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NLA News - home August 2002 Volume XII Number 11
Tamara Tchinarova (Finch), Sydney, 1941
Tamara Tchinarova (Finch),
Sydney, 1941
Photograph by Fred Breen
Recent Donations: Tamara Finch papers

Some of the National Library’s most fascinating collections have come as generous donations from individuals whose life’s work has been committed to a single field of endeavour. A recent example is a donation of photographs, press clippings, magazines and theatre programs from the Russian-born dancer Tamara Finch.

As Tamara Tchinarova, Madame Finch began dancing professionally in Europe with the touring Russian Ballet companies that emerged in Paris in the 1930s after the death of the entrepreneur Serge Diaghilev. From those beginnings her career took her across the world. Australia holds a major place in her heart. She arrived here in 1936 on tour with the Monte Carlo Russian Ballet, returned on subsequent tours, met and married Peter Finch, and remained in the country for many years making an especially important contribution in the 1940s to newly developing Australian companies including the Kirsova Ballet, the Polish-Australian Ballet and the Borovansky Ballet.  

Currently living in London, Madame Finch has maintained strong ties with Australia and its dance activities. In 1988, for example, she acted as interpreter for the Australian Ballet on the company’s Russian tour. At 83, she still writes for a range of dance magazines and journals, notably the long established English magazine The Dancing Times

Madame Finch’s donation documents all facets of her dance career with particular focus on her activities in Australia.

The Library thanks the many donors supporting its role as the collector and preserver of Australia’s documentary heritage.
— Michelle Potter, Curator of Dance, National Library

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