- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"46 records cartons 4383 folders, plus 2 cartons ledger books, check stubs, and ephemera", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*MGZMD 48", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"19695", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
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{"value"=>"circa 1936-1978", "type"=>"inclusive", "certainty"=>"approximate", "normal"=>"1936/1978"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Records of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo"}
- repository
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{"value"=>"The <span class=\"corpname\">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
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{"value"=>"When <span class=\"persname\">Sergei Denham</span> died in 1970, the records of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo continued to be maintained by <span class=\"persname\">Michael Subotin</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Watson Washburn</span> at the offices of the Ballet Foundation. <span class=\"persname\">Denham's</span> personal papers were given to his daughter, <span class=\"persname\">Mrs. Irina Pabst</span>. After the death of Washburn in 1974, the two surviving trustees of the Ballet Foundation, <span class=\"persname\">Mrs. Pabst</span> and <span class=\"persname\">John Gray</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Washburn's</span> nephew, donated the office records and <span class=\"persname\">Denham's</span> papers to The Dance Collection in a series of annual gifts. With <span class=\"persname\">Subotin's</span> death in 1984, the Ballet Foundation offices on West 57th Street finally closed, and his papers were added to the company records."}
- prefercite
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{"value"=>"Records of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, *MGZMD 48. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}
- origination
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{"value"=>"Denham, Sergei, 1896-1970", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
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{"value"=>"<p>In 1923, Serge Diaghilev's company, Les Ballets Russes, signed a contract with the Principality of Monaco to become the official ballet of the Monte Carlo Opera. The company was renamed Les Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. When Diaghilev died in August of 1929, his company disbanded, and the Société des Bains de Mer de Monaco appointed René Blum, a French theatrical impresario, director of its Ballets de l'Opéra de Monte Carlo. Using itinerant dancers, Blum took over the rights to Diaghilev's performing contracts there, as well as the right to use the name “Monte Carlo.” In October 1931 Colonel Vassily de Basil, a former Cossack officer who was managing Prince Zereteli's Paris Russian Opera, joined forces with Blum. The company, which premiered January 17, 1932, became René Blum and Col. de Basil Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. (The company was to assume many variations of this name in the next few years.)</p> <p>George Balanchine (for the first season only) and, subsequently, Leonide Massine were the choreographers, and the company comprised what were considered to be the best available dancers, many of whom were Russians from the Diaghilev organization. The “baby ballerinas,” Tamara Toumanova, Irina Baronova, and Tatiana Riabouchinska, starred. The repertoire included both classics from the Diaghilev Ballets Russes and new works by Balanchine and Massine, including the latter's symphonic works.</p> <p>Relations became strained as de Basil wrangled control of the company. On April 30, 1935, Blum disassociated himself from de Basil; he took the rights to the “Monte Carlo” name and hired Michel Fokine as his maître de ballet. De Basil's company, now renamed Col. de Basil's Ballets Russes (by 1939 this company assumed its final name of Original Ballet Russe), eventually hired Fokine away from Blum. Massine, who coveted sole artistic power, was angered enough to break with de Basil and once again join forces with Blum. In the spring of 1937, Massine met with several prominent American citizens including Sergei Denham, a Russian émigré banker; Julius Fleischmann, a wealthy admirer of Massine's; David Libidins, a theatrical manager; and Watson Washburn, an attorney and balletomane. Together they planned the formation of a new company which would take for its nucleus Blum's Ballets de Monte Carlo. World Art (the name was changed to Universal Art in June 1938), a sponsoring financial organization, was formed; the purchase from Blum was completed November 19, 1937; Massine joined the company January 30, 1938, at the expiration of his contract with de Basil; and the transfer of all rights, performing and otherwise, was finalized February 1, 1938. Thus began the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. (Attempts were made to combine the de Basil and Denham/Blum companies during the summer of 1938, but de Basil backed out at the last moment resulting in legal action.)