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Notes

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Laura Knight was privileged to gain permission from Diaghilev to paint backstage the activities of dancers from the Ballets Russes. Here she shows what is probably a rehearsal at the Alhambra Theatre, London in 1919. The dancers are in the costume for Les Sylphides and Le Tricorne, while a dresser (in red) is on hand for last minute adjustments to costumes in the wings.

Laura Knight may have been introduced to Diaghilev through the contacts of her framer J. H. Steer, who in 1911 obtained permission for her to work backstage at Covent Garden, where she was befriended by one of the leading dancers Lydia Lopokova, who invited her to make use of her dressing room. Through Lopokova, Knight met Enrico Cecchetti the elderly ballet master on whose disciplined tuition so much of the style of the Ballets Russes depended.

Falmouth Art Gallery

Falmouth

Title

In the Coulisses

Date

exhibited 1921

Medium

oil on panel

Measurements

H 63 x W 57 cm

Accession number

FAMAG:1923.2

Acquisition method

gift from Alfred de Pass, 1923

Work type

Painting

Falmouth Art Gallery

Municipal Buildings, The Moor, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 2RT England

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Artist or maker

Laura Knight

1877–1970

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