Dandré-Levitoff Russian Ballet. Repertoire and performance schedule for 1934–1935 tour

The following schedules and lists from the 1934–1935 tour by the Dandré-Levitoff Russian Ballet are taken from my article ‘The Dandré-Levitoff Russian Ballet 1934–1935: Australia and beyond’ published in Dance Research (Edinburgh University Press), 29:1 Summer 2011.

The information has been gathered from various sources including newspapers (advertisements and reviews) and programs. In particular the following newspapers provided useful information, The Argus (Melbourne), Cape Times (Cape Town), The Courier-Mail (Brisbane), De Locomotief (Semarang), The Star (Johannesburg), The Straits Times (Singapore), The Sydney Morning Herald, The Times of India (Bombay), and The West Australian (Perth). The letters and 1935 clipping books of Harcourt Algeranoff (MS 2376, National Library of Australia) also provided some useful material, particularly about Ceylon, India and Egypt, as did the personal archive of Anna Northcote (Severskaya).

'Carnaval', Dandre-Levitoff Russian Ballet
Dancers of the Dandré-Levitoff Russian Ballet in Carnaval, 1934 or 1935. Anna Northcote (centre), Travis Kemp as Pierrot. Personal archive of Anna Northcote (Severskaya). Private collection

I have standardised spellings of names of works in the repertoire using what I think is the most commonly used form today. The material contained in these appendices should not be considered as necessarily complete or definitive at this stage.

APPENDIX A: REPERTOIRE and PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

SOUTH AFRICA [1934]

Cape Town: Cape Town Opera House

Program 1 (18-26 May)La Fille mal gardée, Swan Lake (Act II), Polovtsian Dances, Divertissements
Program 2 (28 May-2 June)Carnaval, Visions, Suite from Coppélia, Divertissements
Program 3 (4-9 June)The Magic Flute, Les Sylphides, Promenade (Old Vienna), Divertissements

Durban: Theatre Royal

Program 1 (13-17 June)La Fille mal gardée, Swan Lake (Act II), Polovtsian Dances, Divertissements
Program 2 (18-20 June)Carnaval, Visions, Divertissements
Program 3 (21-23? June)Unknown repertoire *

* A third program is mentioned in an undated newspaper clipping in the Anna Northcote archive although no specific details are given.

Pietermaritzburg 24-26 June; Pretoria 27-30 June

No evidence has yet emerged of performances in these two cities. That the company stayed for several days in each city suggests, however, that at least one program may have been scheduled in each city.

Johannesburg: His Majesty‘s Theatre

Program 1 (2-7 July)La Fille mal gardée, Swan Lake (Act II), Polovtsian Dances, Divertissements
Program 2 (9-14 July)Visions, Carnaval, Divertissements
Program 3 (16-21 July)Les Sylphides, The Magic Flute, Divertissements
Program 4 (23-28 July)Egyptian Ballet, Swan Lake (Act II), Divertissements

Lourenço Marques (Maputo) : Teatro Varieta

Program 1 (3 August)La Fille mal gardée, Les Sylphides, Promenade (Old Vienna), Divertissements

SINGAPORE [1934]

Capitol Theatre

Program 1 (2-4 September)Swan Lake (Act II), La Fille mal gardée, Divertissements
Program 2 (5-6 September)Les Sylphides, The Magic Flute, Promenade (Old Vienna), Divertissements

INDONESIA [1934]

Batavia (Jakarta): theatre unknown

Batavia (Jakarta) (12-16 September)La Fille mal gardée (complete repertoire unknown)

Bandoeng (Bandung): theatre unknown

Program 1 (18-19 September)Carnaval, Suite from Coppélia (complete repertoire unknown)

Soerabaia (Surabaya): theatre unknown

Program 1: 22-23 SeptemberLa Fille mal gardée, Swan Lake (Act II), Divertissements
Program 2: 24-? SeptemberRepertoire unknown

AUSTRALIA [1934–1935]