</p> <p>With Denham as president, Blum as co-director, Libidins as administrative director, and Massine as maître de ballet, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo opened its first season April 5 through May 15, 1938, in Monte Carlo. It was followed by seasons in London (Drury Lane, opening July 12; Covent Garden, opening September 5) and New York (Metropolitan Opera, opening October 12). The company then launched its first American tour, concluding the year with more performances at the Met (March 1939).</p> <p>Since the original plan called for the company to split its time evenly between the United States and Europe, the Ballet Russe returned to Monte Carlo for a season opening April 4, 1939. The intention was to follow with a season in London on September 4, but war intervened. With great difficulty the company and all its properties managed to make their way back to the United States in time to open a slightly delayed New York season on October 26. René Blum, however, decided to remain in Europe and died in a concentration camp in 1942. Despite its plan, the Ballet Russe was never to perform in Europe again during its entire twenty-five years of existence.</p> <p>During Massine's association with the company he made many of his most famous works, including <span class=\"title\">Gaîté Parisienne, St. Francis</span>(also known as <span class=\"title\">Nobilissima Visione),</span><span class=\"title\">Rouge et Noir, Labyrinth,</span>and <span class=\"title\">Bacchanale.</span></p> <p>Citing irreconcilable differences, Massine eventually resigned on November 10, 1942 (he did produce one more work for the company in 1954 — <span class=\"title\">Harold in Italy),</span>and for a couple of years the company hired choreographers on a per-ballet basis. Most notable were Bronislava Nijinska <span class=\"title\">(Chopin Concerto, The Snow Maiden, Etude,</span>and <span class=\"title\">Ancient Russia)</span>and Agnes de Mille <span class=\"title\">(Rodeo).</span></p> <p>By 1944, however, George Balanchine had essentially become the company's resident choreographer. He held the position for two years producing twelve works in all, including four premieres: <span class=\"title\">Danses Concertantes, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Night Shadow (La Sonnambula),</span>and <span class=\"title\">Raymonda</span>(with Alexandra Danilova), as well as the musical comedy, <span class=\"title\">The Song of Norway,</span>in which the company starred.</p> <p>Balanchine left the company in 1946 to form his own company, and the Ballet Russe was once again without a resident choreographer — this time for good. Other major choreographers to work with the company included Serge Lifar <span class=\"title\">(Icare),</span>Anton Dolin <span class=\"title\">(Pas de Quatre),</span>Frederick Ashton <span class=\"title\">(Devil's Holiday),</span>David Lichine <span class=\"title\">(Graduation Ball),</span>Ruth Page <span class=\"title\">(Frankie and Johnny, The Bells, Billy Sunday,</span>and <span class=\"title\">Love Song),</span>and Valerie Bettis <span class=\"title\">(Virginia Sampler).</span></p> <p>Among the many important composers and designers to have collaborated with these choreographers were Salvador Dali, Christian Bérard, Paul Hindemith, Pavel Tchelitchev, Eugene Berman, Henri Matisse, Richard Rodgers, Willem de Kooning, Igor Stravinsky, Alexandre Benois, George Gershwin, Oliver Smith, Aaron Copland, Boris Aronson, Nathalie Gontcharova, Vittorio Rieti, Darius Milhaud, Isamu Noguchi, Jean Cocteau, and Antal Dorati.</p> <p>The company's roster of dancers throughout the years included most of the world's greatest, such as Alexandra Danilova, Frederic Franklin, Alicia Markova, Mia Slavenska, André Eglevsky, Tamara Toumanova, Igor Youskevitch, and Serge Lifar. In later years, Leon Danielian, Nicholas Magallanes, Mary Ellen Moylan, Maria Tallchief, Nina Novak, and many others starred. The list of guest performers included such luminaries as Alicia Alonso, Igor Schwezoff, Anton Dolin, Irina Baronova, Argentinita, Ruth Page, and Agnes de Mille.</p> <p>From the fall of 1939 to the company's final performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (April 13-14, 1962), the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo spent nearly all its time on the road, touring extensively throughout the United States, with occasional excursions to Canada and South America. During two particularly lean years financially, 1952 and 1953, a smaller Concert Company replaced the larger organization for these tours. The Ballet Russe often performed two hundred times a year, for a total audience of a million people in a hundred different cities: it brought ballet to every corner of the continental United States.