Pictures of Diana Adams

[hyperdog]

Here's just a sample of the hundreds of pictures that I'm donating that will be in the new archive at the NYCB. They aren't labeled so I don't really know where or when most of them were taken (some of you may know more about them than I do), but I wanted to share them with you. Enjoy.

http://pbckt.com/sY.8Sg

[Dale]

Those are amazing. Thank you.

[Helene]

Those are beautiful! Thank you so much, hyperdog

The second photo is a beauty, with Diana Adams and Arthur Mitchell rehearsing "Agon". The dancers in the back who are learning it behind them look familiar, but I can't quite place them.

[atm711]

In two photos, the man in the suit looks like Tommy Rall

[Dale]

Those are beautiful! Thank you so much, hyperdog

The second photo is a beauty, with Diana Adams and Arthur Mitchell rehearsing "Agon". The dancers in the back who are learning it behind them look familiar, but I can't quite place them.

Allegra Kent was the understudy for Adams in Agon. I believe that is Kent in the photo but I was wondering who the guy was. I guess I never thought about who the male understudy for Balanchine works were.

[Helene]

The dancer in the background looks like Kent to me, but, on the other hand, she looks a bit tall/long-legged to be Kent. Maybe its the perspective or that I've only seen Kent in film?

[hyperdog]

In two photos, the man in the suit looks like Tommy Rall

I think you're right, because I belive those are from "Invitation to the Dance".

[duffster]

The dancers behind Diana Adams and Arthur Mitchell ( rehearsing Agon ) look like Jonathan Watts and Allegra Kent to me.

[vipa]

The dancers behind Diana Adams and Arthur Mitchell ( rehearsing Agon ) look like Jonathan Watts and Allegra Kent to me.

It looked like Allegra Kent to me too.

These photos are wonderful that you for sharing them.

[bart]

The dancers behind Diana Adams and Arthur Mitchell ( rehearsing Agon ) look like Jonathan Watts and Allegra Kent to me.

Kent, I agree. At first I thought the man might be Frank Ohman But then I saw the photo on p. 182 of Rep in Review. It shows DA rehearsing the pas de deux with Balanchine, with Jonathan Watts observing from behind. It's the same man we see in hyperdog's photo. Oddly, Watts apparently did not dance this role. Kent danced in with Ohman in later performances.

Both photos -- hyperdog's and the one in Rep in Review -- were shot in the same practice studio. Adams is wearing the same sweater and tights. This suggests that these were both taken by Martha Swope at the same session.

I'm curious about these photos: http://s631.photobucket.com/albums/uu37/hy...&setId=1600

and http://s631.photobucket.com/albums/uu37/hy...&setId=1600

Adams looks very young. Is the costume possibly from a Ballet Theater production of Baiser de la Fee or Coppelia?

This one must be Stars and Stripes. http://s631.photobucket.com/albums/uu37/hy...&setId=1600. Adams led the Rifle Regiment in the first performance of the ballet that I saw.

And this: Sugar Plum Fairy? The costume looks like what Sugar Plum wore in the first years. http://s631.photobucket.com/albums/uu37/hy...&setId=1600

As Iseult, in Ashton's Picnic at Tintagel: http://s631.photobucket.com/albums/uu37/hy...&setId=1600

I'd love to know the story on these two: http://s631.photobucket.com/albums/uu37/hy...&setId=1600 and http://s631.photobucket.com/albums/uu37/hy...&setId=1600. Could this be a Broadway show? Or Stravinsky's Ragtime? The costumes look like the written descriptions of what Adams and Bill Carter wore in Ragtime. But they are different in color and detail from the photo in Rep in Review.

[Michael]

Did she ever do Slaughter on 10th Avenue? That was redisigned and rechoreographed so many times that the two shots could be of her in a version that, with The Hoofer.

[bart]

Did she ever do Slaughter on 10th Avenue? That was redesigned and rechoreographed so many times that the two shots could be of her in a version that, with The Hoofer.

It does have that feel, Michael.

Adams retired from NYCB in 1963, which makes the re-choreographed version we have today (dating from 1968, for the much younger Farrell) not a possiblity.

On the other hand, if Adams ever did Broadway or stock earlier on ... why not On Your Toes? One problem is that the set looks more like a stylized circus tent, or even a native American lodge, than a saloon.

[hyperdog]

I knew you guys would know more about these than I did.

I'm curious about these photos: http://s631.photobucket.com/albums/uu37/hy...&setId=1600

and http://s631.photobucket.com/albums/uu37/hy...&setId=1600

Adams looks very young. Is the costume possibly from a Ballet Theater production of Baiser de la Fee or Coppelia?

I think that the ones where she looks so young were taken when she was about 12 or so. She looks similar in age there to some others that are labeled 12 years old. I'm not sure if she was in a production then or if they were just taken at the studio where she took lessons from her stepmother.

I'd love to know the story on these two: http://s631.photobucket.com/albums/uu37/hy...&setId=1600 and http://s631.photobucket.com/albums/uu37/hy...&setId=1600. Could this be a Broadway show? Or Stravinsky's Ragtime? The costumes look like the written descriptions of what Adams and Bill Carter wore in Ragtime. But they are different in color and detail from the photo in Rep in Review.

I'm pretty sure that these two are from the movie "Invitation to the Dance". She's listed in the credits as "Hat Check Girl" and is wearing a similar outfit in another picture that I have where she is clearly at the "Hat Check" counter.

Thanks for the info on the others.

[perky]

That Walter Owen photo of Adams in her Picnic at Tintagel costume is gorgeous.

Any ballettalkers out there that saw the ballet?

Thanks so much hyperdog for posting these. In her photos Diana Adams seems to have such an elegant dignity about her. And those beautiful legs!

[hyperdog]

Thanks so much hyperdog for posting these. In her photos Diana Adams seems to have such an elegant dignity about her. And those beautiful legs!

No problem; I'm glad I could share them with others who appreciate them. I agree with you about her dignity and beautiful legs (it's funny because she looks so tall in her photos, but her passport lists her at 5'7"--I was surprised).

[sandik]

A colleague of mine said that the woman in the back of the Agon rehearsal photo is likely Francia Russell, who was involved throughout the process. There are a couple of other photos of her at that same period that look very similar.