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La Argentina, Collection on
MS.P.035  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Processing History
  • Biography
  • Collection Scope and Content Summary

  • Contributing Institution: Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
    Title: Collection on La Argentina
    Creator: Argentina
    Identifier/Call Number: MS.P.035
    Physical Description: 0.5 Linear Feet (1 box and 1 oversize folder)
    Date (inclusive): 1927-1984
    Date (bulk): 1927-1935
    Abstract: This collection consists of 45 photographs of La Argentina (Antonia Mercé), most taken during the 1930s by Monique Paravicini and D'Ora; a program from a performance in Paris by La Argentina; and two items of correspondence and a membership card from Monique Paravicini regarding membership in the association Les Amis D'Argentina. Also included is the pamphlet Argentina, a brief publication about the career and life of La Argentina. The collection contains several items of La Argentina ephemera from unknown sources as well.
    General Physical Description note: 0.5 linear feet
    Language of Material: English .

    Access

    Collection is open for research.

    Publication Rights

    Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and University Archives.

    Preferred Citation

    Collection on La Argentina. MS-P35. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.
    For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

    Acquisition Information

    Acquired, circa 1970-1999.

    Processing History

    Processed by Andre Ambrus in 2002.

    Biography

    La Argentina was born Antonia Mercé to her dancer parents Manuel Mercé and Josefina Luque in 1888. She learned to dance from her father at the age of four, and by nine debuted with the Royal Opera Theater in Madrid, Spain. Following the death of her father, at the age of fourteen, she retired from ballet, and started training with her mother in her native Spanish dances.
    La Argentina awakened and reinvigorated a style which previously belonged to the Gypsies. She also reached previously unseen levels of artistry with the Castanets while developing numerous new techniques. From 1928 to 1936 La Argentina made six transcontinental tours of North America. She died in France in 1936 of a heart attack.

    Collection Scope and Content Summary

    This collection consists of 45 photographs of La Argentina (Antonia Mercé), most taken during the 1930s by Monique Paravicini and D'Ora; a program from a performance in Paris by La Argentina; and two items of correspondence and a membership card from Monique Paravicini regarding membership in the association Les Amis D'Argentina. Also included is the pamphlet Argentina, a brief publication about the career and life of La Argentina. The collection contains several items of La Argentina ephemera from unknown sources as well.
    The collection is arranged topically. Materials are arranged chronologically within each topical grouping whenever possible.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Dancers.
    Dance -- Photographs.
    Dance cards
    Dancers -- France -- Paris -- History -- Sources
    Dancers -- France -- Paris -- Photographs
    Argentina -- Archives