Le Beau Danube: four images. Photos by Hugh P. Hall. Hugh P. Hall collection of photographs, 1938–1940, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

Constantin Guys: a typical example of his work: A carriage in London, 1848–56. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Massine in Le Beau Danube, 1933. Private collection; Poul Gnatt (Borovansky Ballet artist), Le Beau Danube, 1952. Edward Pask collection; Preserved Hussar costume. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

 

Graduation Ball: front curtain by Benois

 

Graduation Ball: Old General and the Headmistress

 

Graduation Ball: Bashful Cadet

 

Graduation Ball: Dance Competition

 

Graduation Ball: Specialty Act

 

Graduation Ball: The Cadets and the Students

Photos by Hugh P. Hall. Hugh P. Hall collection of photographs, 1938–1940, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

Graduation Ball, The Australian Ballet, 1990, with Fiona Tonkin as Pigtails. Photo by Don McMurdo. Don McMurdo personal archive collection, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

Colonel de Basil (far left) and members of the Original Ballet Russe meeting Edouard Borovansky and his students and dancers, 1940.
Photo by S. Alston Pearl, Melbourne. Geoffrey Ingram archive of Australian ballet, National Library of Australia, Canberra.

 

Colonel de Basil, 1940. Photo by Max Dupain.

National Library of Australia, Canberra

 

Leonide Massine, 1938. Photo by Gordon Anthony.

Geoffrey Ingram archive of Australian ballet, National Library of Australia, Canberra

 

Antal Dorati, 1939/1940. Price Studios.

Geoffrey Ingram archive of Australian ballet, National Library of Australia, Canberra

 

David Lichine, 1939/1940. Photo by Maurice Seymour, Chicago.

State Library Victoria, Melbourne

 

Tatiana Riabouchinska, 1939/1940. Photo by Maurice Seymour, Chicago.

Geoffrey Ingram archive of Australian ballet, National Library of Australia, Canberra

 

Alexandre Benois. Photo by Emile Marcovitch.

From Reminiscences of the Russian Ballet by Alexandre Benois

 

Riabouchinska and Massine in Le Beau Danube

National Library of Australia, Canberra

 

David Lichine as the Bashful Cadet in Graduation Ball, 1940. Photo by Maurice Seymour, Chicago.

From Ballet 101 Photographs by Maurice Seymour

Vladimir and Elizabeth Polunin, with Alex Bray, working on a back-cloth for an earlier ballet. Private collection.

 

Irina Baronova, c.1933. Photo by Maurice Seymour, Chicago.

Geoffrey Ingram archive of Australian ballet, National Library of Australia, Canberra

 

Edouard Borovansky and Tamara Tchinarova in rehearsal, 1946

Geoffrey Ingram archive of Australian ballet, National Library of Australia, Canberra

Filmography

‘Ballet Russes’, 2005 (director: Dan Geller, Dayna Goldfine)
https://zeitgeistfilms.com/film/balletsrusses

‘Boro’s Ballet—the making of Australian Ballet’ Screensound Australia, 2001 (director: Sally Jackson, Michelle Potter)
https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/boros-ballet---the-making-of-an-australian-ballet-2001/19378/

‘The Ballets Russes in Australia—1936-1940’, NFSA, 1999 (director: Ewan Murray-Will)
https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/ballet-russes

‘Spotlight on Australian Ballet’, 1948 (director: Doc K. Sternberg)
https://www.acmi.net.au/works/73119--spotlight-on-australian-ballet/

Discography

The music used for Le Beau Danube and Graduation Ball have been recorded many time. We have selected two recordings available via YouTube.

