Adolph Bolm Collection
Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/2010563517
General International Standard for Archival Description
Music Division Library of Congress Washington, D.C.
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Music Division, 2010
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Adolph Bolm Collection circa 1895-1982 (bulk 1908-1948)
Bolm, Adolf, 1884-1951
Biographical History for: Adolph Bolm Collection circa 1895-1982 (bulk 1908-1948)
Biographical Note Adolph Bolm was born in St. Petersburg in 1884, entered the Imperial Ballet School in 1894, and became a dancer with the Maryinsky Theatre in 1903. Bolm spent less than a decade with the company, during which time he led Maryinsky tours to Scandinavia and Europe, and served as partner to ballerina Anna Pavlova. In 1909, he began performing with Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, excelling in character roles such as Pierre in Michel Fokine’s Le Carnaval (1909) and the Moor in Petrouchka (1911). Perhaps his most vivid role was that of the Chief Warrior in Fokine’s “Polovtsian Dances,” from Act 2 of Aleksandr Borodin’s opera Prince Igor, a ballet remembered for its particularly savage and exotic choreography. While dancing with the Ballets Russes, Bolm often partnered with ballerina Tamara Karsavina. He danced the Tsarevitch role to her Firebird in The Firebird (1910). Bolm left the company in 1917 after sustaining an injury and because Diaghilev was unwilling to allow Bolm to create ballets for the company (Diaghilev instead promoted Vaslav Nijinsky as choreographer). Bolm went to America where he established the touring company Ballet Intime. It was known for its Eastern dance styles and featured such dancers as American Ruth Page, Roshanara, and Michio Ito. In the 1930s, Agnes de Mille and Martha Graham performed as guest artists for the company. In 1918, Bolm choreographed and danced in the ballet Falling Leaves for the Broadway revue Miss 1917. In 1918-1919, he staged and performed in two Ballets Russes de Serge Diaghilev works, Le Coq d’Or and Petrouchka, at the Metropolitan Opera House. He later staged these works, as well as other Ballets Russes ballets, in Buenos Aires and San Francisco. Bolm spent most of the 1920s in Chicago where he worked as ballet master, premier danseur, and choreographer for the Chicago Civic Opera and the Chicago Allied Artists organization. Two significant ballets that he choreographed during this period were The Birthday of the Infanta from 1919, with music by frequent collaborator John Alden Carpenter, and the 1922 ballet Krazy Kat based on the cartoon by George Herriman. He created several one-act ballets, often using designs by Nicolas Remisoff, both for the Chicago company and for his own Adolph Bolm Ballet company. The Bolm Ballet toured the United States and frequently featured Ruth Page and guest artist Vera Mirova. Louis Horst provided musical direction. In 1928, the Library of Congress, under the patronage of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, commissioned Igor Stravinsky’s score Apollo Musagète for Bolm. Bolm also premiered the ballets Arlecchinata, Alt-Wien, and Pavane pour une Infante Défuncte at the Library of Congress that year. During the 1930s Bolm worked in California, acting as ballet master for the San Francisco Opera, and unofficially establishing the San Francisco Ballet, from 1933-1936. He was hired to stage the dance scenes for the film The Mad Genius (1930), directed by John Barrymore. It is for this film that Bolm first created his ballet, Le Ballet Mécanique. In 1922, Bolm had collaborated on an experimental short film, Danse Macabre (to Camille Saint-Saëns’ score of the same name) with dancer Ruth Page and director Dudley Murphy. In 1941 he would work on two more films, The Men in her Life and The Corsican Brothers. Bolm frequently re-mounted and re-choreographed Le Ballet Mécanique, presenting it in 1930 at the Hollywood Bowl as The Spirit of the Factory, and later under its original title with the San Francisco Opera. He continued to choreograph for the San Francisco Opera, creating works such as Danse Noble (1934) and the three-part work, Bach Cycle (1936). In 1940, Bolm joined the newly-established Ballet Theatre where he choreographed Peter and the Wolf to Sergei Prokofiev’s score. He also served as company regisseur from 1942-1943, and staged his version of Firebird in 1945. He choreographed his last ballet, Mephisto, for the San Francisco Civic Ballet in 1947. Besides choreographing and staging Ballets Russes works throughout the United States, Bolm also taught, opening studios in Chicago and Hollywood and instructing a generation of American dancers such as Cyd Charisse. He died in 1951 in Hollywood, leaving behind a legacy as dancer, choreographer and teacher.