</p> <p>The booking and management of this huge enterprise was undertaken by various groups and individuals over the years. Sol Hurok had control at the start and stayed with the company through 1942, although he often had to split his duties between this company and Ballet Theatre, which he also managed. Other agents included Columbia Concerts, David Libidins, Columbia Artists Management, and Community Concerts.</p> <p>By the early 1960s waning artistic standards and union difficulties served to undermine the popularity and financial viability of the company. The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo quietly dissolved after its spring performances in 1962. Sergei Denham, however, refused to give up. With the financial backing of Julius Fleischmann and other long-standing supporters, he attempted to reorganize the company in Tunis (1963), then Greece (1964 - 1965), and finally in Monte Carlo (1966 - 1967), the company's original home. There he did have some encouragement. The company, renamed Ballets de Monte Carlo and made up mostly of young, inexperienced dancers, managed a winter and spring season there, but nothing more came of it.</p> <p>Although the performing company had disbanded, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo continued to operate its school in New York City. The school, opened in 1954, had originally belonged to Maria Swoboda, but she turned all her rights and leases over to Denham. Swoboda continued to teach there along with Frederic Franklin, Igor Schwezoff, Anatole Vilzak, Valerie Bettis, Leon Danielian, Edward Caton, Duncan Noble, and others. Its aim was to train the best professional ballet dancers possible, and it continued to do so until it lost its lease in June 1967 and was forced to close for good.</p> <p>In its quarter-century of existence the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, under Sergei Denham's directorship, attained all the goals it set for itself — specifically, to preserve the ideals, tradition, and glamour of the classical ballet; to bring together noteworthy artists in painting, music, writing, and dance; to present ballet at popular prices; to inspire and train native-born American artists; and to establish ballet as a popular form of entertainment in America.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p>Sergei Ivanovich Denham was, by all accounts, a man of charm, class, and continental manners. He loved good food, fine wine, the company of friends, and especially the ballet. He 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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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 procurring funds to support Kolchak's troups — 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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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 <span class=\"title\">Bacchanale, Labyrinth, Rodeo, Frankie and Johnny,</span>and <span class=\"title\">Billy Sunday,</span>as well as an unprecendented 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>In retrospect, Denham believed that the three most important accomplishments of his term as director of the Ballet Russe were to rid ballet of a) the bias of private ownership, b) the tyranny of the impresario, and c) the artistic monopoly of the resident choreographer. Whether he achieved these objectives through a concerted and clearly thought out plan or by chance or sheer necessity, his basically positive outlook on life allowed him in later years to remember them as master strokes.</p> <p>Denham once wrote: “I look upon my work in the ballet as a sort of repayment of my great debt to this country which is completely and fully responsible for whatever well-being I enjoy today.” Whatever his failings and mistakes, Denham clearly loved America and 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
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{"value"=>"<p>When <span class=\"persname\">Sergei Denham</span> died in 1970, the records of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo continued to be maintained by <span class=\"persname\">Michael Subotin</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Watson Washburn</span> at the offices of the Ballet Foundation. <span class=\"persname\">Denham's</span> personal papers were given to his daughter, <span class=\"persname\">Mrs. Irina Pabst</span>. After the death of Washburn in 1974, the two surviving trustees of the Ballet Foundation, <span class=\"persname\">Mrs. Pabst</span> and <span class=\"persname\">John Gray</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Washburn's</span> nephew, donated the office records and <span class=\"persname\">Denham's</span> papers to The Dance Collection in a series of annual gifts. With <span class=\"persname\">Subotin's</span> death in 1984, the Ballet Foundation offices on West 57th Street finally closed, and his papers were added to the company records.