Tamara Toumanova, Original Ballet Russe tour to Australia, 1939-1940 [picture]
- Bib ID:
- 3427898
- Format:
- Picture
- Online Version:
- National Library of Australia digitised item
- Description:
-
- 1939-1940
- 1 photograph : gelatin silver ; 17.4 x 13.6 cm.
- Series:
- Valrene Tweedie collection of dance photographs from the Ballets Russes.
- Biography/History:
-
Tamara Toumanova came to Australia in 1939 on the third of the Ballets Russes tours. The company, known during this tour as the Original Ballet Russe, gave its opening night in Sydney on 30 December 1939 and toured until September 1940. To much acclaim Toumanova danced leading roles in Swan Lake, Aurora's Wedding, Le Spectre de la rose and Firebird, and in Leonide Massine's three, extraordinarily popular symphonic ballets, Les Présages, Choreartium and Symphonie fantastique. In Australia she created the part of 'Illusion' in Igor Schwezoff's ballet La Lutte eternelle. This work, with designs by Australians Kathleen and Florence Martin, premiered in Sydney on 29 July 1940 and was a revision of an earlier work by Schwezoff, Etude choréographique.
Toumanova also danced the role of Swanilda in Coppelia, the company's last major production in Australia before it left for the United States. Trained in Paris with Olga Preobrajenska, Toumanova was one of the three 'baby ballerinas' - along with Irina Baronova and Tatiana Riabouchinska - whose impact on ballet during the 1930s was inestimable. Toumanova made her stage debut in Paris, aged 6, at an Anna Pavlova benefit gala. She subsequently made a guest appearance at the Paris Opera at the age of 11 in L'Eventail de Jeanne, and then joined the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo at the age of 13. She inspired choreographers such as George Balanchine, Leonide Massine and Serge Lifar and her dark beauty led British critic Arnold Haskell to call her the black pearl of Russian ballet.
- Notes:
-
- Title devised by cataloguer based on caption on reverse.
- Part of the collection: Valrene Tweedie collection of dance photographs from the Ballets Russes.
- Reproduction photographer's stamp on verso.
- Autographed: "To charming Valrene - Tamara Toumanova"--On photograph.
- Also available online http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-149935749
- Subject:
- Occupation:
- Ballet dancers
- Other authors/contributors:
- National Photo
- Terms of Use:
- Copyright restrictions may apply.
- Related Records:
-
This belongs to the Valrene Tweedie collection of dance photographs from the Ballets Russes.
This collection contains 50 records. - Copyright:
-
Out of Copyright
You may copy or order a copy through Copies Direct or use the online copy for research or study; for other uses Contact us for further information about copying.
- Reason for copyright status:
- Created/Published Date is Before 1955
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Photograph
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 1940
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
Request this item
Request this item to view in the Library’s reading room.