Max Dupain : Australian tours of the Ballets Russes, Kirsova Ballet, Bodenwieser Ballet, Valentin Zeglovsky and Sydney Dance Company : photographs and photonegatives

series

1936-1986

Graphic Materials, Photographs

414307

Photographs - 663 photoprints (chiefly contact prints) - 20.5 x 25.5 cm. or smaller (2 12 x 16 cm. photoprints)
Photographs - 816 photonegatives - 12 x 16 cm. or smaller

BALLETS RUSSES (AUSTRALIAN TOURS 1936-1940)
Between 1936 and 1940 three Ballets Russes companies, under the direction of entrepreneur Colonel Wassily de Basil, visited Australia. The Monte Carlo Russian Ballet toured between 1936 and 1937, the Covent Garden Russian Ballet from 1938 to 1939 and the Original Ballet Russe between 1939-1940. A number of dancers, notably Eduoard Borovansky, Helene Kirsova and Kira Bousloff, stayed in or returned to Australia. Kirsova founded the Kirsova Ballet, Borovansky the Borovansky Ballet and Bousloff West Australian Ballet. Other Australians, Valrene Tweedie for example, joined the Ballets Russes companies and travelled overseas with them, returning later to make a lasting contribution to Australian dance.
The Ballets Russes companies brought with them a panorama of choreography, music and design of a kind not previously seen in Australia, some of which linked directly back to the Ballet Russe company run by Serge Diaghilev. The influence of the de Basil Ballets Russes on the development of the arts in Australia was significant and long-lasting.
KIRSOVA BALLET (1940-1944)
Danish ballerina Helene Kirsova opened her School of Russian Ballet in Sydney in 1940. In 1941 she founded the first professional ballet company in Australia, the Kirsova Ballet. It debuted at the Sydney Conservatorium in two ballets by Kirsova, "A Dream and a fairy tale" (music: Chopin) & "Vieux Paris" (music: Offenbach, J.Strauss II), and Massine's "Les Matelots".
The initial company of 16 dancers was headed by Kousnetzova, Shaievsky, Sobishevsky and Tchinarova, all from Covent Garden Russian Ballet 1938-1939 and included Australians Strelsa Heckelman and Henry Legerton. By the end of 1941, Serge Bousloff and New Zealander Peggy Sager, had joined the Company.
In 1942 and 1943, the Kirsova Ballet and the Borovansky Ballet both performed, the Borovansky presenting the first entirely Australian ballet "Sea legend".
Kirsova was offered financial backing by J.C. Williamson but decided to remain independent. Williamson's therefore turned to Borovansky who offered full-time employment. After losing many of her best dancers, Kirsova Ballet gave its last professional performance in Brisbane in May 1944. Kirsova had been rehearsing an Australian ballet "Waltzing Matilda" (music: Charles Mackerras).
In 1947 Kirsova left Australia and Australia lost an important link with the Ballets Russes and the Imperial Russian Ballet, under whose stars she had trained.
BODENWIESER BALLET (1939-1958)

A 1939 London revue "Around the clock" included a modern dance specialty from the Bodenwieser Dance Group, founded by Gertrud Bodenwieser. Gertrud Bodenwieser was touring Colombia with another of her companies and returned with New Zealand dancer Shona Dunlop after the tour to Wellington. The Bodenwieser group had decided to stay in Australia after their tour. Bodenwieser joined the group which, as the International Streamlined Ballet, made its first appearance in a play at the Minerva Theatre, Sept 1939. Renamed the Bodenwieser Ballet (spelt "Bodenveeser" at one stage to ensure correct pronunciation!) the company worked in Sydney, taking odd jobs to survive.
J.C. Williamson gave them a tour in 1940 to Melbourne, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania and once they shared the bill with the Original Ballet Russe. They toured NSW in 1941 and continued to tour extensively in Australia, but also visited New Zealand, India, South Africa and Rhodesia. In 1954 they performed in the gala for Queen Elizabeth at the Tivoli and two of Bodenwieser's ballets were televised in 1958. Gertrud Bodenwieser died in Nov 1959, but her heritage lives in modern ballet in Australia.
VALENTIN ZEGLOVSKY
Valentin Zeglovsky was a de Basil dancer 1936-1939. In Jan 1942 he joined the Kirsova company during its Melbourne season which began at His Majesty's Theatre. He stayed in Australia and was one of the de Basil dancers who contributed to Australian ballet.
SYDNEY DANCE COMPANY, 1979-
The Dance Company was founded in 1965 by Suzanne Musitz (Davidson), originally as a dance-in-education group, performing as Ballet in a Nutshell, then Athletes and Dancers. Jaap Flier took over direction in 1975-1976. Graeme Murphy became artistic director in 1976, changing the name to Sydney Dance Company in 1979.
Under Murphy and his associate director Janet Vernon, the company was still (2002) a major Australian contemporary dance group, dancing original works, largely Australian.