Scope and Content Note The collection consists of materials that document Adolph Bolm's career as a dancer and choreographer in both Russia and the United States throughout the first half of the twentieth century. The Photographs series includes production photographs from the various companies with which Bolm worked, including the Ballets Russes de Serge Diaghilev, Ballet Intime, Adolph Bolm Ballet, Chicago Civic Opera, San Francisco Opera, and the Ballet Theatre (later called the American Ballet Theatre). The Programs series documents Bolm’s work with touring and resident companies, including the aforementioned companies. The Advertisements and Pamphlets series contains marketing materials for Ballet Theatre’s California tour and advertisements for Bolm’s Hollywood and Chicago dance studios. The Articles series includes biographical articles, performance reviews and other press clippings. The Correspondence series contains considerable correspondence between Bolm and composer John Alden Carpenter, a frequent collaborator and family friend. The Business Papers include contracts, financial agreements, travel documents, and an address book. The Anna Pavlova Materials series includes telegrams, letters, and an homage written by Bolm about Pavlova, one of his favorite ballerinas. The Writings series provides detailed biographical information about the early parts of Bolm’s life in St. Petersburg, as well as some press materials summarizing his career in the United States. It also includes Rosalind Shaffer De Mille’s notes and drafts from interviews with Bolm and others for a biography of Bolm. The Artwork series contains costume designs and paintings. The Commemorative Items and Music Scores series includes two Igor Stravinsky published scores, one with an inscription, and autograph books containing signatures from many composers and artists.
series
Photographs
The Photographs series includes black and white prints of Adolph Bolm’s professional portraits. It also includes pictures of him in costume in various Michel Fokine ballets, such as Le Coq d’Or and The Firebird. Several of these larger portraits (in boxes 4 through 6) are taken with Tamara Karsavina, his frequent partner with Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in such ballets as Thamar and Le Pavillon d’Armide. There are photographs of Bolm in the role of Chief Warrior in Fokine’s “Polovtsian Dances” from the opera Prince Igor — a particulary notable role during his tenure with the Ballets Russes. In addition, there are photographs from Bolm’s own ballets, such as Bach Cycle and Le Ballet Mécanique. The latter was an important work in Bolm’s choreographic career as he revived it several times in different forms, taking inspiration from the earlier work The Spirit of the Factory. The series contains photographs of Bolm with frequent collaborators, such as dancer Ruth Page, his partner at the Ballet Intime and the Adolph Bolm Ballet, composer Igor Stravinsky, who composed Apollo for Bolm’s Apollon Musagète in 1928, and John Alden Carpenter, who composed music for several of Bolm’s ballets. One photo shows Ballets Russes impresario Serge Diaghilev on tour in Lausanne in 1915. In addition, the series includes several small snapshots and postcards that show Bolm in costume for several roles, on tour with Ballet Intime, or in rehearsal. The last few folders include photocopies of photographs of Bolm, including one with John Barrymore, director of the film The Mad Genius, for which Le Ballet Mécanique was created.
