Souvenir yearbook for the Slavenska-Franklin Ballet for the 1952-1953 season. Published in 1952 by Charles E. Green. 4to (8.5” x 10.5”), pictorial wrappers, illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs. Signed on their portrait pages by Mia Slavenska, Lois Ellyn, Ronald Colton, Janet Miller, Lee Becker, and Lolita San Miguel. With a separately signed sheet by guest artist Alexandra Danilova laid in, together with a program for the week of October 13, 1952.
An unusually substantial signed company souvenir documenting the Slavenska-Franklin Ballet, the influential postwar touring ensemble founded by Mia Slavenska and Frederic Franklin. The publication combines repertory notes, company biographies, and striking photographic portraits, six of which have been signed in situ by members of the company. The laid-in autograph of guest artist Alexandra Danilova—among the foremost ballerinas of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo tradition—further enhances the grouping, while the accompanying dated program firmly anchors it to a documented 1952 engagement.
Several of the signatures represent figures of enduring importance in dance history. Mia Slavenska remains one of the twentieth century's great ballerinas, while Lolita San Miguel went on to become one of only two dancers personally certified by Joseph Pilates to teach his method.
The booklet is itself an accomplished work of graphic design. Its striking cover, conceived by future Tony Award-winning stage and production designer Tony Larkin, replaces conventional ballet imagery with a surreal theatrical fantasy of spiraling architecture, calligraphic typography, and elongated figures, reflecting the sophisticated visual culture that surrounded postwar American ballet. The modern photographic layouts throughout further distinguish the publication from the typical touring-company souvenir.
Light bumping and rubbing to extremities, with chipping to spine and 2” closed tear to spine head. Mild damp staining to top edge affecting the text block; signatures (except for Janet Miller) remain bold and the principal photographic images display well. A scarce and evocative signed record of one of America's most important independent ballet companies.
Souvenir yearbook for the Slavenska-Franklin Ballet for the 1952-1953 season. Published in 1952 by Charles E. Green. 4to (8.5” x 10.5”), pictorial wrappers, illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs. Signed on their portrait pages by Mia Slavenska, Lois Ellyn, Ronald Colton, Janet Miller, Lee Becker, and Lolita San Miguel. With a separately signed sheet by guest artist Alexandra Danilova laid in, together with a program for the week of October 13, 1952.
An unusually substantial signed company souvenir documenting the Slavenska-Franklin Ballet, the influential postwar touring ensemble founded by Mia Slavenska and Frederic Franklin. The publication combines repertory notes, company biographies, and striking photographic portraits, six of which have been signed in situ by members of the company. The laid-in autograph of guest artist Alexandra Danilova—among the foremost ballerinas of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo tradition—further enhances the grouping, while the accompanying dated program firmly anchors it to a documented 1952 engagement.
Several of the signatures represent figures of enduring importance in dance history. Mia Slavenska remains one of the twentieth century's great ballerinas, while Lolita San Miguel went on to become one of only two dancers personally certified by Joseph Pilates to teach his method.
The booklet is itself an accomplished work of graphic design. Its striking cover, conceived by future Tony Award-winning stage and production designer Tony Larkin, replaces conventional ballet imagery with a surreal theatrical fantasy of spiraling architecture, calligraphic typography, and elongated figures, reflecting the sophisticated visual culture that surrounded postwar American ballet. The modern photographic layouts throughout further distinguish the publication from the typical touring-company souvenir.
Light bumping and rubbing to extremities, with chipping to spine and 2” closed tear to spine head. Mild damp staining to top edge affecting the text block; signatures (except for Janet Miller) remain bold and the principal photographic images display well. A scarce and evocative signed record of one of America's most important independent ballet companies.
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