Leonide Massine papers

Description data TOP

unitid

{"value"=>"*MGZMD 33", "type"=>"local_call"}

{"value"=>"19683", "type"=>"local_mss"}

unitdate

{"value"=>"1932-1968", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1932/1968"}

unittitle

{"value"=>"Leonide Massine papers"}

physdesc

{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"337 s and 8 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}

repository

{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.</span><div class=\"address\"> <span class=\"addressline\">New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center</span> <span class=\"addressline\">40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498</span></div>"}

langmaterial

{"value"=>"In English, Russian, Italian, and French"}

{"value"=>"English Russian Italian French"}

prefercite

{"value"=>"Leonide Massine papers, *MGZMD 33. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}

origination

{"value"=>"Massine, Leonide, 1896-1979", "type"=>"persname"}

bioghist

{"value"=>"<p>Leonide Feodorovitch Miassin (Massine) was born in Moscow in 1896. His mother, Eugenia, was a soprano in the Bolshoi Theatre chorus, and his father, Feodor, played French horn in the Bolshoi Theatre orchestra. Massine's parents had a daughter, Raissa, and three other sons. Although all of his brothers were engineers, Massine entered the Imperial Theatre School at age 8, studying both drama and ballet. Massine intended a career as an actor, and, in fact, was later noted for his dramatic interpretation of ballet roles. Diaghilev saw Massine in a small part at the Imperial Theatre and invited him to join the Ballets Russes company in 1913. In his autobiography, Massine called Diaghilev “an outstanding influence on my artistic career,” and credited him with nurturing Massine's view of ballet as “a fusion of music, dance, painting, poetry, and drama.” This view of ballet as a collaborative effort of the best composers and artists as well as dancers and choreographers is reflected in much of Massine's work.</p> <p>After joining the Diaghilev company, Massine studied ballet with Cecchetti in Europe, and danced his first leading role in <span class=\"title\">The Legend of Joseph</span>in 1914 or 1915. The first Massine ballet, <span class=\"title\">Soleil de Nuit</span>(Midnight Sun), had its premiere a year later. The Ballets Russes tour of 1916 was Massine's first trip to the United States.</p> <p>By 1920, Massine had created several important ballets, including <span class=\"title\">Parade, Boutique Fantasque, Tricorne</span>(The Three-Cornered Hat), <span class=\"title\">Pulcinella,</span>and <span class=\"title\">Le Chant du Rossignol</span>(Song of the Nightingale). In 1921, Massine married Vera Savina, another dancer with the Ballets Russes, and they left the company. Massine then formed a small company to perform in Buenos Aires, in which he and his wife appeared, and for which he staged many ballets. The Massines took an expanded version of this company on a tour of South America, at the end of which they returned to London, forming another small company and opening a ballet school. The same year, Massine purchased three islands, the Isole dei Galli, near Positano, Italy.</p> <p>Massine was divorced from Savina in 1924. He rejoined Diaghilev's company as a choreographer, subsequently producing <span class=\"title\">Zephire et Flore, Les Matelots, Le Pas D'Acier,</span>and other ballets. He also choreographed ballets for Les Soirees de Paris, as well as numerous pieces for theatrical revues.</p> <p>In 1928, Massine married Eugenia Delarova, a dancer he had met in Paris the previous year. Shortly after, they came to the United States, where Massine accepted a two-year engagement producing ballets for weekly shows at the Roxy Theatre in New York.</p> <p>During the 1930s, Massine worked for several companies, and served as Artistic Director of the de Basil/Blum Ballets-[UNK] de Monte Carlo until 1936. Massine's first symphonic ballet, <span class=\"title\">Les Presages,</span>and his second, <span class=\"title\">Choreartium,</span>premiered in 1933. Massine later joined Serge Denham's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, which opened with the premiere of Massine's <span class=\"title\">Gaite Parisienne</span>in 1938. While touring the U.S., Massine and Delarova were divorced and Massine married his third wife, Tatiana Milishnikova (Orlova), a dancer with the company. Their daughter, Tatiana, was born in 1941.</p> <p>Massine was dismissed from his position with Denham's Ballet Russe by the directors of Universal Art (sponsors of the company) in late 1941. Ensuing litigation won him property rights for most of his ballets.</p> <p>Soon after leaving Ballet Russe, Massine was hired as a choreographer by the newly-formed Ballet Theatre company, for whom he produced <span class=\"title\">Aleko</span>and <span class=\"title\">Mam'zelle Angot.</span>He purchased a house in Long Beach, on Long Island, in 1942, and became a U.S. citizen in 1944. Massine's son Leonide (Lorca) was born that year.</p> <p>Massine formed two small companies in the United States, Ballet Russe (Suites), which toured the U.S. in 1944-45, and Ballet Russe Highlights, which toured the country in 1945-46. He then returned to London, appearing in a play, <span class=\"title\">A Bullet in the Ballet,</span>and staging ballets for the Sadlers Wells Ballet. During the late 1940s and the 1950s, Massine spent most of his time in Europe, staging revivals of his earlier ballets and choreographing new ones, including <span class=\"title\">Donald of Burthens</span>(London, 1951), <span class=\"title\">Laudes Evangelii</span>(Perugia, 1952), <span class=\"title\">Resurrezione e Vita</span>(Venice, 1954), <span class=\"title\">Usher</span>(Buenos Aires, 1955), and <span class=\"title\">Mario e il Mago</span>(Milan, 1956). He also choreographed ballets for films, notably <span class=\"title\">The Red Shoes</span>(1948) and <span class=\"title\">Tales of Hoffman</span>(1951), in which he also appeared, and <span class=\"title\">Honeymoon</span>(1958).</p> <p>In 1960, Massine served as Artistic Director to the Fifth International Festival of Ballet in Genoa, and, in 1961, he returned to the Soviet Union to film some of his ballets. He was also Artistic Advisor for a regional American company, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and taught at Point Park College in Pittsburgh during the 1970s.</p> <p>During the latter part of his life, Massine became involved in developing and teaching his own methods of choreographic composition and notation. Massine's autobiography, <span class=\"title\">My Life in Ballet,</span>was published in 1968, and his second book, <span class=\"title\">Massine on Choreography: Theory and Exercises in Composition,</span>came out in 1976. Massine died in Cologne, West Germany, on March 16, 1979, at the age of 83.</p>"}

