Category: Vandamm Studio

Albertina Rasch Girls Rio Rita

Albertina Rasch Dance Group in costume for Rio Rita (1927). Photographed by Alfred Cheney Johnson.
Albertina Rasch Dancers in costume for Rio Rita (1927). Photographed by Alfred Cheney Johnson.
Albertina Rasch Dancers in costume for Rio Rita (1927). Photographed by Alfred Cheney Johnson.
The Albertina Rasch Girls, sixteen ballet dancers, standing on point, wearing white ballet costumes, for the production of Rio Rita, at The New Ziegfeld Theater. Published in Vanity Fair, April 1927 (Photo by Florence Vandamm / Condé Nast / Getty Images)
The Albertina Rasch Girls, sixteen ballet dancers, wearing Mexican-style costumes, in the production of Rio Rita, at The New Ziegfeld Theater. Published in Vanity Fair, April 1927 (Photo by Florence Vandamm / Condé Nast / Getty Images)
The Albertina Rasch Girls, sixteen ballet dancers, wearing Mexican-style costumes, in the production of Rio Rita, at The New Ziegfeld Theater. Published in Vanity Fair, April 1927 (Photo by Florence Vandamm / Condé Nast / Getty Images)
The Albertina Rasch Girls, sixteen ballet dancers, wearing Mexican-style costumes, in the production of Rio Rita, at The New Ziegfeld Theater. Published in Vanity Fair, April 1927 (Photo by Florence Vandamm / Condé Nast / Getty Images)
The Albertina Rasch Girls, sixteen ballet dancers, standing on point, wearing white ballet costumes, for the production of Rio Rita, at The New Ziegfeld Theater. Published in Vanity Fair, April 1927 (Photo by Florence Vandamm / Condé Nast / Getty Images)
The Albertina Rasch Girls, sixteen ballet dancers, standing on point, wearing white ballet costumes, for the production of Rio Rita, at The New Ziegfeld Theater. Published in Vanity Fair, April 1927 (Photo by Florence Vandamm / Condé Nast / Getty Images)
The Albertina Rasch Girls, sixteen ballet dancers, standing on point, wearing white ballet costumes, for the production of Rio Rita, at The New Ziegfeld Theater. Published in Vanity Fair, April 1927 (Photo by Florence Vandamm / Condé Nast / Getty Images)
The Albertina Rasch Girls, sixteen ballet dancers, standing on point, wearing white ballet costumes, for the production of Rio Rita, at The New Ziegfeld Theater. Published in Vanity Fair, April 1927 (Photo by Florence Vandamm / Condé Nast / Getty Images)
The Albertina Rasch Girls, sixteen ballet dancers, standing on point, wearing white ballet costumes, for the production of Rio Rita, at The New Ziegfeld Theater. Published in Vanity Fair, April 1927 (Photo by Florence Vandamm / Condé Nast / Getty Images)
The Albertina Rasch Girls, sixteen ballet dancers, standing on point, wearing white ballet costumes, for the production of Rio Rita, at The New Ziegfeld Theater. Published in Vanity Fair, April 1927 (Photo by Florence Vandamm / Condé Nast / Getty Images)

Tilly Losch in The Band Wagon

Florence Vandamm :: Tillie / Tilly Losch in ‘The Band Wagon’, 1931. In costume for Act 1·6: The Flag (danced by Tilly Losch)
Florence Vandamm :: Tillie / Tilly Losch in ‘The Band Wagon’, 1931. In costume for Act 1·6: The Flag (danced by Tilly Losch)
Ira Daniel Schwarz :: Tilly Losch (Ottilie Ethel Leopoldine Losch) in ‘The Band Wagon’, 1931-1932
Ira Daniel Schwarz :: Tilly Losch (Ottilie Ethel Leopoldine Losch) in ‘The Band Wagon’, 1931-1932
Ira Daniel Schwarz :: Tillie / Tilly Losch in ‘The Band Wagon’, 1931. In costume for Act 1·6: The Flag (danced by Tilly Losch).
Ira Daniel Schwarz :: Tillie / Tilly Losch in ‘The Band Wagon’, 1931. In costume for Act 1·6: The Flag (danced by Tilly Losch). Retrieved from hauntedbystorytelling

The New York Public Library hosts a group of around 150 photographs (shot by Vandamm Studio) of the musical The Band Wagon, unfortunately the resolution is very poor as well as the information provided: here is the direct link to them: NYPL/Billy Rose Theater Division/Vandamm theatrical photographs.

The Band Wagon opened on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theater on June 3rd, 1931, and concluded on January 16th, 1932, running a total of 260 performances. Produced by Max Gordon, with book by Walter Thomson and Howard Dietz, lyrics also by Dietz and music by Arthur Schwartz. Staging and lighting were by Hassard Short, choreography by Albertina Rasch, and scenic design by Albert R. Johnson. The cast included Fred Astaire, Adele Astaire, Helen Broderick, Tilly Losch, John Barker and Frank Morgan (among others). The show introduced for the first time Schwartz-Dietz’s song Dancing in the Dark (danced by Losch).

Structure of the revue: the musical comedy consisted in five sketches and thirteen songs or musical numbers divided in two acts. As far as we are aware, Losch took part in three of the musical numbers: The Flag, The Beggar Waltz (with Fred Astaire) and Dancing in the Dark (with John Barker).

The Band Wagon, 1931

Florence Vandamm (uncredited on source) :: Tilly Losch in “The Band Wagon”, 1931. Gelatin silver print. | src Museum of the city of New York
Florence Vandamm :: Tilly Losch in “The Band Wagon”, 1931. Gelatin silver print. | src Museum of the city of New York
Florence Vandamm :: Tilly Losch in “The Band Wagon”, 1931. Gelatin silver print. | src Museum of the city of New York
Florence Vandamm :: Tilly Losch in “The Band Wagon”, 1931. Gelatin silver print. | src Museum of the city of New York
Florence Vandamm :: Tilly Losch in “The Band Wagon”, 1931. Gelatin silver print. | src Museum of the city of New York
Florence Vandamm :: Tilly Losch in “The Band Wagon”, 1931. Gelatin silver print. | src Museum of the city of New York