Summary

Abstract:

Correspondence and contracts documenting the cause and the consequences of the 1942 legal separation of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and its artistic director and choreographer Leonide Massine.

Extent:

1.5 linear feet (3 boxes)

Language:

Collection materials are in English, Russian, and French.

Call number:

MS Thr 462

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of the correspondence between the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo's choreographer and artistic director Leonide Massine (1896- 1979) and the director of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and president of Universal Art, Inc Sergei Denham (1896-1970). It includes originals of the letters from Leonide Massine, his attorney Sidney E. Cohn of the firmBoudin, Cohn and Glikstein, and his secretaries to Sergei Denham, to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo executive Alexander Konovaloff, to the company's attorney Watson Washburn of the firm Perkins, Malone & Washburn to the company's administrator David Libidins and other company representatives; and carbons of letters as well as handwritten and typed drafts of letters from Sergei Denham and his associates to Leonid Massine and his lawyer. The collection also includes contracts between Leonide Massine and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and other company records.

Biographical / historical:

Sergei Denham (1896-1970) was a Russian-born banker, president of the Universal Art Inc, and general director of Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

Leonide Massine (1896-1979) was a Russian dancer and choreographer and in 1938-1942 artistic director of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

Acquisition information:

*2003MT-48. Purchased with the Howard Rothschild fund; received: 2003 July 1.

Processing information:

Processed by: Irina Klyagin

Link to HOLLIS catalog record

Arrangement:

Organized into the following three series :

1. I. Correspondence
2. II. Contracts
3. III. Other company records.

Physical location:

b

Restrictions:

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.

Location of this collection:

Houghton Library, Harvard College Library

Harvard Yard

Cambridge MA 02138 USA

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ois:HOU

Before you visit:

Houghton Library's Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library's collections.

Contact:

(617) 495-2440

Houghton_Library@harvard.edu