H. P.: A Lost Dance of the Americas Lynn Garafola

I n the history of Amer ican ballet, the years f r o m 1917, w h e n the Ballets Russes paid its last visit

to the Uni t ed States, to 1933, w h e n the Ballet Russe de M o n t e Car lo paid its first and the chore -

ographer George Balanchine landed in N e w York, are usually v iewed as an artistic void. To be

sure, scholars have found an occasional br ight spot — Amer icana ballets such as Adolph B o l m s

Krazy Kat (1922) and R u t h Page's The Flapper and the Quarterbach (1926); works of h igh European

m o d e r n i s m such as Elizaveta Anderson-Ivantzova 's Les Noces (1929) and Leonide Massine's Le

Sacre du Printemps (1930). Still, compared to the research on early American m o d e r n dance, the

paucity of wr i t i ng about ballet du r ing these years is s tr iking. In part , this can be explained by

the staying power of tradit ional narratives of Amer ican ballet history — above all, the idea that

ballet in the Uni ted States derives almost wholly f rom Balanchine . However , the neglect also

stems f rom the fact that many works of these years opened outside N e w York, were produced

by musical organizat ions, received only a handfu l of per formances , and were choreographed by

women. 1 Al though all pe r fo rmance is ephemeral , these ballets seem to be unusual ly so.

This was certainly the case of H. P. (Horse Power), an a l l -but - forgot ten ballet wi th music

by Carlos Chavez (fig. 1), designs by Diego Rivera , and choreography by Ca the r ine Littlefield

(fig. 2), which opened in Philadelphia in 1932. H. P. shares any n u m b e r of characteristics with

o ther ballets of this pre-Bal let Russe de M o n t e Carlo, p re -Balanchine per iod: the subject mat ter

was Amer ican , the composer a modernis t , and the choreographer a dancer at an early stage of her

choreographic career. Moreover , like these o ther works it was indebted to the Ballets Russes: like

Parade (1917), it was set in the con tempora ry world and conceived by impor t an t con tempora ry

artists; like Petrouchha (1911) or Le Tricorne (1919), it melded nat ional ism wi th the exotic; and, like

nearly all Ballets Russes product ions , treated ballet not as a display of the danse d'ecole but as an art

Cat. 76. Diego Rivera, Set design for Scene IV of the ballet H. P. (Horsepower) (detail), 1927 or 1931 221

fig. 1. Diego Rivera, Portrait

of Carlos Chavez, 1932,

drawing. Image courtesy of#

the Wiener Music and Art

Library, Columbia

University

fig. 2. Portrait of Catherine

Littlefield, mid-1930s,

photograph. New York

Public Library

of expressive movement . For artists, musicians, and writers , Ballets Russes works offered a model

for t rans forming popular traditions into the raw material of a h igh modernis t art. Hence , Alejo

Carpent ier and composer Amadeo Roldan 's unrealized La rebambaramba, depict ing an A f r o - C u b a n

carnival; the choral ballet Sahdji (1931), wi th a l ibretto by Alain Locke and music by Wi l l i am

Grant Still, based on African folk materials; and Caaporä, an Argent ine " Ind igenous" work , also

unreal ized, with designs by the painter Al f redo Gonzalez Garano and a l ibretto by the wr i te r

R ica rdo Güiraldes.2 H. P. complicated this trajectory wi th its dual imagined communi t ies , A m e r i -

cas of the N o r t h and the South, Wall Street vs. Tehuantepec , the mach ine vs. nature , profi t vs.

people. At the height of the Depression, it was a ballet in which the workers t r iumphed , and

which looked and sounded both modern and expansively Amer ican . Here, wro t e Chavez in the

souvenir p rogram, was the "grand ferment of this, our American cont inent . " 3

D u r i n g the 1920s, the M e x i c a n - b o rn Chavez composed several ballets. His earliest

efforts dated to the af te rmath of the Mexican Revolut ion and told stories rooted in Aztec folklore.

/ /. P., by contrast, was conceived at a t ime of heightened musical interest in the mach ine aesthetic,

evident in works such as Ar thu r Honegger 's Pacific 231 (1923), J o h n Alden Carpenter ' s Skyscrapers

(1923-24), and Sergei Prokofiev's Le Pas d'Acier (1925-26).4 Chavez wro t e the last tableau first,

and a f ragment f rom it, entitled "Dance of Men and Machines ," premiered at N e w York's Aeolian

Hall in 1926 at a concer t sponsored by the Internat ional Compose r s ' Gui ld . "Mach ines , " he

wro te in a program note, "are disciplined e n e r g y . . .a t rue product of will applied to intell igence

and of intell igence applied to will . In o ther words, they are a h u m a n produc t in which e m o -

222 D A N C E : A M E R I C A N A R T , 1 8 3 0 - 1 9 6 0

t i o n . . . has welded intel l igence and will together ." Scored for a small orchestra, the music was

in tended to conclude a th ree -pa r t work suggest ing "objectively the life of all America " 5

In 1926 Chavez moved to N e w York, where he would spend nearly t w o years, b e c o m i n g

not only an impor tan t m e m b e r of the city's expatr iate Mexican c o m m u n i t y but also an integral

part of its mode rn music one, second only to that of Berlin in the 1920s and a magne t for c o m -

posers f rom all over the Americas. Chavez formed close w o r k i n g relationships wi th t w o remark-

able w o m e n — Clare Reis , executive director of the League of Composers , and M i n n a Lede rman ,

edi tor of Modem Music—both of w h o m actively p romoted his music, and he made friends wi th

influential critics and composers, including H e n r y Cowel l , Paul Rosenf ie ld , Edgard Varese, and

Aaron Copland . He g rew especially close to Cop land , exchang ing letters wi th h i m for the next

f if ty years, p r o g r a m m i n g his music, and invi t ing h i m to Mexico to conduct . Both had spent

t ime in Paris in the 1920s, and a l though this was a format ive exper ience for Cop land , it left both

convinced that their fu tu re as composers lay elsewhere. "1 have just re turned f r o m Europe ,"

Cop land declared in 1931. "All you wro te about music in Amer ica awoke a responsive echo in

my heart . I a m t h r o u g h wi th Europe, Carlos, and I believe, as you do, that ou r salvation must

come f rom ourselves and that we must fight the foreign element in America which ignores

