Original Program - "S. Hurok Presents, Col. W. de Basil's Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo"

S. Hurok, W. de Basil, et al.

Published by Nicolas Publishing Company, New York

About this Item

Original publisher's white paper wrappers with staple binding. Front cover has a small color illustration of two musicians and a ballerina standing atop a horse in a country landscape. No date, circa 1935. 9" x 12." Unpaginated, all pages, complete. Many black-and-white illustrations, a few in color, complete. Advertisements for various products and businesses included. Pages are clean and intact overall but have light age toning, tiny closed tears at head of spine, and small occasional marks and stains. Covers are very clean and intact except for a bump and several tiny closed tears at head of spine, light to moderate age toning, several small wrinkles, and slight wear to extremities. A Very Good copy. This is a promotional program for Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, a ballet company, for an unknown season (c. 1935-1936). The following are some of the contents: "History of Col. W. de Basil's Ballets Russes" by Edwin Evans (brief article about de Basil's company); bound-in repertoire or repertory with synopses (may be a partial list of the company's ballets); "Who's Who" section with brief biographical information about some of the dancers; concept art; black-and-white illustrations of production stills; and black-and-white photographic portrait illustrations of Colonel W. de Basil, Rene Blum, Efrem Kurtz, Antal Dorati, S. Hurok, Leonide Massine, Tatiana Riabouchinska, Tamara Toumanova, Irina Baronova, David Lichine, Alexandra Danilova, and Yurek Chabelevsky. Some of the advertised products and businesses: Florel Parfumeur, P. L. M. French Railway, Hotel Astoria, Prince Matchabelli, and Waldorf Astoria. Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo (not to be confused with one of its successors, Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo) was founded in 1931 by Wassily de Basil (commonly referred to as Colonel W. de Basil), Rene Blum, and Serge Denham. In 1934, de Basil and Blum parted ways. De Basil renamed his company Original Ballet Russe, and Blum and Leonide Massine went on to form their own company, Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Original Ballet Russe remained in business until 1947 when it disbanded. Original Ballet Russe had a brief revival in 1951 but went out of business in 1952 due to financial reasons.

Seller Inventory # 026774

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Original Program - "S. Hurok Presents, Col. W. de Basil's Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo"
• Publisher: Nicolas Publishing Company, New York
• Language: English
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Drama
  • Music
  • Art and Architecture