scopecontent

{"value"=>"<p>The bulk of the <span class=\"persname\">Leonide Massine</span> Papers documents <span class=\"persname\">Massine's</span> professional and personal life from about 1940 to 1955, although some materials from before and after this period are included in the collection. The collection does not include any materials covering the period during which <span class=\"persname\">Massine</span> was a member of the Diaghilev ballet.</p> <ul class=\"list\"> <li> TM--<span class=\"persname\">Tatiana Massine</span></li> <li> LM--<span class=\"persname\">Leonide Massine</span></li> <li> MISC.--Miscellaneous</li> <li> N.D.--No date</li></ul> <p>A slashmark (/) between names or abbreviations indicates letters written by the person whose name appears before the mark to the person whose name appears after it. For example, LM/TM indicates letters from <span class=\"persname\">Leonide Massine</span> to <span class=\"persname\">Tatiana Massine</span>. The following variations in names will be found within the collection:|||<span class=\"persname\">TATIANA MASSINE</span>--a.k.a. <span class=\"persname\">Tatiana Orlova</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Tania Lowska</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Tatiana Milishnikoff</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Camila Bunduk</span>|||<span class=\"persname\">MARIA MEKKI</span>(<span class=\"persname\">Tatiana's</span> mother)-- a.k.a. <span class=\"persname\">Samia Mekki</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Maria Ivanovna</span>|||<span class=\"persname\">Massine's</span> sister <span class=\"persname\">Raissa</span>--<span class=\"persname\">Raya</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Raissa Issitchenko</span>|||<span class=\"persname\">Massine's</span> secretaries: <span class=\"persname\">Helen (Lucia) Sabo</span>; <span class=\"persname\">D. Lanskoy;</span> <span class=\"persname\">L. Domherr;</span> <span class=\"persname\">F.M. Mott;</span> <span class=\"persname\">A. Somoff.</span>|||In English, Russian, Italian, French.|||Russian translated by Natasha Deakin.</p>"}