subseries
Adolph Bolm alone
file
At Maryinsky School, circa 1903
London, 1912
Lausanne, 1915
Photograph by Albie, 1921
Photograph by Robert McAfee, 1923
Chicago, 1924
Hollywood Bowl, 1931
Portrait by Stuart O'Brien, 1940
Portrait by Eichman, 1942
Portrait by Goldberg, 1942
Portrait by unknown, 1942
Portrait by Baacan, undated
Portrait by Goldberg, undated
Portrait by Seymour, undated
Date unknown
Adolph Bolm in costume
Apollon Musagète (1928)
Arlecchinata (1928)
Le Carnaval (1910), as Pierrot
Le Coq d’Or (1914)
Danse Grec (Ballet Intime)
Danse Macabre (1922 short film)
The Firebird (1910), as the Tsarevitch
Giselle (circa 1910)
Javanese Dance, undated
"Mozart"
Petrouchka (1911), as the Moor
Polovtsian Dances, as Chief Warrior, in Prince Igor, (Act 2) (1909)
Sadko (1911)
Thamar (1912)
Unknown ballet
Adolph Bolm with others
Ballet Intime, Washington, D.C., 1917
Bonnet, Joseph, with Ralph Bellamy and E. Robert Schmitz
Carpenter, John Alden, with Sergei Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky
Devi, Ratan, with Michio Ito and Tulle Lindahl
Gallner, Nana and Igor Stravinsky
Karsavina, Tamara, in Firebird, 1910
Karsavina, Tamara, in Le Pavillion d'Armide, circa 1909
Karsavina, Tamara, in Thamar, 1912
Kirsh, Harry (student at Bolm School for Dance)
Kirsh, Harry and Celine Raddling, students at Bolm School for Dance
New Mexico tribe, 1937
Page, Ruth, and others
Pavlova, Anna
Remisoff, Nicolas (Bolm in costume for Coq d’Or)
Stravinsky, Igor, 1940
Students, Bolm School for Dance
Unidentified others, Bolm School for Dance
With Olaf Bolm (son), 1930; circa 1932
With Ruth Page in Visions Fugitives, 1930; circa 1922
Bolm's ballets
Bach Cycle (1936)
Mephisto
Mephisto (1947)
Nymphs and Satyr (Ballet Intime)
Le Ballet Mécanique (1933)
The Spirit of the Factory (1931)
Olaf Bolm childhood pictures
Other photographs
Diaghilev, Serge, 1915
Page, Ruth in The Birthday of the Infanta
Santa Fe tribe, 1921
Stravinsky, Igor; portrait by Edwin McQuoid
Stravinsky, Igor, 1957
Unknown dancers
Miscellaneous
Photographed artwork
Bust of Adolph Bolm by Anna Koltchanoveroff
Drawing of Bolm in Prince Igor by Eugene Berman
Drawing of Bolm by Jean Park
Drawings of Bolm by Remisoff, 1934
Drawing of Bolm in Spain by unknown
Model of "Mars" for Bolm Ballet
Sketch of Bolm by Vidar
Sculpture of Bolm as "Harlequin" by Gleb Deruginsky
Unknown drawing
Snapshots
Bolm Ballet
Bolm in rehearsal
Bolm on vacation
Postcards
Bolm in costume
Bolm with others; miscellaneous Bolm alone
Photocopies
Bolm in ballets: unknown; Daphnis and Chloe
Bolm with John Barrymore on set of The Mad Genius, 1930
Diaghilev's Ballets Russes
Pictures from Los Angeles Philharmonic Archives
Sketch of Bolm in Prince Igor, by Troy Kinney
Programs
The Programs series documents Bolm’s choreographic career with several touring and resident companies. It includes programs from the San Francisco Opera, the San Francisco Ballet School, the Chicago Civic Opera, the Chicago Allied Arts organization, and the Adolph Bolm Ballet. The Hollywood Bowl Magazine provides details about The Spirit of the Factory, one of Bolm's more important ballets. Beyond detailing his own companies, many of the programs feature Bolm’s work with major New York and European dance companies. The Ballet Theatre programs feature Bolm’s production of Peter and the Wolf, which he choreographed for the company in 1940 and which was performed in New York and on tour over the next four years. Bolm is listed as a company choreographer in Ballet Theatre’s souvenir program from 1940 (its founding season), alongside choreographers Michel Fokine, Bronislava Nijinska, Antony Tudor, and Agnes de Mille. Bolm and Tudor are also listed as a principal dancers. Other dancers mentioned include Lucia Chase, Nana Gollner, Nora Kaye, Anton Dolin, and Hugh Laing. This souvenir program also includes designs from several works in the Ballet Theatre repertory, synopses of these ballets, and headshots and biographies of the principals and soloists. Souvenir programs from Col. W. de Basil’s Ballet Russe 1946-1947 seasons also feature famous dancers. In addition, the series contains 1916-1917 programs from Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes’ American tour, and the cover of a 1930 program. There are also programs for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo under Leonide Massine in 1939 and the same company under Bronislava Nijinska in 1943. These two latter programs feature famous ballet stars such as Alicia Markova, Alexandra Danilova, Frederic Franklin, Maria Tallchief, and such productions as Balanchine’s Serenade, (described as “originally staged for the late American Ballet”), Nijinska’s The Snow Maiden, and Igor Schwezoff’s The Red Poppy. Diaghilev’s program lists the company’s planned season, includes positive press reviews (several regarding Vaslav Nijinsky), photographs, and a full page color illustration of Léon Bakst’s design for L’Après-Midi d’un Faune.
