Victoria Tennant: Irina Baronova and the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo

Sat, Oct 18 ABOUT THE PROGRAM Little Theater at Drawing on letters, correspondence, oral histories and interviews, Victoria Tennant, Macgowan Hall daughter of famed ballerina Irina Baronova warmly recounts her mother’s dramatic life, 4pm from her earliest aspiration to her grueling time on tour to her later years in as a pioneer of the art.

Irina Baronova was an international ballet star who was one of three celebrated prodigies RUNNING TIME: known as the “” after discovered them in Paris in the Approximately 90 minutes; 1930s. When she was 12, Balanchine cast her in a ballet segment of his 1931 Paris staging of No intermission the Offenbach operetta “Orpheus in the Underworld.” As André Levinson, the dean of Paris critics, wrote, “The sensation of the evening was the tiny child Baronova, who went through the final gallop like a whirlwind.” Autograph signing immediately following the performance. Copies Baronova danced for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, a ballet company founded in Monte- of the book are available for Carlo in 1932. The name Ballets Russes had been used by the impresario Serge Diaghilev purchase on site. for his company, which revolutionized ballet in the first three decades of the 20th century. Under the direction of Colonel W. de Basil, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo brought to audiences new compositions by Léonide Massine and George Balanchine, with such dancers as Aleksandra Danilova, Leon Woizikowki, and David Lichine. MEDIA SPONSORS: Supported in part by the Arthur E. Guedel Memorial ABOUT THE ARTIST Lectureship Fund. Victoria Tennant Victoria Tennant the title role in her first film, The Ragman’s Daughter in 1972 and has since gone on to work in film, television, theater and radio, receiving Emmy and Golden MEDIA SPONSORS: Globe nominations. She starred in two films with , All of Me and L.A. Story as well as Inseminoid, The Handmaid’s Tale and Best Seller. She also starred in the TV miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance. MESSAGE FROM THE CENTER:

“It seems extraordinary now, when every town has a ballet school and every little girl has a tutu in her dress-up drawer, that there was a time when ballet was largely unknown in America.”

Early in her beautiful book, Victoria Tennant makes this observation in a section of that recounts her mother’s teenage journey as a Russian artist touring in America.

Then, toward the end of Irina Baronova and the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, packaged with a picture of an aged but still stunning Baronova posing with a tutu-and-tiara- clad young girl, comes these words from Baronova herself.

“It gives me, personally, a lot of satisfaction to feel that my work helped introduce audiences to ballet and made them like it. So, there is a piece of me in all the companies that have since sprung up. The work was not in vain. I achieved something, not just for myself, but for the Art that I love and for the future generations of youngsters coming after me.”

Victoria’s book is not only a loving testament to the life of an artist, a daugheter’s tribute to the mother who inspired her, but an incredibly important record of an essential evolution in the art of performance, documenting an significant time period in the history of dance in this country and abroad.

She’s an exceptional storyteller. And tonight, we have the extreme pleasure of welcoming her to the stage to share her stories with us.

Victoria will immerse us in her mother’s journey and her own journey of discovery as she embarked upon the creation of this book, mining a treasure trove of images, stories and memories carefully preserved and left behind by her famous mother.

Many programs on our season explore this notion of the art of archive, the potency and beauty there is to be found in the words and images from the past.

The story behind the story, Victoria’s tale, is as powerful as is the story of her mother’s incredible life and work.

We’re very proud to have her with, to share personal and vivid memories of a woman beloved by the public, and to remind us of the great spirit, tenacity, generosity and lasting influence of an artist who came before.

Welcome, and thank you for being here with us. From the forward to Irina Baronova and the Ballet Russes de COMING UP AT CAP UCLA Monte Carlo Be a part of our story this season. Experience more great art “The last time I saw my mother, I spent a week with her at her home and artists. in Byron Bay, Australia. Each day, after breakfast, she lay on the sofa in her sitting room while I sat in an armchair next to her, reading her autobiography aloud. You see, she had spent four years writing her book, which had been published to great acclaim, but because she had macular degeneration she had never been able to read it. Together we went on the journey of her life. A month later she died. I knew it was coming. I knew that when the call came it would be my sister’s voice on the phone, that the call would come in the afternoon, and yet, when it happened exactly like that, I was devastated. I had held on to the hope that we would be together for her ninetieth birthday. Then, the packing boxes arrived at my house containing all her papers. I opened them and pulled out plastic garbage bags of loose papers, photographs, letters, scrapbooks and albums: almost ninety years’ worth of her life. I upended everything into piles on the floor and looked at it. It was an impossible jumble. What was in Batsheva Dance Company: there? What the hell was I going to do? 50th Anniversary Tour Sat-Sun Nov 1-2 One piece of paper at a time, I thought, one piece at a time. It took me five months. There were over two thousand photographs, the Royce Hall earliest taken in 1915 in St. Petersburg. There were piles of letters, going back to 1926, and I read every one. There were crumbling press clippings and posters. There was a small silk bag with a frayed zipper that I carefully pried open. In it was a small pair of pale pink toe shoes. Inside the lining of one shoe, in my mother’s handwriting, were the words I R I N A B A R O N O VA , and inside the other shoe, M Y L A S T P E R F O R M A N C E . I sat on the floor and sobbed.

By the end, I had identified everything: three binders of letters, seven huge binders of photographs, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, bits of costumes. Sleuthing through the diminishing piles of paper, I had journeyed through her life again, only this time without her.

At last it was done. All the binders and folders, labeled and wrapped, were boxed up and standing next to the front door, ready to ship Louise Lecavalier Fou Glorieux: to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Dance So Blue Division. I felt a wave of loss and grief: my mother was leaving me again. Fri, Jan 16 Royce Hall However, over the course of the five months, I had come to realize that the rare and beautiful photographs told my mother’s story in pictures. I saw another book. I’ll just write a few words, I thought, just enough words to put the photographs in context. Just for the family.

Once again I found myself on her journey.” --Victoria Tennant

Text and images re-printed with permission from The University of Chicago Press

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