Amer ican music."6

Diego Rivera , the era's most p rominen t Mexican painter, j o ined the H. P. project early

on. In 1926, he sent Chavez a "synopsis" of the ballet, w i th the general lines of its development

emerg ing in conversations be tween the t w o fr iends. Rivera also agreed to design the sets and

costumes, a l though it is unclear h o w m a n y of the ballet's surv iv ing sketches date to this gesta-

tional period.7 Much to Chavez's d isappointment , the concer t did not lead to a theatrical p roduc -

tion. In 1927 his fr iend Agustin Lazo wro te h im f rom Paris praising the Ballets Russes product ion

of Le Pas d'Acier, wh i le also no t ing its similarities wi th H. P. " T h e finale in the factory is perfectly

achieved, bo th in music and in choreography W h a t a shame these people have the resources to

realize their th ings so rapidly."8 Ano ther f r iend, Jose Gorost iza , advised h i m to contact Adolph

Bolm, the fo rmer Ballets Russes star n o w settled in the Un i t ed States, w h o had met Chavez in

Mexico in 1921.9 But n o t h i n g came of this either. In 1928 Chavez re tu rned to Mexico , where he

became director of the National Conserva tory and principal conduc to r of the Orques ta Sinfonica

Mexicana .

As for Diego Rivera , the somet ime C o m m u n i s t party m e m b e r spent the late 1920s and

early 1930s bu i ld ing a lucrative career in the Un i t ed States, thanks to generous and highly publ i -

cized commissions f r o m Rockefe l le r - and Ford-suppor ted enterprises. Rockefel ler m o n e y f igured

heavily in the M u s e u m of M o d e r n Art (MoMA), which gave Rivera a o n e - m a n show in 1931

that b rough t r ecord-break ing crowds to the y o u n g museum . T h e exhibi t ion was huge, wi th 149

objects, inc luding eight "por table" frescoes commiss ioned by the m u s e u m and painted by the

artist in N e w York. Wi th titles such as Indian Warrior, Sugar Cane, Liberation of the Peon, Agrarian

Leader Zapata, and The Uprising, the major i ty offered wha t art historian Leah D i c k e r m a n has

called a series of Mexican "historical snapshots," a "core set of images" f rom the artist's reper -

L Y N N G A R A F O L A 223

tory.10 T h e r emain ing three were inspired by N e w York. Pneumatic Drilling and Electric Power

focused on the labor of const ruct ion (despite the Depression, the city was in the midst of a

bui ld ing boom), w h i l e Frozen Assets emphasized the city's social inequities against a background

of its newest architectural icons, including Rockefel ler Cen te r and the Empi re State Bui lding.

T h e show generated reams of publicity, wi th the art critic H e n r y McBride p roc la iming Rivera

" the most ta lked-about artist on this side of the Atlantic."11 Even before the show closed, r u m o r s

spread that he would receive a much coveted Rockefel ler Cen te r commiss ion, and w i t h i n m o n t h s

he began work on the Detroit Industry fresco cycle commiss ioned by Edsel Ford for the Detroi t

I nstitute of Arts.12 W h e n the artist headed to Philadelphia to work on H. P., he was at the height

of his Nor th American fame.

Frances Flynn Paine, the daughter of an American railroad executive w h o had g r o w n up

in Mexico, was a major catalyst for the MoMA show and a key f igure in the "Mexican vogue" of

the 1920s and 1930s. She received Rockefel ler Foundat ion f u n d i n g for a t ou r in g exhibi t ion of

Mexican folk art in 1928 and enjoyed the conf idence of Abby Aldrich Rockefel ler , serving as her

adviser in the purchase of Mexican art.13 Al though Paine's focus was the visual arts, somet ime in

1927 she became Chavez's manager , wi th the express purpose of a r rang ing product ions of his

ballets.14 However , n o t h i n g came of her efforts unti l the s u m m e r of 1931, when she persuaded

Leopold Stokowski to travel to Mexico under the auspices of the Mexican Arts Foundat ion ,

another beneficiary of Rockefeller Foundation largesse. Paine introduced the conductor to Chavez,

w h o played some of his music for h im and also in t roduced h i m to Rivera . Stokowski made

tentative plans to stage one of the composer's ba l le ts—it was only after he re turned to the Uni ted

States that he settled 011 H. P. — th rough a collaboration be tween the Philadelphia Orchest ra ,

of which he was the principal conductor , and the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company . W h a t

appealed to h im, Paine told Chavez, was the ballet's " in ternat iona l character" coupled wi th its

exoticism.15 T h e day before Rivera's MoMA exhibi t ion opened , Stokowski told Chavez that he

hoped to present H. P. at the end of March or the b e g i n n i n g of April. T h e conduc tor was p lan-

n ing to re turn to Mexico around February 15 and wondered whe the r the t w o of t hem could

travel a round the coun t ry " a m o n g the Indians." Stokowski especially wan ted to visit Tehuan te -

pec 011 the southwest coast, a locale that would ult imately f igure in the ballet.16

T h e score, however , was far f rom complete. O n l y the first and four th movements were

wr i t t en , a l though Chavez had generated ideas for the second and third, bo th set in the Mexican

"south." T h e second seems to have been especially t roubl ing, and it was not unti l February 1932,

less than two months before the ballet's premiere, that he completed the orchestration.1 7 Such

delays were hardly u n c o m m o n in the Ballets Russes. But wi th Serge Diaghi lev at the helm, the

company had a "choreographically minded di rec tor" (in critic J o h n Martin 's phrase)18 w h o unde r -

stood not only what professionalism in ballet entailed but also h o w to elicit the best f rom a team

of somet imes inexper ienced artists. A trained musician, Diaghi lev had no compunc t ion about

edi t ing a score or add ing stage business to a libretto, asking for changes in casting or the design

of a backdrop, or for a scene to be augmented wi th new dances. Stokowski may have been a

222 D A N C E : A M E R I C A N A R T , 1 8 3 0 - 1 9 6 0

bril l iant conduc to r and propagandis t for n e w music, but his enthusiasm for pe r fo rmance tar

ou twe ighed his professionalism. So long as he was deal ing wi th exper ienced choreographers and

designers (such as Leonide Massine and Nicholas Roe r i ch in The Rite of Spring) he was fine. But

in H. P. S tokowski was deal ing not only wi th a new score, but also wi th collaborators w h o had

never p roduced a ballet, inc luding Ca ther ine Littlefield, w h o had been danc ing all her life. As

the New York l imes dance critic explained,

each spring, w h e n an impor tan t choreographic work is presented by a musical

organiza t ion, an epidemic of mixed emot ions sweeps over the dance world. O n

the one hand there is the fear that the choreographer has had his hands tied; that

the "powers that be" have no incl inat ion to bo the r about the danc ing so long as

the music is given a good per formance ; and that in the public mind ano ther

absurd concept of m o d e r n danc ing will be established. T h e r e is precedent for all

these fears. O n the o ther hand, the possibility of seeing actual product ions of

ballets, whe the r they are new or have been presented for years in Europe , arouses

so much interest that against the doubts and misgivings there weighs a substantial

a m o u n t of genu ine grat i tude that someth ing is be ing done.19

Little is k n o w n about the actual process of col laborat ion. In J a n u a r y 1932 Littlefield

may have gone to Mexico , a l t hough the t r ip is u n m e n t i o n e d in c o n t e m p o r a r y sources or by her

b iographer or any of her col laborators, inc lud ing Stokowski , w h o m a d e a m u c h publ ic ized t r ip

there the fo l lowing m o n t h to study, so he told the press, the ancient dance and music practices

of the coun t ry ' s Indians.2 0 In February, a version of the MoMA show, inc lud ing designs for

H. P., opened at the Pennsylvania (now Philadelphia) M u s e u m of Art.2 1 In late February ,

R ive ra arr ived in Phi ladelphia, w h e r e the scenery was buil t by A . J a r i n Scenic Studios and the

cos tumes executed by Van H o r n & Son, the count ry ' s oldest theatr ica l co s tume f i rm. 2 2 Finally,

on March 4, Chavez arr ived f rom Mexico . Twenty - seven days r e m a i n e d unt i l the p remie re on

March 31.

T h e problems were daunt ing . Al though the ballet had an idea, there was "almost no

scenario, as such," "a want of plan," as critics remarked after the premiere.2 3 In the souvenir

p rogram Chavez explained that he viewed the ballet as a m i n g l i n g of "diverse characters and

regions, N o r t h and South , in the grand fe rment of this, ou r Amer ican cont inent . " Rivera 's vision

was even vaguer: "H. P. is not an exposit ion of ideas or propaganda for or against this or that

point of view, but the unfo ld ing of plastic and musical incidents whose theme is in accord wi th

the r h y t h m of our aspirations, interests, and the necessities of ou r social existence."2 4 Stokowski ,

w h o believed in detailed libretti (according to one critic, the l ibretto for his 1931 produc t ion of

Le Pas d'Acier was so complicated " in its a rgumen t as to defy central izat ion of its t heme in visual

patterns"),2 5 n o w stepped in. T h e n ight after Chavez arrived, he and Stokowski met for wha t

the Public Ledger called "their first Philadelphia consultat ion." Several o ther people were present,

inc lud ing Littlefield, described as " the company 's p remier [sic] danseuse," and Ka th ry n

L Y N N G A R A F O L A 223

O ' G o r m a n H a m m e r (identified by her marr ied name, Mrs. Wil l iam C . Hammer ) , the Philadel-

phia Grand Opera Company ' s general manager (fig. 3).

T h e anonymous reporter devoted t w o paragraphs to the work that lay ahead. Al though

the score "had been long in Stokowski 's hands," he wro te ,

fig. 3. Frances Flynn Paine,

Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo,

and Kathryn O'Gorman

Hammer, managing director

of the Philadelphia Grand

Opera Company, seen in

Philadelphia, March 31,1932,

where they are preparing the

ballet Horsepower at the

Metropolitan. Associated

Press photo

creation of the ballet, which aims to give the t imbre and t emp o of N o r t h e r n

modern i ty and Southern pr imit ive life, has not yet occur red . T h a t will happen

in rehearsals. Con t ra ry to all rules of the convent ional ballet, Stokowski and the

composer will work it out as they go along.

T h e r e is a scenario, but it is not regarded as "stiff." In w h i p p i n g it into shape,

by improvisat ion after improvisat ion, they hope to make of its choreographic

patterns, its folk-melodic music, its set t ing and cos tume design a cross-section of

Amer ican m o o d that will show the persistence of pre-Spanish emot iona l inher i -

tance in its present-day mechanical ized |sic | civilization.2 6

O n e can only assume that Littlefield was involved in those improv i -

sations and in wh ipp ing the scenario into shape, even if her celebrity

collaborators acted as though she were invisible.

Choreographers do not spring into the world fully fo rmed .

They undergo apprenticeships, assisting more established colleagues,

and if they are lucky, they find a men to r w h o edits their work ,

sharpens their skills, and sets them tasks of increasing difficulty. In

Littlefield's case, the men to r was her mother , Caro l ine Littlefield, a

remarkable w o m a n wi th advanced musical t ra in ing w h o began her

theatrical career " w a l k i n g 011" as a ballet extra at the Philadelphia

Opera and ended it as the matr iarch of Philadelphia ballet. Along the

way she learned about t ra in ing dancers and what const i tu ted good

technique, developed a th r iv ing school, and became a dance director .

Cather ine , her eldest, w h o danced in several Ziegfeld product ions in

the early 1920s, received a steady dose of Italian and Russian t ra ining,

including classes in Paris wi th the former Mary insky ballerina Lubov Egorova. As Caro l ine (or

" M o m m i e , " as she was known) spread her wings in Philadelphia, Ca ther ine became her ballerina.

She also became her choreographic heir. By the mid- i920s Carol ine was w o r k i n g as a "ballet

d i rec tor" for most of the local opera companies , even as she was p roduc ing dance numbers for

movie "prologs" and a host of local theatrical events. Gradually, she began t u r n i n g over assign-

ments to Cather ine . However , choreograph ing pageants, musical comedy numbers , or the dances

in Tannhäuser, her first credited opera-ballet choreography, under a watchfu l materna l eye was a

far cry f rom choreograph ing a full-scale m o d e r n work , especially a complicated one like H. P.27

Philip L. Leidy, the secretary and counsel of the Philadelphia Grand Opera Association,

w h o marr ied Cather ine in 1933, wro t e the p rogram notes for H. P. By then, Chavez's or iginal

222 D A N C E : A M E R I C A N A R T , 1 8 3 0 - 1 9 6 0

th ree scenes had g row n to four, wi th some th ing of a plot imposed upon them. T h e ballet opened

wi th " D a n c e of the M a n , H. P.," in which " the m a n , and his mechanical counte rpar t , H. P.,

represent the age of machinery. His dance, in r hy thmi c fo rm, expresses the force of the m a c h i n -

ery age which has superseded manua l labor of past decades."2 8

T h e second scene, "A Cargo Ship at Sea," began wi th a "gymnas t ic dance of sailors

d e n o t i n g ] the vigor, activity and physical force of man u n t r a m m e l ed by machinery ." As the ship

edged south, " the regulated and wel l -ordered life of the sailors" succumbed to " the w a r m t h and

l anguor of the Tropics." Merma ids invaded the ship, followed by fish (figs. 4 - 5 ) , whose danc ing

expressed "all the nonchalance, sensuality and seduction usually associated wi th the w a r m e r

climates. Finally all are swept by the intoxicat ion of the m o m e n t and of the dance."

T h e third scene, ktA Ship in the Tropics," opened wi th " the natives selling their wares and

w h i l i n g away their t i m e " danc ing " their 'Zandunga , ' " as "cocoa nuts" (cat. 73) and "sugar-canes"

(fig. 6) jo ined in the "swaying and rhy thm of the music": " O t h e r fruits, represented by the 'K ing

Banana ' [cat. 74] and pineapples [cat. 75], enter and jo in in the dance, at the close of which , all

move towards the ship as the sailors start loading their cargo of f ru i t for their tr ip to the N o r t h . "

T h e four th scene, " T h e Ci ty of Industry," depicted N e w York (or the " N o r t h " ) , "wi th

its skyscrapers [cat. 76, fig. 7], machinery , and mechanical activities."

T h e workers of the world are at their toil expressing the Machinery Age by a

mechanical and regulated dance. T h e y are sullen and unruly, however , as H. P.

urges t h e m on to fu r the r efforts. An Amer ican Flapper, dep ic t i ng . . . t he Age of

the Automobi le , exerts for the m o m e n t a res t ra ining influence Finally they

revolt against the despotism of Machinery , as Capital ism, represented by a large

stock ticker, becomes panic-s t r icken. T h e w o r k e r s . . . open a Safe, represent ing

the weal th of the world, out of which come finally all the Na tura l Resources of

the e a r t h — g o l d , silver, cot ton [cat. 77), iron, etc., and the frui t and produce

of the soil. T h e workers resume their toil as the sun [cat. 78) sets on a resumpt ion

of the more normal activities of Man and a re turn to simpler me thods of labor

and living.

It's hard to k n o w wh ich is more b r e a t h t a k i n g — t h e racial essentialism, comic -book Marx i sm, or

narrat ive naivete.

T h e n ight before the premiere more than 300 member s of the "musical, art and social

worlds" a t tended the dress rehearsal. T h e ballet was far f r o m ready. A repor ter f r o m the Philadel-

phia Record called it " th ree and a half rehearsals," since Stokowski , w h e n he "d idn ' t like a s c e n e . . .

made Ca the r ine Littlefield put her dancers t h r o u g h their paces again and again." From the pit

came "poli te whistles in protest ," silenced by Stokowski , w h o told t hem, "It's as hard for me as it

is for you." He even took off his coat and tie.29

T h e premiere was a major event, f i l l ing every seat in the 3,500 capacity Metropol i tan

Opera House despite heavy rain. Philadelphia society was out in force, and a special P u l l m a n car

L Y N N G A R A F O L A 223

r

fig. 4. Diego Rivera, Sunfish,

costume design for the

ballet H. P. (Horsepower),

1927, ink, watercolor, and

pencil on paper. The

Museum of Modern Art, Gift

of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

fig. 5. Diego Rivera,

Swordfish, costume design

for the ballet H.P. (Horse-

power), 1927, watercolor

and pencil on paper. The

Museum of Modern Art, Gift

of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

fig. 6. Diego Rivera,

Sugarcane, costume design

for the ballet H. P. (Horse-

power), 1927, watercolor on

paper. The Museum of

Modern Art, Gift of Abby

Aldrich Rockefeller

228

fig. 7. Diego Rivera, Stock

Market (Stage Set — Scene 4),

set design for the ballet H. P.

(Horsepower), 1927, water-

color on paper. The Museum

of Modern Art, Gift of Abby

Aldrich Rockefeller

brough t critics and notables f r o m N e w York — Nelson Rockefel ler , O t t o Kahn , actress Eva La

Gal l ienne, composer George Anthei l , conduc tor Walter Damrosch , publisher Alfred Knopf ,

and represent ing " the m o d e r n dance" Doris H u m p h r e y and Charles W e i d m a n . It was a "swell

occasion," w r o t e R o b e r t Reiss in the Philadelphia Record, a l though he felt a "l i t t le sorry there

were no representatives of the proletariat present,"" given Diego Rivera 's w e l l - k n o w n political

beliefs.30 T h e advance press had been immense , and most reviews registered d isappointment .

W h e t h e r because the plot was too complicated, the music too harsh, the orchestrat ion too heavy,

or the action too pan tomimic , the "Mexican ba l l e t - symphony" fell short of expectat ions.

Al though applause was generous, it lacked real enthusiasm, and many f irst-nighters rushed to

the exits as soon as the cur ta in fell.31

Still, there was praise for Chavez, especially his " sou the rn" music for the th i rd scene,

which included a tango, and for the 85 dancers, especially Alexis Dol inof f in the role of H. P.

(Photographs of them even appeared in N e w York newspapers the day af ter the premiere , a sign

of the ballet's impor tance as news.)32 Several critics c o m m e n d e d the Philadelphia Grand Opera

C o m p a n y for under t ak ing so expensive and ambit ious a product ion (one called the effort "t i tanic")

in such financially peri lous t imes — and all for a single performance. 3 3 (In fact, the company

L Y N N G A R A F O L A 223

ended up cancel ing its 1932 — 33 season and then

quietly died, a v ic t im of the Depression.)34

However , the greatest enthusiasm was for

Rivera 's cont r ibut ion . Linton Mar t in in the Philadel-

phia Enquirer c o m m e n d e d the "freshness of fantasy for

the eye" and though t that the music was "chiefly

auxi l iary" to Rivera 's costumes. "Fantasy and realism

are combined in Iiis danc ing fishes and fruits, and

most s t r ik ing is the f igure of *H. IV himself , chiefly

nude, wi th kH. IV ta t tooed on his bare back, and w h o

has a great t ime whi r l ing and s tamping emphat ica l ly"

t r B ' f ' l f f l * (cat. 79)3 5 T h e letters r eminde d another critic of a

football player3 6 Wi th his welder 's visor, electric coils,

and whi te painted back that looked like a football or

work shirt, H .P . was a proletarian of the Nor th . But

he was also a man of the South — nut b r o w n , wi th

sculptured je t-black hair. Here was a biracial be ing

w h o expressed the cul tural duali ty of the ballet's

Mexican creators. T h e New York Herald Tribune's

M a r y Watkins , w h o found the music "pretent ious and empty ," a t t r ibuted "wha t color and

h u m o r . . . there is" to Rivera 's "genius": "His fishes, mermaids , cocoanuts , sugar cane, bananas,

cigars and gasoline pumps [fig. 8] provide some th ing quite new and actually distinctive in ballet

invest i ture and retain the qualities of sunl ight and intense simplicity which always has been the

secret of his success."37

T h e Philadelphia Ledger critic was even more enthusiastic. "It may be said at once," he

wrote , " that the most effective features of the pe r fo rmance were the stage settings and the cos-

tumes, which , especially in the third section, developed an a tmosphere of the tropics not bo rne

out by either the music or the choreography."3 8 T h e critic also d r ew at tent ion to the "ex t raord i -

na ry" l ight ing effects, especially in Scenes 1 and 4. "In T h e Dance of the Man l H . P.,'" he wro te ,

"a clever shadow effect was used depict ing the f igure of the dancer enormous ly enlarged on a

l ight-colored screen at the back of the stage."39 Th i s s i lhouet te effect was almost certainly an idea

of Rivera's. In 1926, w h e n Chavez sent the scenario of H. P. to his f r iend Oc tav io (i . Barreda,

the poet urged h im to confer wi th Rivera about the use of l ight ing effects.

fig. 8. Diego Rivera, Gas

Pump, costume design for

the ballet H. P. (Horsepower),

1927, watercolor and pencil

on paper. The Museum of

Modern Art, Gift of Abby

Aldrich Rockefeller

W h a t color here, wha t colors there, and not leave it to the electricians. For m e

this is as impor tan t as the music itself. I believe that the d y n a m i s m of H P can

only be achieved wi th lights and music, m u c h more so than wi th h u m a n m o v e -

ment . There in t ruly lies the original i ty of the matter . T h e m o v e m e n t of shadows

is m u c h more rapid than h u m a n movemen t and much more precise and less sad.40

L Y N N G A R A F O L A 223

Unsurprisingly, the clearest assessment of the choreography came f rom the t w o N e w York dance

critics w h o at tended the premiere — Mary Watkins of the New York Herald Tribune and J o h n

Mar t in of the New York Times. Watkins was unimpressed. Littlefield, she wro te , " m a n a g e d to

achieve a product ion totally inoffensive, but equally undis t inguished . "

Save for the episode of the sirens, wh ich had points of or iginal i ty and h u m o r , . . .

Miss Littlefield's chief v i r tue is that she avoided c lut ter ing her scene, that she was

economic and not overambit ious for her t roupe of none too proficient dancers.

T h e one outs tanding pe r fo rmance was that of Alexis D o l i n o f f , . . . in w h o m was

observable immedia te ly the t ra ined and seasoned veteran of such companies |as|

Diaghilev's and Ida Rubinstein's.4 1

In a fo l low-up Sunday piece she sounded a much more positive note. " [T]he dance of the Sirens

w h o invade the ship in Scene 2," she wro te ,

is probably the most perfect realization of [Rivera's] claim to have "dance , pa in t -

ing a n d . . . scenery . . .express the music of H. P. in plastic form," and its perfections

can be traced to Ca ther ine Littlefield, the choreographer , as well as to the makers

of music and setting. In the report of the premiere pe r fo rmance , the paragraph

enlarg ing u p on t h i s . . . episode was unfor tuna te ly lost somewhere in a tangle of

telegraph wires be tween here and Philadelphia, and thus it went wi thou t the

men t ion which it so supremely merited.4 2

In the New York Times J o h n Mar t in found considerably more to admire , even if he

regarded the enterprise as a whole as a missed oppor tun i ty . " Indeed , it is possible to feel consider-

able respect if no great enthusiasm for the choreography, for once again a musician has issued a

formidable challenge to a dance composer ," he wro te .

Mr. Chavez has filled his music to the b r im wi th substance. It is endlessly cont ra -

puntal, and in this Miss Littlefield has succeeded admirably in captur ing the general

musical feeling. She manages to keep as many as three or four groups active at the

same t ime and still main ta in a certain unity. It is in the simpler melodic passages

that she is less for tunate . W h e n the eye craves a sustained plastic line, it is several

t imes allowed to go unsatisfied. Even here, however , w h e n some of the characters

are bunches of bananas, pineapples, coconuts and huge fish in papier -mache

casings, there is not much oppo r tun i ty to be lyrical w i thou t a struggle.43

In a later Sunday piece Mar t in examined the work 's missed opportuni t ies . 4 4 So much was c o m -

mendable, he lamented, that it was "doubly regret table" that the product ion was not " tho rough ly

dis t inguished." Chavez, for instance, had original ly scored his music for a small orchestra. H o w -

ever, the 1932 score was for a full symphony orchestra, and this easily overpowered the dancers.

