1915-1935 Archive of Pittsburgh DANCE programs, placards, ephemera: Russian school ballet
Pittsburgh and Western PA: 1915-1935. From the estate of Karl Heinrich, a ballet master, teacher, performer and choreographer (B. 1885, Wisconsin; D. 1966, Pittsburgh), who taught at Carnegie Tech, University of Pittsburgh as well as running studios in downtown Pittsburgh, Crafton and elsewhere. He was a devotee of Anna Pawlova and of Ruth St. Denis & Ted Shawn. Several of his students went on to careers in entertainment and dance, including members of the Ziegfield Follies and David Belasco's dance troupe. He daringly hired Charlotte Dyer Enty, a Black woman, to be the musical director of his dance studio. In 1935, he played Joseph and Ruth St. Denis played Mary in the world premier of Evangeline Lehman's "La Nuit de Noel." He was a WWI veteran and some of his performances were benefit concerts for the Red Cross and for veterans. We have 19 programs, ranging from small flyers and cards to booklets and leaflets, in which Heinrich was a participant, either as dancer, ballet master, choreographer, teacher, or producer, almost all from the Pittsburgh area. In addition, we have 7 large placards on thicker stock measuring approximately 14 x 11.5 inches, some on a pale peach colored stock, mainly from 1917, some featuring a photo of Heinrich perched dramatically on one leg atop a boulder: Columbus Hall (Crafton) on Feb. 26, at the Schenley Theater April 13 with Carl Bernthaler and a symphony orchestra in a benefit for the East End Auxiliary chapter of the Red Cross, at the Majestic Theatre in Rochester PA (Beaver County) which also featured the Anna Pavlowa film "The Dumb Girl of Portici" a 1916 silent film featuring Anna Pavlova's only feature film performance. The film was Universal's most expensive film to that date, made at a cost at approximately $300,000. It was also the longest film made by a woman director in the 1910s; also for a dance recital at the Delmont Theatre in Oakmont that also featured Edith Armstrong and Jean Gros, a Pittsburgh benefit concert for the Vassar-Smith benevolent fund at the Schenley Theater, a Red Cross benefit concert at the Washington Park Club House (Hill District) and finally one of the peach colored placards but blank, without any scheduled concert information printed. Additionally we have several other pieces of associated ephemera, including an original photograph of him in what appears to be an ensign's uniform, an invitation to a founder's day event at Carnegie Tech, a large flyer for his summer school in South Haven, Michigan, and other promotional items, and lastly a somewhat soiled letter from the secretary of the University of Pittsburgh confirming his employment for the 1920-21 school year at a salary of $2000. Very good. Item #H33281
Price: $600.00