|||<span class=\"persname\">Sergei Denham's</span> Records of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo comprise forty-eight cartons (16″×13″×10½″) of material, roughly 135,000 items, which span the years ca. 1936 to 1978. The records consist mainly of office correspondence, papers, and memoranda and are divided into eleven distinct subject series: I. General Company Files, 1936 - 1978; II. Artists; III. Productions; IV. Administration; V. Development; VI. Bookings; VII. Promotion; VIII. Legal; IX. Financial; X. Schools; and XI. <span class=\"persname\">Sergei Denham</span> (personal). Each of these eleven series is also divided into several subseries.|||The point of view of the records is clearly that of <span class=\"persname\">Sergei Denham</span>. The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo was, for all intents and purposes, a one-man show, and this fact is reflected by the papers. A great majority of the collection consists of carbon copies of <span class=\"persname\">Denham's</span> out-going, day-to-day business correspondence. The largest series is the chronological General Company Files — nearly fifteen cartons in all (ca. 45,000 items) or approximately one third of the total collection. Because there are no apparent chronological gaps, this series provides a comprehensive picture of the workings of the organization. A strong sense of <span class=\"persname\">Denham's</span> paternal approach to running his company emerges.|||The singular perspective, however, does have its drawbacks: the fact that only a very vague picture of the company's tours and performances is provided can be seen as a weakness of the collection. Some of the files for various individual company members, such as <span class=\"persname\">Frederic Franklin</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Alexandra Danilova</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Nina Novak</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Sophie Pourmel</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Igor Youskevitch</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Mary Ellen Moylan</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Roman Jasinski</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Mia Slavenska</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Michel Katcharoff</span>, and <span class=\"persname\">Nathalie Krassovska</span>, reveal a few tantalizing glimpses of life on the road with the company, but these are remarkably few.|||The Artists series is the second largest. It comprises eight cartons of papers (ca. 18,000 items). These files are arranged alphabetically and contain a major portion of the collection's most valuable material. Hundreds of handwritten and autographed letters from a total of five hundred and sixty-five dancers, choreographers, composers, conductors, musicians, designers, librettists, photographers, and writers who corresponded with <span class=\"persname\">Denham</span> are located here. They include, to name just the most renowned, <span class=\"persname\">Leonide Massine</span>, <span class=\"persname\">George Balanchine</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Igor Stravinsky</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Boris Kochno</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Salvador Dali</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Eugene Berman</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Frederic Franklin</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Alexandra Danilova</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Bronislava Nijinska</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Alicia Alonso</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Margot Fonteyn</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Aaron Copland</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Leon Danielian</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Ninette de Valois</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Anton Dolin</span>, <span class=\"persname\">André Eglevsky</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Michel Fokine</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Paul Hindemith</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Serge Lifar</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Eugene Loring</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Ted Shawn</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Henri Matisse</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Darius Milhaud</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Ruth Page</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Agnes de Mille</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Olga Preobrajenska</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Arnold Schoenberg</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Antony Tudor</span>, and <span class=\"persname\">Igor Youskevitch</span>. A particularly charming letter from <span class=\"persname\">Balanchine</span> to <span class=\"persname\">Denham</span> in which <span class=\"persname\">Balanchine</span> discusses such subjects as “cholesterol and gout” and “moral and legal rights” to mount his ballets, can be found in folder #1404. Artists' contracts are also located in this series. The collection, however, is rather weak in this area — surprisingly few contracts remained with the papers, and those that do mainly concern the early years of the company.