DUPAIN BALLETS RUSSES PHOTOGRAPHS
ON 247

TOUR ONE
People

Arnold Haskell (“liaison officer”)
Valentin Froman
Helene Kirsova
Nina Raievska and Leon Woizikovsky (photographed together)
Lelia Roussova
Elizabeth Souvorova
Olga Valevska
Olga Philippov and her mother
Tamara Tchinarova, 25 prints, (could also be taken on Tour 3)

Ballets (12)

Carnaval, Youskevitch and Blinova, and unidentified dancer (2 of these are negs only)
Beau Danube, Blinova and Froman
Swan Lake, Blinova
Le Soleil de Nuit, no dancer identified
Spectre de la Rose, Branitska, Guerard, Blinova
Les Cents Baisers, Roussova, Nina and Igor Youskevitch
Les Presages, Tchinarova, and Woizikovska
Les Sylphides, Irina Wassileva (could be tour 2)
Petrouchka, Kirsova
Scuola di ballo, rehearsal and male dancer unidentified (could also be either tour 2 or 3)
Thamar, Nina Raievska, Leon Woizikokovsky
Le Mariage d’Aurore, Nina Youchkevitch

TOUR TWO
People/portraits
Yura (Yurek) Lazkovsky (could also have been taken on tour 3 as he came then too)
Ludmila Lvova (could also be tour 3)
Paul Petrov (SL guide gives date of photo as 1938 although he also came on tour 3, ie 1939-40)

Ballets (9)

Choreartium, Irina Baronova, Tamara Grigorieva (Grigorieva could be on tour 3 as she came on that tour and Choreartium was repeated on that tour). Of these 7 photos, one neg only
Jeux d’enfants, Tatiana Riabouchinska and Anton Dolin
La Concurrence , no dancer listed
Le Coq d’or, (could also be tour 3)
Les Cents Baisers, Paul Petrov (could also be tour 3) (one is a neg only)
Les Femmes de bonne humeur, Tamara Grigorieva and Riabouchinska, (could also be tour 3)
Prince Igor, Oleg Tupine (could also be tour 3)
Scheherazade, Sono Osato, (could be tour 3)
Les Dieux Mendicants, Ludmila Lvova, Sono Osato, Riabouchinska, Jasinsky (could also be tour 3)

TOUR THREE
People
15 negs only
Helene Lineva
Nina Popova
Kira Bounina
Tatiana Bechenova
Sonia Orlova
Marguerite Gontcharova
Alexandre Philippov (manager)
Natasha Melnikova
David Lichine
Vassily Nicolaiev
Olga Morosova?
Lubov Tchernicheva?
Nina Verchinina
Tatiana Riabouchinska
Narcisse Matouchak

Photoprints
Colonel de Basil
George Skibine and Sono Osato
Tatiana Stepanova
Tamara Toumanova
Vassily Tupine

OUTDOOR pics (3)
Ludmila Lvova, French’s Forest
Tamara Toumanova and Paul Petrov, Swan Lake, French’s Forest, 17 photos
Swan Lake, Mona Vale, Toumanova and Petrov, 27 photos, of these 16 are negs

Ballets (8)
Cimarosiana, Tatiana Grigoieva and Ivan Ivangine
Francesca da Rimini, no dancers identified
Icare, no dancers identified
Le Beau Danube, Ludmila Lvova
Swan Lake, Tamara Toumanova and Serge Lifar
Les Sylphides, Toumanova and Petrov in park (12 negs and of these, 9 photoprints)
Paganini, Dimitri Rostroff and Tatiana Riabouchinska
Le Mariage de’Aurore, Tamara Toumanova

Reference:
Research supplied by Valerie Lawson, October 2011

This collection comprises 77 record series. You may navigate to a more detailed description of each series from this collection record.

REFERENCES
Dancing round the world / Arnold L. Haskell -- Gollancz, 1937
De Basil's Ballets Russes / Katherine S. Walker -- 1982
The Ballets Russes / Vincent Garcia-Marquez -- 1980
The Home Magazine -- Sydney, 1937
Ballet in Australia : the second act 1940-80 / E.H. Pask -- 1982
Pioneering ballet in Australia / P. Bellew (ed.) -- 1945
From studio to stage : costumes & designs from the Russian Ballet in the Australian National Gallery / by Robin Healy & Michael Lloyd -- 1990
From Russia with love : costumes for the Ballets Russes 1909-1933 / Susan Hall (ed.) -- 1999
Entertaining Australia : an illustrated history / Katharine Brisbane -- 1991
Enter the colonies dancing : a history of dance in Australia 1835-1940 / Edward H. Pask -- 1979
[JCW] Covent Garden Russian Ballet programme [New Zealand tour], 1939 (includes ballets, photographs and cast lists) [ML MSS Y954]
Col. W. de Basil's Ballet : souvenir [program], Australia-New Zealand, 1939-1940 / compiled by Claude Kingston -- [1939] (includes Max Dupain photographs)
Michelle Potter, "Mutual fascination: the Ballets Russes tours to Australia, 1936-1940" in Brolga, 11 (Dec 1999), pp.7-15
"Last baby ballerina champions change" [Irina Baronova] in Sydney Morning Herald, 16 July 2001, p.15
Pioneering ballet in Australia / P.Bellew (ed.) -- 1945
Ballet in Australia : the second act, 1940-1980 / E.H. Pask -- 1982
"Dancer's fame endured" [Peggy Sager obituary] in The Australian, 20 Aug 2002, p.13
A collector's book of Australian dance / Michelle Potter. Canberra : National Library of Australia, 2002
Ballets Russes [film] / Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller. Surry Hills : Hopscotch (Aust. dist.), 2006

Photographs titled on reverse by National Gallery of Australia