Mar t in cited the incongru i ty of the open in g scene, danced by H. P. " in the pleni tude of his

222 D A N C E : A M E R I C A N A R T , 1 8 3 0 - 1 9 6 0

intellect, sent iments and physical powers ," a single, slight h u m a n f igure danc ing a solo "whi le an

orchestra of 114 pieces looses intricate mazes of sound." Wisely, Littlefield made 110 a t tempt to

reproduce those mazes, but sought instead to approximate " their feeling by a spasmodic combina -

tion of intense and generally staccato movements , so syncopated and involved that Mr. Dol inof f

needed all his r h y t h m i c vir tuosi ty to get t h rough it."

Mar t i n found m u c h to c o m m e n d in the second scene, a l though he felt that Littlefield did

not consistently develop her material. As an example he cited the sailors' dance, which started

well but ended in a "formless exhibi t ion of acrobatics," underscored by a "ragged p e r f o r m a n c e "

by the sailors that " m a d e it impossible to tel l" whe the r they were supposed to be danc ing in

canon or "were merely o f f b e a t . " Mar t in liked the m o m e n t w h e n the sirens (cat. 80) came spilling

over the edge of the ship, "de l ight fu l ly c o s t u m e d " and car ry ing guitars, "a combina t ion ," he

wro te , "of mermaids and senoritas, w i th a touch of Waikiki . " But Littlefield again failed to

develop her "first-rate choreographic theme ," and when the l ibretto called for everyone to be

"swept by the frant ic pleasures of the rhy thm, syncopation and dance," Mar t in found n o t h i n g but

confus ion , a l though he admi t ted that the school of " s u p e r h u m a n" fish w h o invaded the ship in

huge, stiff papier -mache costumes "present[ed] a problem no dance composer could be expected

to cope wi th . "

In Scene 3 Rivera "complete ly" swamped the choreographer. T h e r e were fruits in

abundance , all dressed in cumbe r som e papier -mache costumes, accompanied by wha t Mar t in

called "veritable groves of palm trees": " T h o u g h in tli is scene the music presents actual dance

themes, orchestrated simply enough to suggest a sustained plastic line, none is fo r thcoming . T h e

reason is probably that there is not r o o m e n o u g h for any danc ing of a sustained mass character.

A more exper ienced choreographer than Miss Littlefield migh t have done a little better, but not

much . " T h e fault, in o ther words, was not Littlefield's or, at least, not Littlefield s alone. N o r was

it Rivera's , a rgued the Times' art critic Edward Alden Jewell . Praising the "richness of fancy,"

color, and "employmen t of folk tradit ions," Jewell described the cos tumes as magically b r ing ing

the painted figures of Rivera 's murals to th ree-d imens iona l life. He cont inued , w i thou t n a m i n g

Littlefield: " T h a t choreographical ly these elements were not made use of, were not composed ,

not pe rmi t t ed to become integral parts of a picture such as Rivera himself would const ruct — this

was not his fault. It lay outside Rivera 's allocated province."4 5 T h e composer Marc Blitzstein,

r ev iewing the product ion in Modern Music, was sympathet ic to the theatrical problem, a l though

he, too, never men t ioned the choreographer by name. He though t the costumes were good "in

their way, the way of the m u m m e r ' s parade."

[E]normous papier -mache [sic] pineapples, cocoanuts [sic], bananas and palm-t rees

peopled the stage, the amiable product of a child's profuse imagina t ion . T h e y took

up so m u c h room that the logical choreographic plan should have been model led

on the simple defile; instead of wh ich , everybody was made to dance, the Big Fish

got in the way of the Grand Pineapple, and the stage was invariably messy and

ugly to look at.46

L Y N N G A R A F O L A 223

Notes

1. Suzanne Carbonneau , "Adolph Bolm in America ," in

The Ballets Russe* and Its World, ed. Lynn Garafola and

Nancy Van N o r m a n Baer ( N e w Haven, 1999)» 2 1 9 - 4 4 ;

Suzanne Carbonneau Levy, " T h e Russians Are C o m i n g :

Russian Dancers in the Uni ted States," Ph.D. diss.,

N e w York University, 1990, ch. 6; Lawrence Sullivan,

"Les Noces: T h e Amer ican Premiere ," Dance Research

Journal 14, nos. 1 - 2 (1981-82): 3 - 1 4 ; Shelley C. Berg,

"Le Sacre du printemps": Seren Productions from Nijinsky to

Martha Graham (Ann Arbor, MI, 1988), ch. 5. Levy's

unpublished dissertation, focusing on Russian dancers

w h o worked in the Uni ted States f rom the 1910s to the

early 1930s, is one of the very few studies focusing on

ballet du r ing this period, v iewing it across genres and

especially in t andem wi th popular cul ture . Another ,

albeit more l imited in scope, is Dawn Lille Horowitz ' s

"Michel Fokine in America , 1919-1942," Ph.D. diss.,

N e w York University, 1982. More recently, Car r ie

Gaiser Casey in "Ballet 's Feminisms: Genealogy and

Gender in T w e n t i e t h - C e n t u r y American Ballet," Ph.D.

diss., University of Cal i fornia , Berkeley, 2009, has

focused on the careers of Anna Pavlova, Albert ina

Rasch, and Rosina Galli, all active as dancers, choreog-

raphers, and company directors in the early twent ie th

century. Andrea Harris in "Aesthetic Dissidence:

Feminist Ballet Histor iography and the Boundar ies of

the Classical," Ph.D. diss., Universi ty of W i s c o n s i n -

Madison, 2005, offers a feminist cr i t ique of received

ball et historiography that rests in part 011 the career

of R u t h Page. Page has also been the subject of several

recent articles by Joellen Megl in . See, for example,

" C h o r e o g r a p h i n g Identities Beyond Boundaries:

La Guiablesse and R u t h Page's Excursions in to World

Dance ," Dance Chronicle 30, no. 3 (2007): 4 3 9 - 6 9 ;

"Blur r ing the Boundar ies of Genre , Gender , and

Geopolitics: R u t h Page and Harald Kreutzberg 's

Transatlantic Col laborat ion in the 1930s," Dance

Research Journal, 41, no. 2 (Winte r 2009): 5 2 - 7 5 ; and

"Victory Garden: R u t h Page's Danced Poems in the

T i m e of World War II," Dance Research 30, no. 1

(Summer 2012): 2 2 - 5 6 .

