Ballets Russes Special Collections and Archive

Happy birthday to George Verdak! Verdak danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and later choreographed and taught at Butler University. Verdak would draw these caricature ballerinas while touring with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, often on the backs of menus and paper placemats. This one is of a Sylph, drawn on a restaurant doily. Drawing from the Bernice Rehner Collection.

Happy Birthday to Colonel Wasssily de Basil, Director of the Ballets Russes de Colonel W. de Basil (later renamed the Original Ballet Russe). He was born in Lithuania on this date, September 16th, in 1888. De Basil's troupes performed world wide between 1934 and 1951. Photo of a young Moscelyne Larkin and Col. de Basil courtesy of the Larkin-Jasinski Collection.

Happy birthday to Ruthanna Boris who was born on this day in 1919. Boris was one of the first American born and trained ballerinas to star in Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. She joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1943 and danced and choreographed with them until 1950. Later she joined New York City Ballet and continued to choreograph and perform. In 1959 Boris retired but continued to teach, in 1965 she became the first official head of the Dance Division at the University of Washington where she taught till 1983. Photo is curtesy of the Bernice Rehner Collection.

Also happy birthday to Irina Baronova. Baronova was one of the three Baby Ballerinas who where discovered by George Balanchine. She began dancing with the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo a few months shy of her 13th birthday. She later danced for Ballet Theater in New York, but retired at age 27. She was born on this day, March 13th, in 1919. Photo from the Tatiana Bechenova Collections.

Happy birthday to René Blum. He was born on this day, March 13th, in 1878. Blum along with Colonel W. de Basil formed the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo in 1932. He and de Basil parted ways In 1934, but the company reemerged as the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo in 1938. Blum only lived to be 64, as he was killed by N***s in the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1942. Blum is the man with the bow-tie in the photo. Photo from the Nathalie Branitzka-Hoyer Collections.

Happy birthday to Vaslav Nijinsky! Nijinsky is arguably one of the most well-known ballet dancers in history. He was a dancer and choreographer, and after receiving his training at the Imperial Ballet School, he joined the Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes as a founding member. Nijinsky was born on this day, March 12th in 1889. Photo from the Tony Clark Collections.

Happy birthday to Yvonne Chouteau! Chouteau was a child dance prodigy and was the youngest dancer accepted into the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, where she danced for fourteen years. Chouteau and her husband Miguel Terekhov co-founded the OU School of dance in 1961, which was the first accredited university dance program in the United States. She was a member of the Shawnee Tribe and one of the five native Oklahoma ballerinas known as the Five Moons. Chouteau was born on this day, March 7th in 1929. Photo from the Lois Bewley Collection.

Happy birthday to Tamara Toumanova. Toumanova was one of the “Baby Ballerinas” of de Basil’s Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, where she was brought on by George Balanchine at the early age of 12. She later danced with Ballet Theater and appeared in some Hollywood films. Toumanova was born on this day, March 2nd, in 1919. Photo from the Nathalie Branitzka-Hoyer Collection.

Happy birthday to Maria Tallchief. Maria was born on this day in 1925 in Fairfax Oklahoma as a member of the Osage Nation. Tallchief was considered the first American Prima Ballerina and was the first Native American to hold the title. Maria and her sister Marjorie began ballet at an early age and moved to Los Angeles to train. In 1942 Maria moved to New York City and began dancing with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. When New York City Ballet was formed she joined and became the company's first star. She is best known for her roles as the Firebird and the Sugarplum Fairy. Tallchief is one of the 5 Moons Native American ballerinas. Photo is of Maria in costume for Scheherazade from the Bernice Rehner collection.

Happy birthday to George Balanchine. Lovingly called Mr. B by his dancers, Balanchine is one of the most notable choreographers in American ballet. Balanchine joined Ballet Russe de Serge Diaghilev as a choreographer in 1924 after fleeing Russia. He was soon promoted to Ballet Master and choreographed with the company till Diaghilev's death in 1929, then continued as choreographer with the newly founded Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. In 1933 Balanchine was fired, and so he started his own company, Les Ballets 1933, but it went under after a few months. When Balanchine arrived in the US, his first order of business was to form a school, rather than a company. With the help of Lincoln Kirstein and Edward M.M. Warburg, the School of American Ballet was established in 1934. In 1946 Balanchine and Kirstein formed Ballet Society. In 1948 the company became the resident ballet company at New York City Center and was renamed New York City Ballet. The photo is from a 1928 Diaghilev's Ballet Russe souvenir program courtesy of the Nathalie Branizka-Hoyer collection.

Happy birthday to Moscelyne Larkin. Larkin was born in 1925 in Miami, Oklahoma and was Eastern Shawnee-Peoria Indian. She joined Col. de Basil's Original Ballet Russe in 1941 at age 15. In 1948 she and her husband, Roman Jasinski, moved to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. In 1954 they decided to retire from the stage and settled in Tulsa, Oklahoma with their son. They later founded the Tulsa Civic Ballet, which is now Tulsa Ballet. Larkin is one of the 5 Moons Native American ballerinas. Photo courtesy of the Moscelyne Larkin - Roman Jasinski collections.

Happy birthday to Rosella Hightower. Rosella was born on this day in 1920 in Oklahoma and was a member of the Choctaw nation. She danced for the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo from 1938-1941, then in 1946 rejoined de Basil's Original Ballet Russe for a year. She would later return to Monte Carlo to dance under choreographer Bronislava Najinska in the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas. In 1961 she retired from the stage after de Cuevas's death. Hightower is one of the 5 Moons Native American ballerinas. Photo from the Wilcox collection.