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Call number
*MGZEB 18-3055
Physical description
0.25 linear feet (1 box)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Photographs of Ruth Page, *MGZEB 18-3055. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.
Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

The Photographs of Ruth Page comprise forty 11" x 14" black and white photographs of the iconic dancer and choreographer from circa 1930 to 1950 by photographer Maurice Seymour. The photographs depict Page in character from her various choreographed productions such as Delirious Delusion and Love Song as well as classic Shakespeare titles such as Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet.

Biographical/historical information

Photographer Maurice Seymour was actually two brothers who made up the Maurice Seymour Studio. Maurice (1900-1993) and Seymour Zeldman (1902-1995), Russian expatriate photographers, formed the studio in 1929 with the intention to focus on ballet dancers. They worked out of the St. Clair Hotel in Chicago until Zeldman moved to New York City in 1950. Throughout their career, they photographed numerous ballet companies including American Ballet Theatre and became the preferred photographer of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

Ruth Page (1899-1991) was an American dancer, choreographer, and director who pioneered modern dance in the United States. Throughout her career she was employed by and collaborated with some of the 20th century's greatest artists. During the 1930s she frequently co-created ballets with Bentley Stone, her professional partner and fellow choreographer. Page is credited with revolutionizing modern dance with her experimental technique often combining opera, avant-garde, and classical ballet to form unique and original expressions.

Scope and arrangement

The collection comprises forty 11" x 14" black and white photographs by photographer Maurice Seymour of dancer and choreographer Ruth Page circa 1930 to 1950. Most of the photographs depict Page in various costumes from her iconic choreographed productions such as Iberian Monotone, Love Song, and Delirious Delusion. She was also photographed as a number of Shakespeare's female characters such as Katharine from The Taming of the Shrew, Lady Macbeth from Macbeth, and the title role in Romeo and Juliet. Some of her well known co-stars are also pictured including Bettina Rosay, Harold Kreutzberg, and co-choreographer Bentley Stone. Other photographs depict solo studio portraits in addition to two photographs of the dancer in a mask designed by artist and friend Nicolas Remisoff.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967.

Processing information

Processed by Tara D. Strongosky, 2018.

Separated material

These photographs were separated out from a larger collection encompassing a wide range of performers that was originally held by the Museum of Modern Art.

Using the collection

Location

Jerome Robbins Dance Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor