- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"7.5 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"15 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*MGZMD 179", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"19823", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1918-1936", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1918/1936"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1918
- date_inclusive_end
-
1936
- keydate
-
1918
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Sergei Denham papers"}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.</span> <span class=\"subarea\">Jerome Robbins Dance Division.</span> <div class=\"address\"><span class=\"addressline\">New York, New York</span></div>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Sergei Denham is most prominently known as the director of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. The Sergei Denham Papers consist of correspondence, legal, financial, and personal papers that document his life outside of his work with the Ballet Russe, predominantly his career in the banking world."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Sergei Denham papers, *MGZMD 179. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Denham, Sergei, 1896-1970", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p> Sergei Ivanovich Denham was born Sergei Ivanovich Dokouchaiev (Docootshieff) on October 22, 1896. When his banker father died, a French governess was hired to help care for the children -- eight in all: three girls and five boys (another older brother had died before Denham was born). It was to this governess that Denham gave credit for nurturing his early love of ballet. He recalled that she once made him a play theater out of an orange carton and cut out paper ballerina dolls for him to play with. The family moved from Samara on the Volga to Moscow, and Sergei was sent to boarding school near St. Petersburg. Eventually he finished his schooling at The Moscow Commercial Institute. His education was eclectic, covering both business and the arts. Sergei had a particular talent for the piano. Among the many respected and well-known people to frequent his cultivated mother's home was Alexandre Scriabin, who was said to have given Sergei some piano instruction. In May of 1915, Denham married Valentine Nikolaevna Yershova, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. The couple had two daughters of their own, \"one in the capitalistic system\" -- Irina, now Mrs. Robert Pabst -- and \"one in the communistic\" -- Valentine, now Mrs. Robert Wilson -- as Denham himself put it.</p> <p> Denham's professional career was extremely diversified. When World War I began he worked for the Red Cross. After the 1917 Revolution he took his family east, first to the home of relatives in Uralsk, then to Vladivostok, where he became director of dormitories at the university. Next he served as representative of Admiral A. V. Kolchak's anti-Bolshevik government. His job entailed procuring funds to support Kolchak's troops -- work that would later prove quite useful in raising money for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. While in Shanghai on business for the Admiral, Denham heard that Kolchak's regime had fallen and decided to make the move that would shape his destiny -- he and his family emigrated to the United States.</p> <p> In 1921 they arrived in San Francisco. With his family situated Denham set off alone, first to Chicago, then finally to New York, in search of work. The first job he found was in an antique store on West 59th Street. He sent for his wife and daughters. A newly acquired friend introduced Denham to the banking world, and he soon found himself vice-president at Bankers Trust. He was put in charge of establishing and overseeing branches in Eastern Europe and eventually London, Paris, and Vienna. Denham was an outgoing, social man and through his travels was able to meet many people who would help precipitate his ultimate career choice. One was Serge Diaghilev whom Denham said first planted the seed of the idea that America could and should be the next great center of ballet; another was a group of Colonel de Basil's dancers on tour whom he found enchanting; and yet another was Watson Washburn, an attorney and balletomane whom Denham first met on the boat from Shanghai. Washburn, in turn, introduced Denham to several wealthy ballet lovers, setting the final stage for what was to come.</p> <p> By the mid-thirties it was becoming apparent that the Blum/de Basil company was having problems. Seizing the moment, Denham called together his new friends and formed World Art Inc., a stock corporation which then purchased Blum's company. Denham was appointed president of this new ballet organization -- a post he was to hold throughout the entire length of the company's existence.</p> <p> Along with the classics, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, under Denham's direction, produced several quite novel works, including Bacchanale, Labyrinth, Rodeo, Frankie and Johnny, and Billy Sunday, as well as a number of works by women ballet choreographers. The list includes Agnes de Mille, Bronislava Nijinska, Pilar Lopez, Ruth Page (whose works, such as those mentioned above, were often controversial), Valerie Bettis, Antonia Cobos, Ruthanna Boris, Tatiana Chamie, Nini Theilade, and Nina Novak. With such a record, Denham could rightly feel that his company was both \"vital in new ideas\" as well as \"successful in maintaining the finest traditions of the ballet.\"</p> <p> He died in New York City on January 30, 1970, after being struck by a bus as he was leaving the Ballet Russe offices. His wife died several months later. He is survived by his two daughters.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p> The Sergei Denham Papers relate to his career outside the world of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, primarily his work in the field of banking. The material in this collection is rich in correspondence (both in English and Russian) and financial information from the early 1920s into the mid-1930s of a man who became prominently associated in the twentieth century with a particular dance company, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, but had a very successful life in an entirely different field before that. He rose rapidly in the international banking world and these papers demonstrate his wealth of contacts, particularly as he worked to develop branches of Bankers Trust in Eastern Europe. Very little of a personal nature is to found within the collection.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Sergei Denham papers are arranged in four series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19823#c402622'>Series I: Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1918 - 1936</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of Sergei Denham's business correspondence, primarily from the early 1920s until the mid-thirties, before his association with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Much, but not exclusively, of this work was done for Banker's Trust. The correspondence has been divided between the English and the Russian letters.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19823#c402890'>Series II: Financial and Legal Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1921 - 1936</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>3 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains material specifically related to Sergei Denham's work on behalf of Banker's Trust, as well as information on his association with Gaston and Company. Also included are material relating to his work to form a company to manufacture and distribute beer mats from 1934 to 1936, showing the range of venture with which he was involved.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19823#c402937'>Series III: Personal Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1920 - 1935</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains information mainly on the travels of Sergei Denham during this period, such as his passport and baggage declaration forms.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19823#c402950'>Series IV: Oversized Materials</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1919 - 1934</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains Russian and German correspondence as well as some income tax returns.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p> <ul> <li>Series I: Correspondence, 1918-1936<ul> <li> Sub-series 1 - General Correspondence, 1918-1936</li> <li> Sub-series 2 - Russian Language Correspondence, 1920-1936</li></ul></li> <li> Series II: Financial and Legal, 1921-1936</li> <li> Series III: Personal Papers, 1920-1935</li> <li> Series IV: Oversized Materials, 1919-1934</li></ul></p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p> The Sergei Denham Papers were donated to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division in 1992 by Irina Pabst, The Ballet Foundation, and Michel Subotin.</p>"}
- userestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p> For material related to Sergei Denham and the ballet world, see The Sergei Denham Records of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, *ZBD-492.</p>"}
- langmaterial_code
-
eng
ger
rus
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"The Correspondence and Oversized materials series contain items in English, German, and Russian"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Nina Meechoonuk and Rick Hunter; Machine-readable finding aid created by Thea Constantine.</p>"}
- extent_statement
-
7.5 linear feet (15 boxes)
- date_start
-
1918
- date_end
-
1936