2. Lester Tome, "Envis ioning a C u b a n Ballet: A f r o -

cubanismo, Nat ional ism and Political C o m m e n t a r y in

Alejo Carpen t ie r and Amadeo Roldan 's La rehamharamha

1928," Dance Research Journal of Korea 71, no. 5 (2013):

2 - 2 5 ; Charles Moleswor th , " In Search of Sahdji: Alain

Locke and the M a k i n g of an Af r i can-Amer ican Ballet,"

The Berlin Journal, no. 12 (Spring 2006): 5 6 - 5 9 ; Leonard

Harris and Charles Moleswor th , Alain L. Locke:

Biography of a Philosopher (Chicago, 2008), 251 - 5 8 ;

Victoria Phillips Gedu ld , "Sahdji, an African Ballet (1931):

Q u e e r Connec t ions and the 'Myth of the Solitary

Genius , ' " CORD 200S Conference Proceedings, 95-105 ;

Michelle Clayton, "Modern i sm ' s M o v i n g Bodies,"

paper delivered at the Co lumbia Univers i ty seminar

Studies in Dance, 21 Apr. 2014, 13-17; Maria Elena

Babino, Ricardo Giiiraldes y su vinculo con el arte: Buenos

Aires, Paris, Mallorca, un itinerario estetico para un proyecto

americanista (San Mar t in , 2007), and Caapora: Un hallet

indigena en la modernidad (Buenos Aires, 2010). For a

overview of ideas about the aesthetic of p re -Hispan ic

recovery, see R o d r i g o Gut ierrez Vinueles, " R e c u p e r -

acion prehispanista en la con temporane idad : t radicion,

vanguardia y fo r tuna critica," Revista de Historiograßa 19,

no. 10 (2/2013): 88-100 .

3. H. P. souvenir p rogram, quoted in Chr is t ina Taylor

Gibson, " T h e Music of Manuel M. Ponce, Jul ian

Carr i l lo , and Carlos Chavez in N e w York, 1925-1932,"

Ph.D. diss., Universi ty of Maryland , Col lege Park, 2008,

190.

4. Gibson 2008, 198. For Chavez's early years in N e w

York, see ch. 5.

5. P rogram, Internat ional Composers ' Gui ld , Aeolian

Hall, 28 Nov. 1926, M - C L P (Chavez, Carlos), Music

Division, N e w York Public Library (hereafter

M I ) - N Y P L ) . For the manuscr ip t score signed by the

composer and dated 1926, s e e J O N 84-11 no. 97k,

M D - N Y P L .

6. Letter to Carlos Chavez, 26 Dec. [1931]. JOB 9 3 - 4 ,

Cor respondence and Scores Be long ing to Carlos

Chavez, 1907-79 , Folder 12, M D - N Y P L .

7. Diego Rivera to Carlos Chavez [1926], and accompa-

nying note, Epistolario selecto de Carlos Chavez, ed. Gloria

C a r m o n a (Mexico City, 1989), 66. See also Oc tav io G.

Barreda to Carlos Chavez, 27 Aug. 1926, ibid., 69.

T h e M u s e u m of M o d e r n Art , which owns the most

complete set of Rivera 's designs, dates about half to 1927

and identifies the remainder as be ing made in 1927 or

222 D A N C E : A M E R I C A N A R T , 1 8 3 0 - 1 9 6 0

1931 - T h e images are on l ine at h t t p : / / w w w . n i o m a . o r g /

col lect ion/ar t is t .php?art is t_id=4942.

8. Agust in Lazo to Carlos Chavez , 10 Jun e 1927,

C a r m o n a 1989, 76.

9. Jose Gorost iza to Carlos Chavez, 4 July [1927], and

accompany ing note, C a r m o n a 1989, 7 7 - 7 8 . In his effort

to get H. P. and his o ther ballets produced, Chavez

also contacted Irene Lewisohn of the Ne ighbo rhoo d

Playhouse in N e w York Ci ty and Eugene Goossens, the

conduc tor of the first English concer t pe r fo rmance of

The Rite of Spring n o w associated wi th the Eastman

School of Music in Rochester , N e w York.

10. Leah Dicke rman , "Leftist Circui ts ," in Leah

Dicke rman and Anna Indych-Lopez, Diego Rivera:

Murals for the Museum of Modern Art [exh. cat., Museum

of M o d e r n Art] ( N e w York, 2011), 28. See pages 3 1 - 3 6

for the N e w York panels.

11. T h e show, which opened to the public on D e c e m -

ber 23 and closed five weeks later, received generous

coverage both in the New York Times (hereafter NYT)

and the New York Herald Tribune (hereafter NYHT). For

McBride , see " D i e g o Rivera Exhibi t ion in N e w York,"

The Sun, 3 Jan . 1932, AS7.

12. Edward Alden Jewell , " T w o Corners Are Turned :

Metropol i tan 's N e w D i r e c t o r — T h e M u s e u m of

M o d e r n A r t — M u r a l s for R a d i o City," NYT, 24 Jan .

1932, X12. Rivera was eventually commissioned to paint

Man at the Crossroads, the grand mural at 30 Rockefel ler

Plaza (the RCA Building) that would be chiseled away

because of its overt display of political radicalism and

because it depicted Joh n D. Rockefel ler , Jr., a t emper -

ance advocate, swil l ing cocktails (Dickerman 2011, 40).

Some of the Rockefel ler Cen te r material was absorbed

in to the mura l series Portrait of America, painted by

Rivera at the N e w Workers School, 51 West 14th Street

in N e w York City, founded by the oppositionist

C o m m u n i s t leader Jay Lovestone.

13. Dickerman 2011, 21 - 2 2 . For the various exhibi t ions

of Mexican art in the Uni ted States in the 1920s, see

Jodi Rober t s , "Selected Chrono logy ," in D icke rman

and Anna Indych-Lopez 2011, 138-43: for the relat ion-

ship be tween Mexican mural ism and Americanis t

modern i sm, see Edward Lybeer, "Transnat ional

Modern isms: T h e Uni ted States, Mexico, and the Idea

of America ," Ph.D. diss.. Universi ty of Pennsylvania,

Philadelphia, 2011, 100-121.