|||A major theme running throughout all the records is one of struggle — struggle for recognition; struggle to maintain artistic and managerial autonomy; and, especially, the desperate struggle to remain financially stable. This theme pervades a variety of the collection's most extensive sections of files: the booking agents, <span class=\"persname\">Sol Hurok</span> and Columbia Artists Management, both of whom tried to gain control of the company's artistic decisions; American National Theatre Academy, which steadfastly ignored <span class=\"persname\">Denham's</span> pleas for aid; American Guild of Musical Artists, whose increasing demands strained the company's budgets beyond repair; the entire Development series, which includes such sub-groups as patrons, The Ballet Guild, the Ballet Foundation, and various committees set up around the country to help publicize and raise money for the company; Watson Washburn (the company's lawyer and patron) and <span class=\"persname\">Julius Fleischmann</span> (the company's major financial supporter); the School; and the entire General Company Files.|||Two full cartons in the General Company Files series concern <span class=\"persname\">Denham's</span> attempts to reorganize his company after financial, artistic, and union difficulties caused it to suspend its activities. Thirty-three folders (ca. 1100 items) focus solely on the years 1952 through 1953, when a smaller Concert Company was forced to tour in place of the larger organization. Another ninety folders (ca. 3000 items) concern <span class=\"persname\">Denham's</span> attempts to reestablish the Ballet Russe, first in Tunis (1963), then in Greece (1963 - 1965), and finally in Monte Carlo (ca. 1965 - 1967). All of this material relates to the time after the main company had officially disbanded in 1962. <span class=\"persname\">Denham</span> refused to give up his belief that money could be found to put the Ballet Russe back on its feet.|||The six cartons of Financial records reveal further struggles. The Ballet Russe was involved in a long battle with the Internal Revenue Service over its tax status. In 1954 the company was finally awarded exemption from admissions taxes. Other tax problems, however, eventually contributed to the company's ultimate demise. The Financial series also contains one carton of cancelled checks, check stubs, ledgers, etc., as well as weekly tour and souvenir book statements, company payroll records, receipts and disbursements, insurance policies, and <span class=\"persname\">Denham's</span> travel expense statements. These records are not, by any means, complete, but they do touch upon nearly every aspect of the company's finances.|||One of the collection's strong points is the thorough documentation of the original founding of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1937. Materials relating to this period of time can be found in several places: the General Company Files for the appropriate years; the Administration series, including correspondence with such people as <span class=\"persname\">René Blum</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Colonel de Basil</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Julius Fleischmann</span>, <span class=\"persname\">David Libidins</span> (the company's first manager), <span class=\"persname\">Jacques Rubinstein</span> (their European representative), <span class=\"persname\">Watson Washburn</span>, as well as material concerning World Art (later Universal Art), the stock company which bought <span class=\"persname\">Blum's</span> organization; and the Artist series, containing letters to and from <span class=\"persname\">Massine</span> and various early dancers. <span class=\"persname\">Hurok</span> correspondence from the early years of the company is located in the Promotion series. The Legal series also includes some material about the founding of the <span class=\"persname\">Ballet Russe</span>, such as the case between <span class=\"persname\">de Basil</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Denham</span> which began in the summer of 1938.|||The company was involved in a good deal of litigation over the years, and there are one and a half cartons (ca. 4500 items) of material devoted to it. Four cartons of papers constitute the Production series. These records pertain to the various aspects of the actual production of the many ballets the company performed. Files for each ballet are arranged alphabetically by title; followed by scenarios for both produced and unproduced works; scenery, costume and music inventories; and thirty-eight folders which relate to the orchestra — ca. 12,000 items in all.