Tag: ballerina dress

Sydney Fox Studio

:: Olga Spessiva in Swan Lake costume,
Sydney, Australia, 1934. | src NSW State Library

Olga
Spessivtzeva (billed Spessiva for phonic simplicity or maybe to make
the name more the same length as “Pavlova” who had toured six years
before on her Australian tour).

“To Mary Marlowe, Olga Spessiva”, signature on the bottom right hand corner.

Cat masks by Leonor Fini

Brassaï (1899-1984) ~ Ballet de Paris, 1949. Ferrotyped gelatin silver print | src Christie’s
Brassaï (1899-1984) ~ Ballet de Paris, 1949. Ferrotyped gelatin silver print | src Christie’s
Brassaï (Gyula Halász) (1899-1984) ~ Untitled [woman with cat mask by Leonor Fini], Paris, 1930s | src stephen ellcock
Brassaï (1899-1984) ~ Ballet de Paris, 1949. Brassaï (1899-1984) ~ Ballet de Paris, 1949. Ferrotyped gelatin silver prints | src Christie’s

Les Demoiselles de la Nuit

Ballet in one act with choreography by Roland Petit, libretto by Jean Anouilh, music by Jean Françaix, and scenery & costume design (including the ballet’s fantastic cat masks) by Leonor Fini. It premiered on 22 May 1948 by Ballets de Paris at the Théâtre Marigny (Paris), with Fonteyn, Petit, and Hamilton. It tells the story of a musician who falls in love with his beautiful cat Agathe, who has assumed semi-human form. Agathe tries to be faithful to her human lover but is lured away by the sound of tomcats and the call of freedom. She leaps off the rooftops and the musician falls to his death as he tries to grab hold of her. She falls after him and they are united in death. | src The Oxford Dictionary of Dance

Brassaï (1899-1984) ~ Dancer wearing a cat costume designed by Leonor Fini for Les Demoiselles de la Nuit, 1948 | src ODLP ~ l’œil de la photographie

Underwood & Underwood :: Russian ballet dancer Alice Nikitina as
La Chatte, 1928 in “La
Chatte” (The ‘She’ Cat), a ten-minute piece
with set and costumes by avant-garde artists Naum Gabo and Antoine
Pevsner. It was created in 1926-27 for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes
and it starred Serge Lifar as the Young Man and Alicia Nikitina and
Olga Spessivtzeva in the title role. The music was written by Henri
Sauguet and choreographed by George Balanchine.

/ Photo courtesy: Getty Images

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