Brisbane: His Majesty‘s Theatre

Program 1 (10-12 October)Swan Lake (Act II), La Fille mal gardée, Polovtsian Dances, Divertissements
Program 2  (13, 15-16 October)Visions, Carnaval, Suite from Coppélia, Divertissements
Program 3 (17-19 October)Les Sylphides, The Magic Flute, Divertissements
Program 4 (20 October) matinee and evening showsSwan Lake (Act II), Egyptian Ballet, Promenade (Old Vienna), Divertissements
Program 5 (22-23 October)Les Sylphides, Egyptian Ballet, Promenade (Old Vienna), Divertissements

Sydney: Theatre Royal

Program 1 (27 October-2 November)Swan Lake (Act II), La Fille mal gardée, Polovtsian Dances, Divertissements
Program 2 (3- 9 November)Les Sylphides, The Magic Flute, Promenade (Old Vienna),  Divertissements
Program 3  (10-16 November)Visions, Carnaval, Suite from Coppélia, Divertissements
Program 4 (17- 23 November)Raymonda, Egyptian Ballet, Venusberg, Divertissements
Program 5 (24 November)Swan Lake (Act II), La Fille mal gardée, Polovtsian Dances, Divertissements
Program 6 (26- 27 November)Les Sylphides, The Magic Flute, Promenade (Old Vienna), Divertissements
Program 7 (28 November)Carnaval, Venusberg, Suite from Coppélia, Divertissements

Melbourne: Kings Theatre (transferring to the Comedy on 24 December)

Program 1 (1-7 December)The Magic Flute, Les Sylphides, Promenade (Old Vienna), Divertissements
Program 2 (8-14 December)La Fille mal gardée, Swan Lake (Act II), Polovtsian Dances, Divertissements
Program 3 (15-22 December)Egyptian Ballet, Raymonda, Venusberg, Divertissements
Program 4 (22-28 DecemberVisions, Carnaval, Suite from Coppélia, Divertissements
Program 5 (29-31 December)La Fille mal gardée, Swan Lake (Act II), Polovtsian Dances, Divertissements

Perth: His Majesty‘s Theatre

Program 1 (8-12 January)The Magic Flute, Les Sylphides, Promenade (Old Vienna), Divertissements
Program 2 (14-16 January)La Fille mal gardée, Swan Lake (Act II), Polovtsian Dances, Divertissements
Program 3 (17-19 January)Visions, Carnaval, Suite from Coppélia, Divertissements

CEYLON [1935]

Colombo: Regal Theatre

Program 1 (31 January)Les Sylphides, Promenade (Old Vienna), Divertissements
Program 2 (1 February)Repertoire unknown

INDIA [1935]

Madras

May or may not have performed in Madras

Calcutta: Theatre unknown

9-23 February: Repertoire unknown

Delhi: Theatre unknown

Dates and repertoire unknown

Bombay: Excelsior Theatre

Program 1 (2-5 March)La Fille mal gardée, Swan Lake (Act II), Polovtsian Dances, Divertissements
Pogram 2 (6-8 March)Visions, Carnaval, Suite from Coppélia, Divertissements
Program 3 (9-12 March)The Magic Flute, Les Sylphides, Promenade (Old Vienna), Divertissements
Program 4 (13-15 March)Egyptian Ballet, Les Sylphides, Venusberg, Divertissements

EGYPT [1935]

Cairo: Alhambra Theatre

Program 1 (27-29 March)La Fille mal gardée, Swan Lake (Act II), Polovtsian Dances, Divertissements
Program 2 (30 March-2 April)The Magic Flute, Les Sylphides, Promenade (Old Vienna), Divertissements
Program 3 (3-5 April)Visions, Carnaval, Suite from Coppélia, Divertissements
Program 4 (9-11 April)Egyptian Ballet, Swan Lake (Act II), Venusberg, Divertissements

Alexandria: Alhambra Theatre

Program 1 (13 April?-?)Repertoire unknown
Program 2 (16 April-?)The Magic Flute, Les Sylphides, Promenade (Old Vienna), Divertissements

Port Said: Theatre unknown

24-25 April: Repertoire unknown

Two further appendices (B: Australian Divertissements and C: Dancers appearing in Australia) are contained in the full article but are not reproduced here. All textual material contained in these appendices and in the article is the intellectual property of The Society for Dance Research and should not be reproduced without permission. Full bibliographic details.