|||Other subjects for which there are files include itineraries, royalties, tours and seasons, television production, programs and casts, and publicity material.|||The final two series (one carton each) contain the school records and <span class=\"persname\">Denham's</span> personal papers, respectively. Neither section, however, provides a complete survey of its subject. In fact, although the <span class=\"persname\">Denham</span> personal papers do contain some letters between members of his family and close friends, as well as several of his own notebooks, for the most part they relate to the running of his house and surrounding land in Bridgewater, Connecticut. The school records, including financial information (additional school financial records are located in the Financial series), concern mainly the studios in New York, although a smaller Philadelphia affiliate is also documented.|||In conclusion, <span class=\"persname\">Sergei Denham's</span> Records of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, ca. 1936-1978, span the entire length of the company's existence including the years leading up to the purchase of <span class=\"persname\">Blum's</span> organization in 1937 and the various attempts to reestablish the company after it had officially disbanded in 1962.|||The records touch upon every aspect of the company's life, although some areas are more thoroughly documented than others. The business point of view, particularly the financial difficulties of keeping the company on its feet, takes precedence over the artistic and performing aspects, and <span class=\"persname\">Denham's</span> influence over the entire organization is clearly demonstrated.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Records of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo is arranged in eleven series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19695#c353581'>I. General Company Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1936 - 1978</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Two full cartons in the General Company Files series concern <span class=\"persname\">Denham's</span> attempts to reorganize his company after financial, artistic, and union difficulties caused it to suspend its activities. Thirty-three folders (ca. 1100 items) focus solely on the years 1952 through 1953, when a smaller Concert Company was forced to tour in place of the larger organization. Another ninety folders (ca. 3000 items) concern <span class=\"persname\">Denham's</span> attempts to reestablish the Ballet Russe, first in Tunis (1963), then in Greece (1963 - 1965), and finally in Monte Carlo (ca. 1965 - 1967). All of this material relates to the time after the main company had officially disbanded in 1962. <span class=\"persname\">Denham</span> refused to give up his belief that money could be found to put the Ballet Russe back on its feet.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19695#c354057'>II. Artists</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The Artists series is the second largest. It comprises eight cartons of papers (ca. 18,000 items). These files are arranged alphabetically and contain a major portion of the collection's most valuable material. Hundreds of handwritten and autographed letters from a total of five hundred and sixty-five dancers, choreographers, composers, conductors, musicians, designers, librettists, photographers, and writers who corresponded with <span class=\"persname\">Denham</span> are located here. They include, to name just the most renowned, <span class=\"persname\">Leonide Massine</span>, <span class=\"persname\">George Balanchine</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Igor Stravinsky</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Boris Kochno</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Salvador Dali</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Eugene Berman</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Frederic Franklin</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Alexandra Danilova</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Bronislava Nijinska</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Alicia Alonso</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Margot Fonteyn</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Aaron Copland</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Leon Danielian</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Ninette de Valois</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Anton Dolin</span>, <span class=\"persname\">André Eglevsky</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Michel Fokine</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Paul Hindemith</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Serge Lifar</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Eugene