Adolph Bolm Ballet
Hollywood Bowl, July 28, 1931
Hollywood Bowl, August 12, 1932
Hollywood Bowl Magazine, "Symphonies under the stars," August 11-14, 1936
Summer Festival Series, Santa Barbara County Bowl, July 23, 1938
Redlands Community Music Association presents Adolph Bolm Dancers, Redlands Bowl, July 29, 1938
Ballet Theatre
January 1940
November 1940
February 1940
November 1942
December 1942
January 1943
February 1943
April 1943
May 1943
February 1944
Chicago Allied Arts
"A Tour of America," October 1916 - February 1917
"Les Ballets Russes de Serge de Diaghilev," Paris, 1930
Grand Opera Ballet (Chicago)
Miscellaneous Programs
Library of Congress Festival of Chamber Music, 1928
San Francisco Operatic and Ballet School, 1933
Original Ballet Russe, 1940
San Francisco Civic Ballet, 1947-1948
San Francisco Opera
Stravinsky programs/reviews
Miscellaneous programs collected by Bolm
Photocopies of programs
Souvenir Programs
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
S. Hurok presents "The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo," Philharmonic Auditorium, January 24, 1939
Magazine of Celebrities, "L.E. Behymer presents Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo," November-December 1943
Col. W. de Basil's Ballet Russe souvenir programs, 1946-1947
Advertisements and Pamphlets
The Advertisements and Pamphlets series includes Sol Hurok’s marketing materials for Ballet Theatre’s tour to California and advertisements for Bolm’s various dance studios in Chicago and Hollywood. It also includes a poster for the Maryinsky Ballet’s tour to Sweden in 1908 (which Bolm led and where he danced with Anna Pavlova).
Adolph Bolm classes in ballet, Rainbow Studios, Hollywood
Adolph Bolm and dance ensemble
Adolph Bolm intensive courses, San Francisco Opera Ballet School
Adolph Bolm School of Dance, Chicago
Ballet Theatre, “Great Russian Ballet”
Exhibition of Theatre Arts, Occidental College, 1940
Highland Playhouse, Adolph Bolm School of Dance, Hollywood
National Organization of Dance and Affiliated Artists, 1950 Convention
Russian Ballet, 1903-1904
Swedish poster for the Maryinsky's Ballet's visit 1908
"A life for the Tzar," 1936
Adolph Bolm and his Ballet Group, undated
Articles
The Articles series includes photocopies of performance reviews, news features, and press clippings about Bolm’s career. It also includes articles by Bolm, including a piece on Native American dance in the San Francisco Chronicle, and his views on dance in Screen Guild Magazine.
Articles about Bolm
"Adolph Bolm" (Russian)
Bolm press notices
Bolm press releases
Photocopies of articles on Bolm
Photocopies of press clippings
Articles by Bolm
"Art and Music," San Francisco Chronicle, March 8, 1936
"European ballet master gives his impressions of Native American dance," San Francisco Chronicle, September 20, 1936
Screen Guild Magazine, "On with the dance," July 1937
Photocopies of articles by Bolm
Correspondence
The bulk of the Correspondence series includes letters and notes from composer John Alden Carpenter from 1932 to 1950. The letters discuss artists, including Stravinsky, ballets, and music from the period. For example, in letters from 1942 and 1940 respectively, Carpenter writes positively about Anthony Tudor’s ballets Pillar of Fire and Jardin aux Lilacs. He also writes about Walt Disney’s plan to make a sequel to the 1940 film Fantasia, which was to feature Carpenter’s Adventures in a Perambulator, Stravinsky’s Firebird and Petrouchka, and Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. In addition, the series contains telegrams sent to Bolm regarding his engagements with different ballet companies, miscellaneous Christmas cards, and correspondence to Bolm’s biographer, John Dougherty.