Michelle Potter, 22 June 2011

Featured image: Dancers of the Dandré-Levitoff Russian Ballet in La Fille mal gardée, 1934 or 1935. Tzigane group left to right: Vera Sevna, Eileen Keegan, Anna Northcote, Molly Lake. Personal archive of Anna Northcote (Severskaya). Private collection.

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4 thoughts on “Dandré-Levitoff Russian Ballet. Repertoire and performance schedule for 1934–1935 tour

  1. It’s interesting to read in Michelle’s excellent article that Fokine was involved at the very early formation stage of this company in teaching and rehearsing Sylphides, Carnaval and the Polovtsian Dances. As we know, Fokine did not supervise any of De Basil’s productions of his works until 1938, so one presumes the Dandre Levitoff productions may have been closer to his wishes than the ones we saw during the first De Basil tour.

    A couple of the reviews of the first De Basil productions of these titles here, noted some differences between the Dandre Levitoff productions and the first De Basil ones. The decor of Carnaval for the former company was a park setting instead of the familiar ballroom ante-room with the 2 settees. Some references state that Fokine’s preferred setting when the ballet became part of Diaghilev’s repertoire would have been a park setting but it was given in Bakst’s ballroom set instead. However when the ballet entered the Maryinsky repertoire it was given in a park setting. The underpopulated Dandre Levitoff Polovtsian Dances is noted but the wildness and savagery seemed to be missing from the later production.

    In a review of the Covent Garden Co production of Sylphides [now under Fokine’s supervision] it is noted that the final leap of the danseur, which had presumably been in evidence during the first De Basil tour, has been eliminated. One wonders whether the leap was intact during the Dandre Levitoff performances.

    Another somewhat related issue is the presence of a pas de trois in Swan Lake Act 2. It is mentioned in reviews of the first De Basil tour but I can’t find mention during the other 2 tours and not in reviews of the Dandre Levitoff performances. Garcia Marquez has something to say about this in his Ballets Russes book but it is interesting to speculate what comprised the Dandre Levitoff Swan Lake Act 2

  2. I can’t help with your comments about Sylphides and Swan Lake, although I must admit to being staggered at the costume Bojkovich wore as the Swan Queen (see the photos in my post about Ludmilla Schollar). I have never before seen a Swan Queen wearing such a brooch in the middle of the bodice.

    I have, however, seen in Anna Northcote’s archive one photo of Carnaval (which was always referred to as Carnival in their programs) that perhaps confirms that there was a park bench setting. Infuriatingly, the image is resisting all attempts at having itself added to this comment so I have attached it to the end of the post above. The background is quite unclear, I’m afraid, but the item in the background seems more like a park bench than a settee. And of course the image of Fille is interesting too as it is obviously not the same version as we are used to seeing today.

    I, like you, was interested to see that Fokine was involved. There were mentions of his involvement in other sources but I was suspicious of them as there were no references in them to source material. I believed what Anna Northcote wrote in the article mentioned in my text. She was there and, unlike Spessivtseva, Northcote was clearly articulate and thoroughly lucid. Those who wrote elsewhere of Fokine’s involvement were not there and comments from such people always need to be cross-checked where possible.

  3. I am very much interested to receive any information that you may have on Elvira Rone, one of the Dandre- Levitoff Ballet Troupe. I am distantly related to Elvira and have visited her in Paris in 1969. I do have some papers and photographs pertaining to her.
    You may reply to my e-mail address or perhaps call me on 02 99137565.
    Many thanks, Juris Turmanis

  4. Juris, I’m sorry but I can’t add anything to what I assume you already have. But someone who knows more may read this and follow up. Apologies.

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