Graduation Ball (Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Antal Dorati, who arranged and orchestrated the music for the Ballet Russes) Mercury

Le Beau Danube (National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Richard Bonynge) DECCA

Bibliography

• Ballets Russes in Australia Symposium, Adelaide, 2008
• Ballets Russes programs, J.C. Williamson Ltd., 1939–1940
• Robert Bell, Ballets Russes: The Art of Costume, National Gallery Australia, 2010
• Alexandre Benois, Reminiscences of the Russian Ballet, Putnam, 1945
• Alan Brissenden & Keith Glennon, Australia Dances: creating Australian dance, 1945-1965, Wakefield Press, 2010
• Mark Carroll (ed), Ballets Russes in Australia and Beyond, Wakefield Press, 2011
• Mary Clarke & David Vaughan (eds), Encyclopedia of Dance and Ballet, Pitman Publishing, 1977
• Francis Gadan & Robert Moilland (eds), Dictionary of Modern Ballet, Methuen & Company, 1959
• Hugh P. Hall, Ballet in Australia from Pavlova to Rambert, Georgian House, 1948
• Robert Lawrence, Victor Book of Ballets and Ballet Music, Simon Schuster, 1950
• Valerie Lawson, Dancing under the Southern Skies: a history of ballet in Australia, Australian Scholarly, 2019
• Norman Macgeorge, Borovansky Ballet in Australia and New Zealand, Cheshire Pty. Ltd., 1946
• Edward H. Pask, Ballet in Australia: the second act, Oxford University Press, 1982
• Jane Pritchard (ed), Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes, 1909-1929, Victoria & Albert, 2010
• Frank Salter, Borovansky: the man who made Australian Ballet, Wildcat Press, 1980
• Maurice Seymour, Ballet 101 Photographs (proof pages), 1948
• Frank Van Straten, National Treasure: the story of Gertrude Johnson and the National Theatre, Victoria Press, 1994
• Tribute to Edouard Borovansky program, The Australian Ballet, 1980

Programs

The National Library of Australia, Canberra, has digitized a collection of 212 theatre programs and ephemera relating to the the three tours by the Ballets Russes to Australia, 1936-1940, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-61018475

The company's first tour, 1936-1937, was called Colonel W. de Basil's Monte Carlo Russian Ballet or The Monte Carlo Russian Ballet. The second company in 1938-1939 was called the Covent Garden Russian Ballet. And the third, 1939-1940, was known variously as the Colonel W. de Basil's Covent Garden Ballet, Colonel W. de Basil's Ballet Company and The Original Ballet Russe.

Scene from Le Beau Danube, Geoffrey Ingram archive of Australian ballet, PIC P348/BR/179 LOC Album 810/6

National Library of Australia, Canberra

Hugh P. Hall collection of photographs, 1938–1940, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-144725486

Geoffrey Ingram archive of Australian ballet, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-141346635

Don McMurdo personal archive collection, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-147424054

Papers of Margaret Walker, 1938–1991, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-223990152

State Library of New South Wales, Sydney

Colonel de Basil Covent Garden Russian Ballet and Original Ballet Russe, 1938–1940: scenes from ballets and portraits, PXD 1063/Box 3, https://search.sl.nsw.gov.au/permalink/f/1cvjue2/ADLIB110319024

Colonel de Basil Covent Garden Russian Ballet and Original Ballet Russe, 1938–1940: scenes from ballets and portraits, PXD 1063/Box 4, https://search.sl.nsw.gov.au/permalink/f/1cvjue2/ADLIB110319038

Colonel de Basil Covent Garden Russian Ballet and Original Ballet Russe, 1938–1940: portraits, PXD 1063/Box 5, https://search.sl.nsw.gov.au/permalink/f/1cvjue2/ADLIB110319044

Max Dupain: Australian tours of the Ballets Russes, Kirsova Ballet, Bodenwieser Ballet, Valentin Zeglovsky and Sydney Dance Company: photographs and photonegatives, https://search.sl.nsw.gov.au/permalink/f/1cvjue2/ADLIB110088807

State Library Victoria, Melbourne

David Lichine, 1940, https://search.slv.vic.gov.au/permalink/f/1cl35st/SLV_ROSETTAIE137638

Graduation Ball, 1940, https://search.slv.vic.gov.au/permalink/f/1cl35st/SLV_ROSETTAIE133265