Carpenter, John Alden to Beata and Adolph Bolm
date unknown
Carpenter to Olaf Bolm
Correspondence from Beata Bolm to Edna McRae
Correspondence to Beata Bolm
From Ellen Carpenter
From Ginny Carpenter Hill
Correspondence to Stravinsky from others
Photocopies of Bolm's correspondence
Telegrams to Bolm
Miscellaneous correspondence
Dougherty, John
Christmas cards
unknown
Business Papers
The Business Papers series includes Bolm’s travel documents from Russia, France, and the United States. It also includes his passport, registration certificates for the U.S., and certificate of naturalization. In addition, it contains Bolm’s address book from the 1920s and several contracts and financial agreements with various companies, including the Ballet Theatre.
Adolph Bolm
Address book from the 1920s
Bolm travel documents for U.S.
Contracts and financial agreements
Declaration of arrival to U.S., 1920, 1921
French identification card and certificate, 1920
Funeral and life insurance documents, 1951
Letters and notes
Notice from Russian Consulate
Russian passport
Russian travel documents, 1895, 1915
Spanish travel document
United States Certificate of Naturalization, 1925
United States passport, 1925
United States passport, 1950
United States registration papers, 1919-1920
Beata Bolm
U.S. Certificate of Naturalization, 1926
Russian passport, 1925
Miscellaneous: Bolm stationery
Anna Pavlova Materials
The Anna Pavlova Materials series includes a photo of Pavlova and Bolm; telegrams sent by Bolm to others expressing his sorrow at the news of her death in 1931; an homage written by Bolm about Pavlova; and letters written by Pavlova’s family or staff that detail her passing.
Bolm's hommage to Pavlova after her death
Bolm's telegrams about Pavlova's death
Letter to Bolm informing him of Pavlova's death, 1931
Photograph of Bolm and Pavlova
Letters to Bolm, in Russian, on Pavlova's stationery, from different people
Obituary of Pavlova in Russian
Writings
The Writings series contains unpublished documents about Bolm by various authors, including notes and drafts for a Bolm biography by Rosalind Shaffer de Mille. The series also includes Bolm’s recollections of his education in St. Petersburg as told to Vera Carpary, and memories meant to be used in a film by Anna Leontovich. In addition, there is material written by de Mille about a film project on Marie Taglioni, and the making of La Sylphide. A copy of Stravinsky’s original libretto for Apollo is also included.
Bolm's recollections and short biographies
Eugene Berman article: Saturday Review, "Hail Don Giovanni, Farewell Theater," October 1957, p. 45-65
Lillian Michell outline and bibliography for Bolm, 1976
Rosalind Shaffer De Mille's notes for Bolm biography
Shaffer outline and drafts for Bolm biography, 1951-1952
Shaffer's Taglioni project: synopsis and script
Sources and quotes on Bolm
Stravinsky's Apollo Musagète libretto, 1943
Artwork
The Artwork series contains five pieces of original works of art. There are three costume designs by Jane Berlandina for Bolm’s 1934 ballet Danse Noble for the San Francisco Opera. The series also includes Nikolai Roerich’s painting of the peasant and dancing bear from the ballet Petrouchka (the design for the 1911 Fokine version was by Alexandre Benois) and Troy Kinney’s painting of Bolm in Prince Igor.
Jane Berlandina's costume designs for Danse Noble
Troy Kinney painting of Adolf Bolm as Chief Warrior in Prince Igor
Nikolai Roerich painting of Peasant and Dancing Bear from Petrouchka
Commemorative Items and Music Scores
The Commemorative Items and Music Scores series includes several miscellaneous items, including two published scores by Stravinsky (one with an inscription), and composer Carlos Salzedo’s piano prelude written in honor of the birth of Bolm’s son in 1920. In addition, there are two autograph books containing composers' signatures, including Dmitri Shostakovich's, and an envelope bearing Stravinsky’s honorary stamp from 1982.
Commemorative Items
Autograph books
Adolph Bolm Memorial Gift to the Exceptional Children's Foundation, Los Angeles, CA, 1951
Igor Stravinsky stamp, Great Americans Series, 1982
Studies from the Russian Ballet by E.O. Hoppe
Published Music Scores
Circus Polka, by Igor Stravinsky, 1942
Prelude to Olaf Bolm on the occasion of his birth, by Carlos Salzedo, 1920
"Star Spangled Banner," harmonized and set for chorus by Igor Stravinsky, 1941