The Ballets Russes in Australia 1936-1940
Highlights of the National Library of Australia’s Ballets Russes collection, the largest of its kind in Australia, will go on show from 9 April 2009.
This special collection-in-focus features more than 100 items and concentrates on three themes: the artists who created the Ballets Russes and its experimental productions; the dancers who captivated Australian audiences; and the Australian artists whom they inspired. It also includes a tribute to Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev whose inaugural Ballets Russes (1909–1929) revolutionised ballet for the rest of the twentieth century. The exhibition also looks at the Ballets Russes artists who settled in Australia and established our earliest professional ballet companies.
From photographs, paintings and drawings of dancers on stage and in rehearsal, to more personal mementos of life outside the spotlight, the display looks at the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, which dazzled Australia and Australians from the mid-1930s, bringing an exotic show of dance never before seen on these shores.
National Library of Australia, Visitor Centre, ground floor
from 9 April 2009
Open during
library hours, free
Inquiries: 02 6262 1111
NOTE:
All Images are in high resolution TIFF format approximately A4 @ 300dpi.
Walter Stringer (1907–2001)
A Cadet in the Wings, Graduation Ball, Borovansky Ballet c.1955
colour slide; 35 mm
National Library of Australia
Pictures Collection
nla.pic-an24733664
Download (11.84 Mb zip)
William Constable (1906–1989)
Death of Petrouchka in the Borovansky Production of Petrouchka c.1951
oil on canvas; 48.0 x 61.2 cm
National Library of Australia
Pictures Collection
nla.pic-vn3549683
Download (25.63 Mb zip)
Unknown photographer
Serge Ismailoff, Anna Volkova, Oleg Tupine and Tamara Tchinarova, Paul Petroff (behind), Ballet Russe Australia, 1937
b&w photograph; 11.1 x 15.3 cm
Papers of Tamara Finch, 1911–2004
National Library of Australia
Manuscripts Collection, MS 9733, Series 5, Item 19
nla.ms-ms9733-5-19
Download (18.01 Mb zip)
Unknown photographer
Tamara Tchinarova Finch as a Gypsy in Petrouchka, Ballets Russes 1930s
b&w photograph; 24.5 x 18.5 cm
Papers of Moya Beaver, 1918–1973
National Library of Australia
Manuscripts Collection, MS 9803, Series 1, Item 107
nla.ms-ms9803-1-107
Download (11.06 Mb zip)
Max Dupain (1911–1992)
Portrait of Sono Osato in Scheherazade 1938
gelatine silver photograph; 49.6 x 39.9 cm
National Library of Australia
Pictures Collection
nla.pic-an12114769
Download (3.99 Mb zip)
Max Dupain (1911–1992)
David Lichine in L’apres-midi d’un faune 1940
gelatine silver photograph; 47.7 x 38.7 cm
National Library of Australia
Pictures Collection
nla.pic-an12114773
Download (20.54 Mb zip)
Unknown photographer
Studio portrait of Tamara Tchinarova in Costume for Choreartium 1935
b&w photograph; 25.1 x 19.3 cm
National Library of Australia
Pictures Collection
nla.pic-vn3412334
Download (10.34 Mb zip)
Unknown photographer
Petrouchka Rehearsal with Peggy Sagar and Paul Hammond, Borovansky Ballet, 27 November 1950
gelatine silver photograph; 10.9 x 15.0 cm
National Library of Australia
Pictures Collection
nla.pic-an24231888
Download (4.42 Mb zip)
Daryl Lindsay (1890–1976)
Pierrot from the Ballet Russe Carnaval c.1938
colour pencil and pastel; 48.4 x 33.0 cm
National Library of Australia
Pictures Collection
nla.pic-vn4364142
Download (16.17 Mb zip)
