Ballet was first performed in the United States 175 years ago today.
A French dance troupe shocked the New York City audience with their scanty costumes, which caused some to leave the performance!
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Prima Ballerina
Ballet was first performed in the United States 175 years ago today.
A French dance troupe shocked the New York City audience with their scanty costumes, which caused some to leave the performance!
Today's artwork features the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, whose classical technique and delicate, ethereal qualities popularized ballet throughout the world. She reportedly toured more than 300,000 miles between 1913 and 1928—before airline travel!
While she performed in the United States, Pavlova met the Washington-based artist and arts advocate, Alice Pike Barney in 1915. The two found common interest in their efforts to bring more people to the arts. Barney wrote a one-act ballet for Pavlova called L'Ecole en Crinoline, which she performed in her U.S. tour. Barney's pastel sketch depicts Pavlova starring in her ballet.
Pictured: Alice Pike Barney, 1857–1931, En Crinoline (Anna Pavlova), 1915, pastel on fiberboard, 17 x 14 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Laura Dreyfus Barney and Natalie Clifford Barney in memory of their mother, Alice Pike Barney.