{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Leonide Massine papers are arranged in six series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19683#c350858'>I. CORRESPONDENCE</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19683#c351058'>II. LEGAL SERIES</a></div>\n<div class='series-extent'>514 items</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>As previously mentioned the legal series includes correspondence to and from <span class=\"persname\">John Witt</span> of <span class=\"persname\">Stephenson Harwood</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Tatham</span>, and <span class=\"persname\">Sidney Cohn</span> of <span class=\"persname\">Boudin</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Cohn</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Glickstein</span>, from 1941 to 1954, arranged by date. These deal with a variety of ongoing legal problems, including <span class=\"persname\">Massine's</span> attempts to have ballets recognized as his property, to collect royalties due him, and, during the early 1950s, to retain his U.S. citizenship while living abroad. A subseries, Legal Documents (1932-1955), is also included, consisting mostly of professional contracts and arranged by date.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19683#c351114'>III. PROFESSIONAL MATERIAL</a></div>\n<div class='series-extent'>170 items</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Included in the somewhat sparse collection of professional materials are several drafts of proposals to form a ballet foundation and new ballet company, ca. 1943; schedules, cast lists, and itineraries, ca. 1938-1955; and several s of handwritten and typed notes and memos concerning miscellaneous ballet productions.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19683#c351132'>IV. MISCELLANEOUS</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>A Miscellaneous series includes materials relating to the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) and printed matter on unions and on U.S. citizenship laws.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19683#c351140'>V. FINANCIAL SERIES</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Prominent in the financial series are the records of royalty payments made to <span class=\"persname\">Massine</span> by 9 organizations, including the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Ballet Theatre, and the <span class=\"persname\">Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas</span>, sorted by company and arranged, where possible, by date, as well as payroll and box office records for Ballet Russe Highlights and miscellaneous box office receipts arranged by date. A boxed subseries, Miscellaneous Financial Records, sorted roughly by year, is largely made up of <span class=\"persname\">Massine's</span> personal financial records such as bills, receipts, cancelled checks, bank statements, financial notes, and material pertaining to <span class=\"persname\">Massine's</span> boat, etc. However, much of the financial records for 1945 and 1946 document expenses incurred for the tours of Ballet Russe Highlights (bills and receipts for printing, advertising, supplies; expense budgets; etc.). The <span class=\"persname\">Massines'</span> hotel bills and medical records form separate subseries, arranged by date.</p> <p>Bank and insurance correspondence, also part of the Financial series, are sorted by month, while insurance policies are arranged by date. Tax records, grouped by type and then arranged chronologically, consist of an income statement for 1940, and state and local taxes paid on the house in Long Beach from 1951-1968.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19683#c351273'>VI. MEMORABILIA SERIES</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The Memorabilia series contains <span class=\"persname\">Massine</span> family photo albums and scrapbooks, the children's notebooks and paintings, a partially used spiral notebook and a ledger book with some poetry written in it. The series also includes an address book which was used as an inventory of books, and an autographed photo of <span class=\"persname\">Gregory Peck</span>.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}

arrangement

{"value"=>"<ul class=\"list\"> <li>I. Correspondence</li> <li>II. Legal</li> <li>III. Professional Material</li> <li>IV. Miscellaneous</li> <li>V. Financial</li> <li>VI. Memorabilia</li></ul>", "supress_display"=>true}

acqinfo

{"value"=>"<p>Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.</p>"}

separatedmaterial

{"value"=>"<p>Certain non-manuscript materials received with the collection have been removed from the <span class=\"persname\">Leonide Massine</span> Papers:</p> <p>Clippings - filed in the appropriate clipping files in the Dance Collection</p> <p>Photographs - filed in the appropriate photograph files in the Dance Collection</p> <p>The following abbreviations are used throughout the register:</p>"}

processinfo

{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Joan E. Delman.</p>"}

note

{"value"=>"Index is formatted as follows: correspondent - folder number - (number of items)"}

date_start

1932

keydate

1932

date_end

1968

date_inclusive_start

1932

date_inclusive_end

1968

extent_statement

337 s and 8 boxes

abstract

{"value"=>" The bulk of the <span class=\"persname\">Leonide Massine</span> Papers documents <span class=\"persname\">Massine's</span> professional and personal life from about 1940 to 1955, although some materials from before and after this period are included in the collection. The collection does not include any materials covering the period during which <span class=\"persname\">Massine</span> was a member of the Diaghilev ballet.", "generated"=>true}

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Update from EAD XML File

Child components TOP

1. I. CORRESPONDENCE [3/3]
2. II. LEGAL SERIES [4/2]
3. III. PROFESSIONAL MATERIAL [17/1]
4. IV. MISCELLANEOUS [5/2]
5. V. FINANCIAL SERIES [10/3]
6. VI. MEMORABILIA SERIES [9/1]