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Algeranoff (Harcourt) Photograph Album
MS.P.060  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Biography
  • Collection Scope and Content Summary
  • Bibliography

  • Contributing Institution: Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
    Title: Harcourt Algeranoff photograph album
    Creator: Algeranoff, Harcourt
    Identifier/Call Number: MS.P.060
    Physical Description: 0.4 Linear Feet (1 box)
    Date (inclusive): circa 1922-1928
    Abstract: This photograph album was created by ballet dancer and choreographer Harcourt Algeranoff, who partnered Anna Pavlova during her world tours. The album contains 178 photographs from 1922 to 1928 depicting the Pavlova Company on tour in South Africa, Egypt, and India, as well as moments from Algeranoff's personal life.
    Language of Material: English .

    Access

    The collection is open for research.

    Publication Rights

    Property rights reside with the University of California. Intellectual property 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 Archives.

    Preferred Citation

    Harcourt Algeranoff Photograph Album. MS-P060. 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, 2003.

    Biography

    Ballet dancer and choreographer Harcourt Algernon Leighton Essex was most famous for partnering Anna Pavlova. He was born on April 18, 1903 in London. He danced under the name of Harcourt Algeranoff and began his career as a character soloist. He toured Europe, North and South America, Asia, Australia, and Africa with Anna Pavlova's dance company from 1921 until Pavlova's death in 1931. Algeranoff adopted Pavlova's dance philosophy of blending conventional ballet with multi-cultural and ethnic dances. In addition to traditional Western dance, he studied Japanese and Indian dancing. He partnered Pavlova in Russian Dance and impressed audiences with his performances in Oriental Impressions and Don Quixote .
    In the years following Pavlova's death, Algeranoff was a member of several dance companies, including the Dandré-Levitoff Company, the Markova-Dolin Ballet, and De Basil's Ballets Russes. He also choreographed for the International Ballet Company and the Carl Rosa Opera Company. During the 1950s he served as ballet master for the Norwegian State Opera and Ballet Company, the Borovansky Ballet Company (Australia), and the North-West Victorian Ballet Society (Australia).
    In 1945 Algeranoff married French dancer Claudie Léonard. They had a son, Nöel. Claudie later left Algeranoff to marry New Zealand dancer Ronald Reay. Harcourt Algeranoff died in an auto accident near Robinvale, Victoria in Australia on April 7, 1967.

    Collection Scope and Content Summary

    This collection comprises a photograph album created by ballet dancer and choreographer Harcourt Algeranoff, who partnered Anna Pavlova during her world tours. The album contains 178 sepia-toned and black-and-white photographs of various sizes. Photographs date approximately from 1922 to 1928 and depict the Pavlova Company on tour in South Africa, Egypt, and India. Photographs include a few shots of the dancers on stage and many shots of the troupe during their travels. Photographs depict the company in formal daywear on the decks of ships, riding camels, exploring a jungle, and sightseeing. Shots of Pavlova include photographs of her on stage in costume and one in daywear with a South African tribal dancer. The album also includes monuments such as the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort in India and snapshots of Algeranoff's family and friends.
    The photograph album is made of heavy brown stock tied with green silk and pink grosgrain ribbons and measures 23 x 20 x 3 cm. A pen-and-ink sketch of a dancer enhanced with green and pink watercolor is mounted on the cover of the album. Algeranoff occasionally painted as a hobby and may be the creator of this unsigned sketch.
    Algeranoff, Harcourt. My Years With Pavlova. London: Heinemann, 1957.Southey, R. J. "Algeranoff, Harcourt (1903 - 1967)," Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Photograph albums -- 20th century.
    Ballet dancers.
    Photographic prints -- 20th century.
    Ballet companies -- Photographs.
    Ballet companies -- History -- Sources
    Algeranoff, Harcourt -- Archives
    Pavlova, Anna -- Archives