Loring</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Ted Shawn</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Henri Matisse</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Darius Milhaud</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Ruth Page</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Agnes de Mille</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Olga Preobrajenska</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Arnold Schoenberg</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Antony Tudor</span>, and <span class=\"persname\">Igor Youskevitch</span>. A particularly charming letter from <span class=\"persname\">Balanchine</span> to <span class=\"persname\">Denham</span> in which <span class=\"persname\">Balanchine</span> discusses such subjects as “cholesterol and gout” and “moral and legal rights” to mount his ballets, can be found in folder #1404. Artists' contracts are also located in this series. The collection, however, is rather weak in this area — surprisingly few contracts remained with the papers, and those that do mainly concern the early years of the company.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19695#c354655'>III. Productions</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19695#c354767'>IV. Administration</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19695#c354857'>V. Development</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19695#c355061'>VI. Bookings</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19695#c355157'>VII. Promotion</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19695#c355217'>VIII. Legal Cases</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19695#c355250'>IX. Financial</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1937 - 1970</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p> The Ballet Russe was involved in a long battle with the Internal Revenue Service over its tax status. In 1954 the company was finally awarded exemption from admissions taxes. Other tax problems, however, eventually contributed to the company's ultimate demise. The Financial series also contains one carton of cancelled checks, check stubs, ledgers, etc., as well as weekly tour and souvenir book statements, company payroll records, receipts and disbursements, insurance policies, and <span class=\"persname\">Denham's</span> travel expense statements. These records are not, by any means, complete, but they do touch upon nearly every aspect of the company's finances.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19695#c355422'>X. Schools</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19695#c355459'>XI. Sergei Denham - Personal Papers</a></div>\n</li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<ul> <li>I. General Company Files, 1935-1978 <ul> <li>A. Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, 1936-1978</li> <li>B. Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo Concert Company, 1949-1953</li> <li>C. Tunis, 1963</li> <li>D. Greece, 1963-1965</li> <li>E. Ballets de Monte Carlo, 1965-1969</li> <li>F. Genreal Company Files, undated</li></ul></li> <li>II. Artists <ul> <li>A. Individuals</li> <li>B. Contract Summaries, 1937-1939</li> <li>C. American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), 1939-1963</li></ul></li> <li>III. Productions <ul> <li>A. Ballets</li> <li>B. Orchestra, 1938-1962</li> <li>C. Music Correspondence and Related Records</li> <li>D. Suggested Scenarios and Related Correspondence</li> <li>E. Scenery, Costumes, Lighting</li></ul></li> <li>IV. Administration <ul> <li>A. Individuals</li> <li>B. World Art/Universal Art, ca. 1936-1961</li> <li>C. Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Inc., 1943-1961</li></ul></li> <li>V. Development <ul> <li>A. Patrons</li> <li>B. Ballet Foundation Committees, 1938-1946</li> <li>C. Ballet Foundation, 1938-1970</li> <li>D. Early Fundraising,1937-1939</li> <li>E. Sponsorship, 1948-1962</li> <li>F. Ballet Guild, 1937-1941</li> <li>G. New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), 1962-1963</li> <li>H. The Baldwin Trust, 1943-1963</li> <li>I. Revival Proposals</li></ul></li> <li>VI. Bookings <ul> <li>A. Solomon Hurok, 1936-1961</li> <li>B. Columbia Concerts, 1941-1943</li> <li>C. Columbia Artists Management, 1953-1963</li> <li>D. Coumminty Concerts Inc., 1959-1962</li> <li>E. Itineraries, 1937-1962</li> <li>F. Programs and Casts, 1949-1962 (see also Royalties)</li> <li>G. Tours and Seasons, 1938-1965</li> <li>H. Television, 1945-1962</li> <li>I. The American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA), 1954-1962</li> <li>J. Royalties, 1940-1962</li> <li>K. Contracts, 1944-1957</li></ul></li> <li>VII. Promotion <ul> <li>A. Publicity, 1937-1962</li> <li>B. General Program Corporation, 1941-1948</li> <li>C. Longacre Press, Inc., 1942-1956</li> <li>D. Souvenir Book, 1938-1958</li> <li>E. Balletiana Newsletter, 1946-1954</li></ul></li> <li>XIII. Legal