LIFAR Serge [Kiev, 1905 - Lausanne, 1986], French dancer and - Lot 303

LIFAR Serge [Kiev, 1905 - Lausanne, 1986], French dancer and choreographer of Russian origin. Exceptional set on the creation of the piece "Icare" by Serge Lifar: 1) Serge Lifar: Autograph manuscript signed entitled "Icare Légende Chorégraphique". June 1935; 4 pages in-4°. Some erasures and corrections. This manuscript is the original text that will be published in the program of "académie nationale de musique et de danse 1935" which will be the first performance of the Ballet. "Icarus, son of Daedalus, according to Greek mythology, succumbed in a daring attempt the first explorer of "air": provided with wings made by Daedalus, his father, he had risen so high that the heat of the sun, which he had approached too close, melted the wax of which were made the joints of his device and he was precipitated on the ground. Such is the subject that develops this choreographic legend. Young people play on a steep bank of the Hellenic sea. Daedalus appears, carrying the wings he has just made. [Daedalus attaches the wings to his son's shoulders. Icarus tries to fly but he does not succeed and falls several times on the ground. The young people look at him astonished until some young girls drag them along. Left alone with his son, Daedalus urges him to renew his effort. And here the wings of the hero start to quiver and that, stretched, by the air breath they raise the man in the azure ". A copy of the program signed by Serge Lifar is attached in very good condition. 2) Autograph score signed by Serge Lifar titled " ICARE ", Théâtre National de l'opéra, Paris 1935; 5 pages in-folio. Very numerous annotations in pencil (curtain, men are going to stand, music notes, young people, young girls, attention chief electrician ...) large signature in red pencil "BECKER" on the cover page. 3) Musical drafts of Arthur Honegger. 5 folio pages, 2 of which in pencil. Handwritten annotations "Icare -Préludes- Rythmes de Serge Lifar orchestrated by A Honegger". 4) Correspondence between Serge Lifar and Arthur Honegger during the year 1935 for the conception of Icare and 1 letter addressed to Jacques Rouché on the project of the set proposed by Dali: - Serge Lifar : - 1 typed letter signed. Paris, May 2, 1935; 1 page 1/3 in-4°. He has just "finished a ballet where the rhythm is born from the dance" and asks Arthur Honneger for help in finding "what is the instrument that must chant my rhythms". He also explains in this letter the name given to his new ballet: Icare. - 1 autograph letter signed with 4 drawings addressed to Jacques Rouché (director of the Opéra). Paris, May 11, 1935; 9 pages in-8°. "As we agreed, I saw Salvadore Daly about Icare. [...] Surrealism is an excellent conception and its transformation of art into matter, its neo-romanticism - all exterior - are full of interest. [Daly was delighted to collaborate with me and to work for the opera, but unfortunately our attempt did not succeed. Yesterday he showed me his sketches. Here is the first one for the sets: The curtain rises before the music and reveals a very beautiful canvas. This one rises in its turn and unmasks a background curtain, which could not be more ridiculous, with thirty motorcycles in motion. For the costumes: a completely naked Icarus, topped with an enormous bread roll, with a fly above his forehead, on a wire. [...] To represent the wings, Daly suggested an excellent pair of crutches - why not a piece of old tire on the tip of the nose? [...] At the end of the ballet he suggested that a priest be brought in, installed in a coffin as if in a perissary, picking up Icarus with a spoon. I was stunned and did not know how to get out of there. He replied that Elloire [Eluard] and Aragon were in complete agreement with him. [We are faced with a Communist disease [...] which seems to pass in Russia, but which, here, is unfortunately supported by people who have nothing to do and are dying of money, by our friends like Marie Laure de Noailles, [...] Etienne de Beaumont, Picasso, [...] La princesse de Polignac [...] who propose rottenness to the people, by way of beauty. Only our friend Coco Chanel, who knows how to see things clearly, has a lot of fun and doesn't let herself be taken in. I thank you, dear Mr. Rouché, to support me in my audacious enterprise, but I am obliged, for once, to ask you to give me a painter, let us say, moderately classical. It is impossible that a new musical principle be compromised by an absurdity ". - Arthur Honneger: 1 autograph letter signed addressed to Serge Lifar to whom he addresses some advice for the music of Icare. "Hôtel Métropole de Bruxelles", May 16, 1935; 1 1/2 page in-8°. "Your ballet project built on rhythms