Dance We Must is designed to highlight the careers of Modern Dance pioneers Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, utilising many unseen items from the extensive archive at Jacob’s Pillow.
Tag: research
Chagall: Fantasies for The Stage
When I was in LA last month I was able to go and see the wonderful exhibition Chagall: Fantasies for the Stage at LACMA. The exhibition runs until January 7, 2018. It is a wonderful opportunity to see the costume and set designs created by Marc Chagall. Chagall: Fantasies for the Stage showcases 41 costumes and nearly 100 designs… Continue reading Chagall: Fantasies for The Stage
Finding the Ballets Russes in NYC – Part Two.
At the New York Historical Society you can now see, on permanent display, what is surely the biggest Picasso in NYC! The canvas was once the front cloth for Le Tricorne, from 1919, designed by Picasso, and shows a traditional corrida scene. In 1928 Diaghilev cut the middle section cut out of the cloth and sold it… Continue reading Finding the Ballets Russes in NYC – Part Two.
Jacob’s Pillow!
For the next three months I will be living and working at Jacob's Pillow - the longest running dance festival in the USA and probably the most famous in the world. It is proving a pretty great experience so far with new artists and students arriving each week, as well as the huge team of… Continue reading Jacob’s Pillow!
Ballets Russes Google Doodle
Yesterday marked the 145th birthday of Ballets Russes impresario Sergei Diaghilev - to celebrate this Google created a doodle in his honour. Without Diaghilev the arts and in particular ballet would be very different. The Ballets Russes was the most significant artistic enterprise of the C20th and it was led by the indomitable figure of Diaghilev.… Continue reading Ballets Russes Google Doodle
What started it all …
The Ballets Russes, and in particular their costumes, have been my passion since I was 15 years old and found an old exhibition catalogue in a second-hand bookshop. The catalogue was from the National Gallery of Australia's 1999 exhibition, From Russia with Love, and contained a picture of this costume for a knight from the 1910 production of Firebird. I… Continue reading What started it all …
A swan song …
Anna Pavlova, b. 1881 - d. 1931 was most famous for her performance of the divertissement The Swan or The Dying Swan. The elaborate feathered tutu she wore has always fascinated me - How was it made? Does it survive? Several years ago I began working as a volunteer at the Museum of London which houses, amongst its vast collection,… Continue reading A swan song …
Ballet Dolls
Since I was a teenager I have loved the idea of the making dolls dressed as characters from famous ballets. Last year I began making a small range of dolls and characters which I sell through my etsy shop, I also take custom orders: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TheRedShoesVintage?ref=hdr_shop_menu
Two treasures of The Russian Ballet at ABT
American Ballet Theatre this season is presenting two ballets from the bright and colourful canon of the Ballets Russes and Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. On the 6th of June ABT opened The Golden Cockerel, a reworked version of the popular 1937 production created for the Royal Danish Ballet in 2012. Please see my… Continue reading Two treasures of The Russian Ballet at ABT
The Golden Cockerel Flies Again
In 2011 I had the great opportunity to work with designer Richard Hudson on a reinterpretation of The Golden Cockerel for The Royal Danish Ballet. My role was to research the original productions from 1914 and 1937, produced by the Ballets Russes and Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. Hudson and choreographer Alexei Ratmansky then used… Continue reading The Golden Cockerel Flies Again
