chautauqua and Lyceum Circuits, Raymond F. DaBoll). Oregon was part of its territory. J.K. Gill was a significant stationers' chain in the whole northwest, but its flagship store was in Portland. (It folded in 1999) Preponderance of the evidence....

[kfw]

i'm aware of the American Ballet's plans, and also aware that the planned tour in '35 ended abruptly in Scranton, PA, the area, where, later, i grew up, when the money man absconded with the funds.

so i have no idea if the performances advertised in this flyer ever took place.

In his Kirstein biography Martin Duberman writes that the last perfomance, in Scranton, was on October 22, and that the next day "the company folded," only a week into the tour.

As bart said, these images are treasures. Thanks, rg!

[Amy Reusch]

I didn't realize Warburg was ever listed as Director... somehow I always thought that was Kirstein's position...