Antique Imperial Russian Dancer in Exile Oleg Dunaeff Ballets Russe Soloist
Bibelotslondon Ltd is a UK registered company based in London Bridge dealing in ephemera and curiosities from Britain and around the world. Our diverse inventory is carefully chosen and constantly evolving. We work very hard to offer the highest quality works at competitive prices. Our inventory is listed online, and we strive to keep our website completely up to date, so our customers can easily check availability. We believe in offering clients items that are unique and rare for aficionados of the antique and collector's world. Bibelot is a late nineteenth century word derived from the French word bel beautiful, meaning a small item of beauty, curiosity or interest. The word ephemera is derived from the sixteenth century Greek word ephmera meaning a printed or hand written paper not meant to be retained for a long period of time. Fine pair of antique snapshot style photos of Russian emigre, Oleg Dunaeff, a soloist with Ballet Russe and the Metropolitan Opera performing scenes from the ballet L'Après-midi d'un faune on a rock at the seaside circa late 1930s.
He married Irene McDonald, 79, a former Broadway singer and dancer. Mounted in an antique style gilded frame. The ballet L'Après-midi d'un faune was choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky for the Ballets Russes and first performed in the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on 29 May 1912. Nijinsky danced the main part himself. As its score it used the Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune by Claude Debussy.
Both the music and the ballet were inspired by the poem L'Après-midi d'un faune by Stéphane Mallarmé. The costumes and sets were designed by the painter Léon Bakst.
The style of the ballet, in which a young faun meets several nymphs, flirts with them and chases them, was deliberately archaic. In the original scenography designed by Léon Bakst, the dancers were presented as part of a large tableau, a staging reminiscent of an ancient Greek vase painting.
They often moved across the stage in profile as if on a bas relief. The ballet was presented in bare feet and rejected classical formalism. The work had an overtly erotic subtext beneath its façade of Greek antiquity, ending with a scene of graphic sexual desire. L'Après-midi d'un Faune is considered one of the first modern ballets and proved to be as controversial as Nijinsky's Jeux (1913) and Le Sacre du printemps (1913).
Size of Largest Photo: 10.5 x 8 cm approx Size of Frame: 22.5 x 18.5. Photos form part of the description. The item "Antique Imperial Russian Dancer in Exile Oleg Dunaeff Ballets Russe Soloist" is in sale since Monday, March 12, 2018.
This item is in the category "Collectables\Historical Memorabilia\Other Historical Memorabilia". The seller is "bibelotslondon" and is located in london. This item can be shipped worldwide.- Country/Region of Manufacture: Russian Federation