Original Program - "S. Hurok, presents, Original Ballet Russe, Colonel W. de Basil, Director-General; Season 1940-41; Sixth American Tour"

Original publisher's multicolored paper wrappers with staple binding. Color illustration on front cover shows a giant floral decoration over what appears to be a covered bed with buildings in the background and people in the foreground (concept art for Coque d'Or by Nathalie Gontcharova). No date, circa 1940. 9 1/2" x 12 1/4." Unpaginated, all pages, complete. Many black-and-white illustrations, a few in color, complete. Advertisements for various products and businesses included. Pages are very clean and intact except for light age toning and slight wear to extremities. Covers are very clean and intact except for light age toning, slight wear to extremities, and a few small wrinkles. A Very Good copy. This is a promotional program for Original Ballet Russe, a ballet company, for an unknown season (c. 1940-1941). The following are some of the contents: introductory statement about W. de Basil by Arnold L. Haskell, introductory statement about S. Hurok, repertoire or repertory with synopses (may be a partial list of the company's ballets); concept art; black-and-white illustrations of production stills; and black-and-white photographic portrait illustrations of W. de Basil, S. Hurok, Michel Fokine, David Lichine, Irina Baronova, Antal Dorati, Tatiana Riabouchinska, Tamara Toumanova, Nina Verchinina, Tamara Grigorieva, Olga Morosova, Tatiana Lipkovskaia, Sono Osato, Paul Petroff, Roman Jasinsky, Yura Lazovsky, Alexandra Denisova, Dimitri Rostoff, Michel Panaieff, and Igor Schwezoff. Some of the advertised products and businesses: Elizabeth Arden, School of American Ballet, and Dance Magazine. Original Ballet Russe traces its history back to Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, the latter of which was founded in 1931 by Wassily de Basil (commonly referred to as Colonel W. de Basil) and Rene Blum. De Basil and Blum eventually parted ways and went on to form their own respective companies, Original Ballet Russe (de Basil gave this final name to his company in 1939) and Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Original Ballet Russe remained active until 1947 when it disbanded. In 1951, Original Ballet Russe had a brief revival but soon closed permanently in 1952 due to financial reasons.…