Apollon Musagète
Photograph
1928 (Photographed)
1928 (Photographed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Photograph by Sasha posed probably on the stage of Her Majesty's Theatre, London, in June 1928 of Alice Nikitina (Terpsichore), Felia Doubrovska (Polymnia), Lubov Tchernicheva (Calliope) and Serge Lifar (Apollo) in Apollon Musagète, performed by Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, 1928. This photograph emphasises the George Balanchine's comment 'Diaghilev found the most lousy costumes for the girls. He didn't know anything about dressing women on stage...One muse had a long tutu which was cut out in front, another had the tutu cut out in back, and the other at the sides, it looked awful. Then he covered their hair with some wigs that looked like a row of Easter eggs.' The costumes for the muses were not white as is often assumed but (based on the description for the sale of Tchernicheva's Calliope costume by Sotheby's 3 March 1973) had lilac pleated chiffon bodices and full skirts of silver organza. The skullcap was 'sewn with lilac and purple flowers'. Lifar's scene 2 costume was a red tunic and gold cape, with wig, jewelled belt and gold shoes with cross-laced ribbons giving the appearance of Greek sandals.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Apollon Musagète (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Photograph on card |
| Brief description | Stage photograph of Serge Lifar, Lubov Tchernicheva, Alice Nikitina and Felia Doubrovska in Apollon Musagète, performed by Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, June 1928. |
| Physical description | Stage photograph of Alice Nikitina as Terpsichore, Felia Doubrovska as Polymnia,Lubov Tchernicheva as Calliope Alice Nikitina as Terpsichore and Serge Lifar as Apollo. The photograph shows the four dancers facing forwards, the muses on point with parallel feet, their right hands together in the centre. With the three muses lined up facing the camera it emphasises the uneven lengths of their tutus getting longer left to right. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Gabrielle Enthoven Collection |
| Summary | Photograph by Sasha posed probably on the stage of Her Majesty's Theatre, London, in June 1928 of Alice Nikitina (Terpsichore), Felia Doubrovska (Polymnia), Lubov Tchernicheva (Calliope) and Serge Lifar (Apollo) in Apollon Musagète, performed by Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, 1928. This photograph emphasises the George Balanchine's comment 'Diaghilev found the most lousy costumes for the girls. He didn't know anything about dressing women on stage...One muse had a long tutu which was cut out in front, another had the tutu cut out in back, and the other at the sides, it looked awful. Then he covered their hair with some wigs that looked like a row of Easter eggs.' The costumes for the muses were not white as is often assumed but (based on the description for the sale of Tchernicheva's Calliope costume by Sotheby's 3 March 1973) had lilac pleated chiffon bodices and full skirts of silver organza. The skullcap was 'sewn with lilac and purple flowers'. Lifar's scene 2 costume was a red tunic and gold cape, with wig, jewelled belt and gold shoes with cross-laced ribbons giving the appearance of Greek sandals. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.183-2017 |
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| Record created | March 21, 2017 |
| Record URL |
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