It’s possible to lose a day poring over old issues of Ballet and Ballet and Opera magazine. With their technicolour covers, articles about ballet’s rich past and dreamy black and white photos that look like they’ve been shot in a smoky haze, these magazines capture a fascinating era of ballet.
From top L-R
Ballet Vol 9 No 2 February 1950 – Margot Fonteyn. Photograph by Felix Fonteyn
Ballet Vol 9 No 3 March 1950 – Kenneth MacMillan. Photograph by Hans Wild
Ballet and Opera Vol 8 No 4 October 1949 – Moira Shearer and Michael Somes. Photograph by Baron
Ballet Vol 9 No 2 February 1950 – Ram Gopal
Ballet Vol 10 No 1 July 1950 – Nicholas Magallanes and Tanaquil Le Clercq. Photograph by George Platt Lynes
Ballet and Opera Vol 8 No 2 August 1949 – Jean Babilee. Photograph by Roger Wood
I’m just as curious to know who S Burke (? not sure about how clear that name is) whose magazines you’ve shown here. Why did they collect and keep all those lovely editions? Where are they now? Are they available for other balletophiles to browse? (And will my collections of Dance Australia, DanceTrain, DanceSpirit, Dance Magazine (USA) and Pointe be as valuable to some young dancer sometime in the future?)
Hi Jen,
Many thanks for your interest in these beautiful magazines. We found them in our archives and knew our blog readers would love them as much as we do. Unfortunately we can’t open our archives up to the public, but places like the State Library of Victoria may well have old dance magazines in their vaults for public viewing. We recommend you keep all of your dance magazines in top condition; no doubt they’ll be useful to a young dancer in the future and who knows how valuable they might become!