Olga Morosova in Le Beau Danube, 1940, https://search.slv.vic.gov.au/permalink/f/1cl35st/SLV_ROSETTAIE109604

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Ballets Russes: The art of costume, exhibition, 10 Dec 2010–1 May 2011

From Russia with Love: Costumes for the Ballets Russes, 1909-1933, exhibition, 15 May 1999–22 Aug 1999

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne

Edward Pask collection

Author’s collection

Early programs from Exhibition Catalogue for Shapero Rare Books, London, 2018

Three reviews from 1930s untitled scrapbook

Ballets Russes program, 1939/1940

Title page to 1939/1940 program

List of artists in the Ballets Russes Company

Graduation Ball, Borovansky Ballet Company, 1950s

Borovansky Ballet Company members in 1945

Le Beau Danube program, Borovansky Ballet Company, 1951

Tribute to Borovansky program, The Australian Ballet Company, 1980

The Maid of the Mountains

Coming Soon

Additional picture references from the J.C. Williamson collection

Broadway cast:

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154726965/ (Act I Scene 1—The Alicia Allen Milk Farm on Long Island)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-148755268/ (Act I Finale)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-148798974/ (Act II Scene 2—The Boathouse of the Hollyhock Inn – Danny Kaye and Eve Arden)

Australian cast:

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154507386/ (Olive Kingette)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154507487/ (Olive Kingette)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154507683/ (Marie Ryan)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154506788/ (Act I Scene 2—Don Nicol in jeep, and cast)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154509225/ (Olive Kingette and Marie Ryan standing at back with Ron Beck, Don Nicol and Fred Murray)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154509122/ (Bobby Mack and Don Nicol)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154508425/ (Bobby Mack)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154311692/ (Act I Scene 3—Ron Beck, Don Nicol & Fred Murray posing as statues with Bobby Mack & Joy Youlden)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-148799072/ (Lily Moore, Yvonne Banvard and Marie La Varre)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-148799177/ (Yvonne ‘Fifi’ Banvard with Lily Moore and Marie La Varre)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154507889/ (Marie La Varre)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154508080/ (Marie La Varre)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154507781/ (Marie Ryan and Olive Kingette) (mislabelled as ‘Joy Youlden’)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154507280/ (Olive Kingette) (mislabelled as ‘Joy Youlden’)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154508620 (Don Nicol)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154506689/ (Act II Scene 3—Scene at the Hollyhock Inn Gardens)

Australian chorus:

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154509028/ (Act I Scene 1—female ensemble)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154506387/ (Act I Scene 1—Beryl Meekin [mislabelled as ‘Lily Moore’] & ladies chorus)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154508189/ (Shirley Freeman)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154508287/ (Unidentified)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154509426/ (Act I Finale—‘Rub Your Lamp’ ballet)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154311896/ (Act I Finale—‘Rub Your Lamp’ female ballet)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154506986/ (Act II Scene 3—‘A Little Rumba Number’ ballet)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154509578/ (Act II Scene 3—‘A Little Rumba Number’ ballet with Gwen Bazeley and Gerald McErlean)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154510579/ (Act II Finale—female ballet)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154510129/ (Act II Finale—female ballet)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154510325/ (Act II Finale—female ballet)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154510421/ (Act II Finale—female ballet)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154510777/ (Act II Finale—female ballet)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154509927/ (Shirley Freeman in Act II Finale)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154510026/ (Act II Finale—female ballet)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154311998/ (Act II Finale—female ballet)

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154509720/ (Act II Finale—soloist)

Scenery by Dres Hardingham and George Upward (from original designs by Harry Horner):

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154505688/ Act I Scene 1—The Alicia Allen Milk Farm on Long Island

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154506281/ The Service Club at Camp Roosevelt

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154505881/ Act I Scene 3—A part of the Parade Grounds at Camp Roosevelt

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154506082/ Mrs. Watson's Summer House at Southampton, Long Island

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-154505980/ Act II Scene 3—The Hollyhock Inn Gardens