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Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo souvenir program with autographs, C0553, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries
Purchased from Schubertiade Music by Lynn Eaton in March 2025.
Processing completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in April 2026. Finding aid completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in June 2026.
In 1932, René Blum and Colonel W. de Basil (also known as Wassily de Basil) founded the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo following the death of Sergei Dhivagilev and the dissolution of the original Ballets Russes. The Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo was the first major platform for choreographer-dancers like George Balanchine and Leonide Massine. In 1936, following a falling out between Blum and de Basil, the company split, with de Basil's portion becoming the Original Ballet Russe. Blum's portion was founded as Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and later changed its name to Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo (singular) with the appointment of Massine as artistic director in 1938. While originally intending to split its time between the United States and Europe, the outbreak of World War II forced the company to move to the United States in October 1939. For the next 20 years the company toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and South America, but would not perform again in Europe. The company was disbanded following its spring performances in 1962 due to a combination of artistic and union conflicts.
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo souvenir program for the 1951-1952 season directed by Sergei J. Denham, with six pages featuring autographs from dancers Alexandra Danilova, Frederic Franklin, Nina Novak, and Gerard Leavitt. Each dancer's signature appears on a page featuring their photographs, with Frederic Franklin's autograph appearing on three separate pages, including a double-page spread. Alexandra Danilva and Nina Novak's signature also appear on double-page spreads and Gerard Leavit's autograph includes an inscription reading "To Paul" above his signature. The program is otherwise free of annotations or markings.
The Special Collections Research Center holds other collections related to ballet, including Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo "Les Sylphides" performance photographs by Sasha and Ernst Oppler illustrations of Anna Pavlova in "The Dying Swan", and other souvenir programs, such as the Mary Lavigne programs collection.
The New York Public Library Archives & Manuscripts holds the Records of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
This is a single item collection.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. n.d. "Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo." Britannica. Accessed June 17, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ballet-Russe-de-Monte-Carlo.
"Records of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo." n.d. The New York Public Library Archives & Manuscripts. Accessed June 17, 2026. https://archives.nypl.org/dan/19695.