Page:The Russian Review Volume 1.djvu/215

Literary Notes.

A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE RUSSIAN BALLET.

The Russian Ballet, prior to the premiere of Diaghilev's Ballet Russe at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris in 1909, while known and appreciated by those who had seen the ballet at Petrograd and Moscow, at the Imperial theatres there, was little known to Western nations, and its literature was small.

After the appearance of the Ballet Russe in Paris in 1909, and in London in 1911, however, the literature on the subject began to grow and to attract some very excellent criticism. The recurring appearance of the Ballet Russe in Paris and London, with occasional visits to Berlin, Milan, Monte Carlo, etc., tended to develop the constantly growing body of appreciative literature. Some of this literature ranks with standard works on the kindred arts of painting, sculpture, architecture, for, associated with the Ballet Russe, are many names eminent in music and art. It was through the labors of such musicians as Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazounov, Stravinsky, Dukas, Debussy, Ravel, Borodin, Schumann, Chopin, of such artists as Bakst, Roerich, Benois, Soudiekin, Dobouzhinskv, such masters of the dance as Fokine, Nizhinsky, Miassin, Cechetti, Karsavina, Pavlova, Bohm, Mordkin, that contributed largely to the success of the Ballet Russe.

The object of this note is to give a list of the best that has been written in the English language on the subject of the Russian ballet, its creators and interpreters. Attention should be drawn, however, to some of the standard works in French, particularly M. Calvocoressi's French translation of V. Svetlow's "Le Ballet Contemporain," as well as the critical articles that appeared during 1909-1914 in such publications as the Paris Figaro, Temps, Le Theatre, and Comoedia Illustre.

The following bibliography is by no means exhaustive; it is rather intended to be suggestive, perhaps a starting point for those who are interested in a more or less critical study of the Russian Ballet.

A. E. Johnson: The Russian Ballet, Boston, 1913.

G. Whitworth: The Art of Nijinsky.

Ellen Terry: Russian Ballet. London, 1913.

Serge Wolkonsky: The Ballet. The Nineteenth Century, London, June 1913.

Arthur Applin: Russian Ballet. London, 1912.

E. O. Hoppe: Studies from Russian Ballet. London, 1913.

T. & M. W. Kinney: The Dance. London, 1914.

Felix Clay: Renaissance of Dansing. Edinburgh Review, January 1914.

Igor Stravinsky. Harvard Musical Review, 1914.

Alexander Borodin. Harvard Musical Review, 1915.

Leon Bakst and Russian Ballet. N. Y. Evening Post Supplement, November 20, 1915.

H. P. Kreiner.

 

RUSSIAN COLLECTION AT THE YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY.

The Yale University Library has one of the finest collections of Russian books in this country. The fol-