Tuesday, March 24, 2015

From the Art of Partnering (and Desha photos)

Divina & Charles

From Pas de Deux: The Art of Partnering, By Anton Dolin


PARTNERING AS AN ART, BY EDWARD VILLELLA (NYT review, 1981)
By JENNIFER DUNNING Published: February 6, 1981
…Such spectacular acts as Natova and Myrio, Horam and Myrtil, and Divina and Charles crisscrossed the United States and Europe in the 1920's stunning audiences with their daring lifts and catches. Thirty years later, the Bolshoi Ballet followed, introducing superb feats of athleticism that changed the nature of Western ballet partnering….
     Some of Desha's modeling work (text below also from Figure Drawing):

Most of these photos by Harriet Frishmuth






Photographer Nicholas Muray

Noted from George Eastman House Photography Collection:

Desha Delteil, dancer American (born Yugoslavia ca 1890s -d. 1980)
     Desha Delteil was a student of Michel Fokine and first dancer in his company. Together with Jean Myrio and Barte, her dance interpretation of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue at the Kit Kat Cabaret in London has been recorded in a Pathe motion picture review. Also known for her bubble dance. Married Mario Delteil. Desha was paid to pose in 1916 for sculptor Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (American 1880-1979) who completed a bronze sculpture titled Desha in 1927. Desha was also the model for Frishmuth's Roses of Yesterday copyrighted in 1923. The prices4art database describes the relationship as follows: "In 1916, Frishmuth hired the Yugoslavian ballet dancer Desha Delteil to model, first for Frishmuth's studio art classes and then for her own work. Frishmuth preferred to use dancers rather than models for her work because of their flexibility and strength which was necessary for holding poses for long periods of time."

Auction noted from the Maine Antique Digest:

     There was also a record price paid for a work by sculptor Harriet Whitney Frishmuth. Roses of Yesterday, a 65" tall bronze cast by Gorham, sold for $632,000 (est. $300,000/ 500,000). The catalog noted that Frishmuth wrote that it was her "best sundial, originally designed in 1923 as a memorial to Mr. Walden, great lover of children and flowers, the gnomon on the dial is a butterfly symbolizing the fleeting hours." It is one of an edition of five or six. The previous record for Frishmuth was $580,000 for a probably unique bronze figure of a woman, Bubble Dance, 90" tall, also cast by Gorham, that sold at Sotheby's in May 1999.
 . . .
     Notes from http://dic.academic.ru:

     In 1916, Desha was hired to pose for sculptor Harriet Whitney Frishmuth and modeled for several of Frishmth's female bronzes, one of which Frishmuth entitled "Desha". She became Frishmuth's favorite model, posing not only for a number of her best pieces but also for her studio art classes. She is known to have posed for "The Vine" and "Roses of Yesterday", and is presumed to have posed for "The Hunt" based on similarities of form and figure. Delteil modeled for other artists as well, being highly valued for her ability to hold difficult poses for extended periods.

Movies she was in from IMDB.com.

Clip from Glorifying the American Girl on Youtube.com might be Desha Delteil with the bubble at the very end.

About photographer Nicholas Murray:
http://epa.oszk.hu/00900/00960/00015/nickolas_muray.html
     According to multitude of trustworthy sources, Muray enjoyed a reputation of being irresistible to women. His first wife was the beautiful Hungarian literary figure Ilona Fulop, who also served as editor of the Hungarian Miners' Journal. Marital problems soon led to divorce. Not long afterward he fell in love with Czech ballerina Desha Gorska [the same]. When she rejected his marriage proposal, he found consolation in the arms of her sister Leja and they were married in 1921. Of their union was born a daughter - Arija - on August 11, 1922, followed by an amicable divorce.

Evidently, Jean Myrio danced with a woman named Nasidika in the early 20s.

British Variety? Dec. 3, 1920. Was her given name Tsune-Ko ? 

"You got to kill yourself"


     "To make a living at [an adagio act], you got to kill yourself," said the agent.
     This clip is from the December 1, 1934 New Yorker, in the "Talk of the Town" column. The writer explains the miserable fate of "adagio" acts by that time. Our girl Natacha came to our shores (late '26) with an adagio act and continued with that kind of act at least up through 1935.
     Two weeks earlier than the above article, the Tuttle/Daks brouhaha had been reported elsewhere—not in the New Yorker, it seems. At any rate, I can't find anything in their archive about it.
     Here's a fragment of a piece in the June 24, 1933 New Yorker, part of someone's opinery re the show at the Riviera:


     You'll recall that Nattova danced (with Myrio) at Harry Richman's place, but that was in the late 20s, I think.
     It is unlikely, I think, that the female adagio dancer mentioned here (in the "Tables for Two" column) was Nattaova. 
     Nattova, too, was dropped once or twice.