Alexandre Sakharoff and Clotilde Sakharoff papers
Overview
Correspondence, photographs, and other material of dance teachers Alexandre Sakharoff and Clotilde von Derp Sakharoff.
Dates
- 1922-1970
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.
Extent
4.5 linear feet (9 boxes and 1 folder)Contains correspondence between the Sakharoffs and members of the Bernstein family, especially Leon Bernstein, who was an impresario for the Sakharoffs. Also includes a diary and a costume design by A. Sakharoff, notes by C. Sakharoff, drawings and photographs of the Sakharoffs, posters, programs, clippings in various languages, books, periodicals, and other material.
Biographical / Historical
Alexandre Sakharoff (1886-1963), a Russian dancer and teacher, and Clotilde von Derp Sakharoff (1892-1974), a German dancer and teacher, were dance partners who toured widely and developed a distinctive form and style of dance called abstract pantomine. They met in 1911 and were married in 1919. Alexandre choreographed and designed all the costumes for the team, drawing his inspiration from mythology and renaissance paintings. After World War II they went to Rome and established a school of dance in the Palazzo Doria, giving annual summer courses in Siena. Their final performance was in Paris in 1953.
Arrangement
Organized into the following series:
- I. Correspondence
- II. Diary and personal papers
- III. Manuscripts by Leon Bernstein
- IV. Books
- V. Periodicals
- VI. Clippings
- VII. Programs
- VIII. Souvenir programs
- IX. Posters
- X. Pamphlet
- XI. Score
- XII. Libretto
- XIII. Miscellaneous items
- XIV. Photographs
- XV. Drawings and prints
- XVI. Film
- XVII. Ballet slippers
Physical Location
b
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Michel Bernstein; received: 1974 August.
- Title
- Sakharoff, A. (Alexandre), 1886-1963. Alexandre Sakharoff and Clotilde Sakharoff papers, 1922-1970: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou01561
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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