Cases</li> <li>IX. Financial <ul> <li>A. Chronological File</li> <li>B. Payroll, 1952-1967</li> <li>C.Weekly Tour Statements, 1938-1966</li> <li>D. Taxes, 1940-1969</li> <li>E. Sergei Denham's Income Taxes, 1940-1969</li> <li>F. Insurance, 1939-1969</li> <li>G. Miscellaneous Financial Records, 1939-1967</li></ul></li> <li>X. Schools <ul> <li>A. New York School, 1949-1970</li> <li>B. Houston School, 1948</li> <li>C. Philadelphia School, 1954-1963</li> <li>D. Other Potential Schools,</li></ul></li> <li>XI. Sergei Denham - Personal Papers <ul> <li>A. Chronological File, 1936-1970</li> <li>B. Financial, 1939-1967</li> <li>C. Miscellaneous</li></ul></li></ul>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Gift of Irina Pabst, The Ballet Foundation, and Michel Subotin.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>The following items were received with the original gift but have been separated from the manuscript collection. The current location of these items (as of May 1988) is indicated.</p> <ul> <li>1 Boris Aronson design for <span class=\"emph\">The Red Poppy</span> - Location: *MGZGC Aro B Red 1</li> <li>7 August von Munchhausen sketches for the 1943-1944 souvenir program - Location: *MGZGA Mun A</li> <li>5 Tatiana Chamié scrapbooks of clippings, programs, and memorabilia - Location: *MGZRS 87-242</li> <li>13 scenery plots from René Blum's Ballets de Monte Carlo (1936): <span class=\"emph\">Coppélia</span>(5), <span class=\"emph\">Don Juan</span>(5), <span class=\"emph\">Casse Noisette</span>(2), and <span class=\"emph\">Epreuve d'Amour</span>(1) - Location: uncatalogued</li> <li>2 handcolored prints - Location: matted but uncatalogued</li> <li>ca. 3500 photographs - Location: uncatalogued</li> <li>ca. 2 records cartons of house and souvenir programs - Location: uncatalogued / stored in basement</li> <li>ca. 35 blueprints for various Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo offices, schools, and theatres, as well as Sergei Denham's Connecticut farmhouse - Location: uncatalogued / stored in large flat files in Dance Collection stacks (drawer 190)</li> <li>3 boxes assorted newspaper and magazine clippings - Location: uncatalogued / stored in Dance Collection stacks</li> <li>miscellaneous posters and playbills - Location: uncatalogued / stored in map drawers in Dance Collection stacks</li> <li>12 motion picture films - Location: catalogued</li> <li>2½ records cartons of Sergei Denham's personal papers (pre-1936) - Location: uncatalogued / stored in basement</li> <li>Ballet Foundation. Collection of Orchestral Scores and Parts. - Location: *MGZMD 52 (basement)</li> <li>3 misc. small drawings 1 by Mary Ellen Moylan - Location: uncatalogued / stored in Dance Collection flat files (drawer 169)</li></ul>"}
- physloc
-
{"value"=>"*MGZMD 48", "type"=>"local_call", "supress_display"=>true}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1936
- date_inclusive_end
-
1978
- note
-
{"value"=>"<p>The collection documents every aspect of the company's operation with particular emphasis on the business and financial side. The records consist mainly of office correspondence, papers, and memoranda and are divided into 11 distinct subject series: I. General Company Files, 1936-1978 (1365 folders); II. Artists (989 folders); III. Productions (238 folders); IV. Administration (511 folders); V. Development (335 folders); VI. Bookings (215 folders); VII. Promotion (87 folders); VIII. Legal (124 folders); IX. Financial (345 folders plus check stubs, ledgers, etc.); X. Schools (90 folders); and XI. Sergei Denham - Personal Papers (84 folders plus misc. notebooks). Each of these 11 series is also divided into several sub-series. The General Company Files comprise nearly one third of the collection and consist mainly of carbon copies of Denham's out-going, day-to-day business correspondence. The Artists series contains hundreds of handwritten and autographed letters from a total of 565 dancers, choreographers, composers, conductors, musicians, designers, librettists, photographers, and writers who corresponded with Denham</p>", "encodinganalog"=>"500"}
{"value"=>"<p>One of the collection's strong points is the thorough documentation of the original founding of the company in 1937, as well as the various attempts to reestablish it after it officially disbanded in 1962</p>", "encodinganalog"=>"500"}
{"value"=>"<p>Other subjects for which there are files include individual booking agents and organizations such as Sol Hurok, David Libidins, and Columbia Artists Management Inc., union negotiations, patrons, itineraries, royalties, tours and seasons, television production, programs and casts, and publicity material</p>", "encodinganalog"=>"500"}
- keydate
-
1936
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Amy Taylor Alpers with Diane Coburn Brüning, Henley Haslam, and Rachel Madeira.</p>"}
- extent_statement
-
46 records cartons 4383 folders, plus 2 cartons ledger books, check stubs, and ephemera
- date_start
-
1936
- date_end
-
1978