S. Hurok Presents: Ballet Russe De Monte Carlo. Season 1942

New York: F. M. Rapp, 1942. First printing. Softcover. Very good+ condition. Small Folio. [56]pp. Original tan stiff wraps with Salvador Dali illustration and his facsimile signature and date on cover; protected by modern mylar. Cover with Dali motif and facsimile signature. Profusely illustrated with head shots of ballet dancers, incl. b/w photo portraits of Leonide Massine, S. Hurok, Tamara Toumanova, Nathalie Krassovska, many others. In addition the program is illustrated with numerous b/w full page performance scenes. Text in English. Light smudging along top half of back cover near spine. Serge Diaghilev (1872-1929) was the founder of the Ballets Russes, a troupe that revolutionized modern design, fashion and theater and is widely regarded as the most influential ballet company of the 20th Century. It performed first in Paris in 1909 at the Palls Garnier with overwhelming success. Diaghilev himself was skeptical about ballet, at times referring to the dancers as "a herd of cattle." Diaghilev's success, however, was based on his idea to combine dance, music and visual arts, including set design and costumes, with Leon Bakst as the artistic director of the Ballet Russes. Key to the tremendous success of the Ballets Russes was the mix of traditional ballet with show elements, that way making it more appealing to the general public, and influential in contemporary art at the same time.

After Diaghilev's death in 1929 his property was claimed by his creditors and in 1931, Wassily de Basil (a Russian émigré) and René Blum, ballet director at the Monte Carlo Opera, founded the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo. Its first performance was given in 1932 at the Monte Carlo Opera.