細節
BALANCHINE, George (1904-1983). Autograph letter signed ('Nerv[ous] Minuet') to Serge Lifar ('Dear Mel[ancholy] Giant'), Monte-Carlo, n.d. [ca. 1928], in Russian, 3½ pages, 8vo (small splits in central horizontal fold); a portrait photograph inscribed and signed ('small but valuable G. Balanchine') and dated 23 July 1927, by S. George of London, 137 x 84 mm, in an envelope inscribed by Lifar, 23 July 1927.
A letter from one of the last two great choreographers of the Ballets Russes to the other. Balanchine thanks Lifar for the money he has received and enquires about an (unidentified) dance and if it was well received while showing pessimism about Lifar finding support for their joint 'project of genius', quoting a Soviet writer ('All people are whores and the city is a stone-built bordello'). Several very blunt questions of a sexual nature refer to Lifar's relationship with 'Alice' [Alice Nikitina, Lifar's dancing partner], suggesting that he should tell her that he dreams 'of the place between her legs'; he includes news of other dancers in Monte Carlo, and asks to borrow a hundred pounds. A postscript sends greetings to [the dancer] Roy Royston.
Lifar joined Diaghilev's company at the age of eighteen, and appeared in several of Balanchine's early ballets, including La Chatte, L'enfant prodigue and Apollon in which Alicia Nikitina also starred, making it probable that this was the 'project of genius' referred to. (2)
A letter from one of the last two great choreographers of the Ballets Russes to the other. Balanchine thanks Lifar for the money he has received and enquires about an (unidentified) dance and if it was well received while showing pessimism about Lifar finding support for their joint 'project of genius', quoting a Soviet writer ('All people are whores and the city is a stone-built bordello'). Several very blunt questions of a sexual nature refer to Lifar's relationship with 'Alice' [Alice Nikitina, Lifar's dancing partner], suggesting that he should tell her that he dreams 'of the place between her legs'; he includes news of other dancers in Monte Carlo, and asks to borrow a hundred pounds. A postscript sends greetings to [the dancer] Roy Royston.
Lifar joined Diaghilev's company at the age of eighteen, and appeared in several of Balanchine's early ballets, including La Chatte, L'enfant prodigue and Apollon in which Alicia Nikitina also starred, making it probable that this was the 'project of genius' referred to. (2)
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