14. Gibson 2008, 165-66.

15. Ibid., 180-81. See, also, Ol iver Daniel , Stokowski:

A Counterpoint of I lew (New York, 1982), 279.

16. Stokowski to Chavez, 24 Nov. 1931. in C a r m o n a

1989, 127.

17. Gibson 2008, 181-82.

18. J o h n Mar t in . " T h e Dance: A Handicap Event,"

NYT, 10 Apr. 1932, X11.

19. J o h n Mar t in , " T h e Dance: A Mexican Ballet," NY 1, 27 Mar. 1932, X11.

20. For Littlefield's possible trip to Mexico, see Gibson

2008, 197. Unfor tunate ly , she does not support this

wi th evidence. Nancy Brooks Schmitz 's "A Profile of

Ca the r ine Littlefield," Ph.D. diss.. Temple University,

1986, is the fullest discussion of the choreographer ' s life

and career. For Stokowski 's trip, see Gibson 2008, 183.

21. Rober t s 2011, 141; Gibson 2008, 183.

22. "Gasol ine Pump s to Dance in Stokowski Ballet

'H .P . , ' " NYHT, 26 Feb. 1932, II. O n his arrival Rivera

was photographed wi th Frances Flynn Paine, his wi fe

Frida Kahlo, and Kathryn O ' G o r m a n H a m m e r (or Mrs.

Wi l l i am C . H a m m e r , as she was usually referred to),

the general manager of the Philadelphia Grand Ope ra

Company , by the Associated Press. See Dicke rman and

Indych-Lopez 2011, 140. For Van H o r n & Son, see

R o l a n d W. Van H o r n , Our First Hundred Years: The Story

of America's Oldest Theatrical Costume Firm, 1852-1952

(Philadelphia, 1952).

23. Mary Watkins, " C u r r e n t Events in the Dance

World ." NYH T, io Apr. 1932, F9; Paul Rosenfe ld ,

"American Premieres," The New Republic, 20 Apr. 1932,

274-

24. Q u o t e d in Gibson 2008, 191.

25. J o h n Mar t in , " T h e Dance: Mode rn i sm , " NYT, 26

Apr. 1931, X3. T h e l ibret to was by the designer Lee

Simonson and the choreography by E d w i n Strawbridge,

w h o played one of the efficiency experts. (Yeichi

N i m u r a played the other.) T h e dancers came f rom

Strawbridge's o w n dance group as well as the dance

L Y N N G A R A F O L A 223

groups o f M a r t h a G r a h a m a n d Elsa Findlay. See M a r y

F. Wa tk ins , " A n n u a l Sp r ing P r o d u c t i o n by League o f

C o m p o s e r s W i t h Phi ladelphia Orches t r a Is Big D a n c e

Even t , " NYHT, 19 Apr. 1931, G i o ; J o h n M a r t i n , " T h e

D a n c e : Social Sat i re ," NYT, 19 Apr. 1931, 109. Pau l ine

Koner , w h o d a n c e d in the p r o d u c t i o n , w r o t e in her

m e m o i r s tha t " t h e scenar io was so compl i ca ted tha t I

was never qu i t e able to unde r s t an d i t" (Solitary Song

[ D u r h a m , 1989], 50).

26. " S t o k o w s k i O p e n s 'Par ley ' on Ballet . Chavez ,

M e x i c a n C o m p o s e r , Arr ives to W o r k O u t Detai ls of

H . P ' W i t h C o n d u c t o r , " Public Ledger, 5 Mar . 1932, JPB

0 6 - 1 5 , Phi lade lphia G r a n d O p e r a R e c o r d s , 1923 -32 ,

Box 1, Folder 2, M l ) - N Y P L (herea f te r G r a n d O p e r a

Records ) .

27. Schmi t z , "A Prof i le of C a t h e r i n e Li t t lef ie ld,"

chs. 2 - 3 ; A n n Barzel , " T h e Lit t lefields," Dance

Magazine, May 1945, 10-11. F o r a list, w i th credi ts , o f

the operas p resen ted in Phi lade lphia d u r i n g this pe r iod ,

see " O p e r a in Phi lade lphia : P e r f o r m a n c e C h r o n o l o g y

1925-1949," compi l e d by F rank H a m i l t o n , 2009, h t t p : / /

h a m i l t o n . f r a n c o c o r e l l i . n l / p h / p h 1 .pdf. B e t w e e n 1925

and 1932 C a r o l i n e was at var ious t imes the dance

d i r ec to r of the Phi ladelphia Civ ic O p e r a , Phi lade lphia

La Scala O p e r a C o m p a n y , and the Phi ladelphia G r a n d

O p e r a C o m p a n y . T h e Tannhäuser p r o d u c t i o n for w h i c h

C a t h e r i n e first received c h o r e o g r a p h ic credi t took place

at t he Phi lade lphia G r a n d O p e r a C o m p a n y on 16 Apri l

1931. Even apar t f r o m Litt lefield, a n u m b e r of w o m e n

c h o r e o g r a p h e d for Phi ladelphia 's opera compan ie s

d u r i n g the 1920s and early 1930s, i nc lud ing Florence

C o w a n o v a , M a r y B e r n a d e t t e Kerns , A n n a D u n c a n ,

and Louise Le Gai .

28. Phi l ip L. Leidy, " S t o r y of the O p e r a and Ballet .

' H . P.' By Car los Chave z and D i e g o R i v e r a , " playbill,

Phi ladelphia G r a n d O p e r a Associat ion, 31 Mar . 1932,

*MGZB P r o g r a m s (Litt lefield, Ca the r ine ) , J e r o m e

R o b b i n s D a n c e Div is ion , N e w York Publ ic Library

(he rea f te r J R D D - N Y PL). T h e fo l l owing quo ta t i ons

are f r o m this p r o g r a m as wel l .

29. " S t o k o w s k i in Shi r t Sleeves W h i p s H . P. Ballet in

Shape , " Philadelphia Record, 31 Mar . 1932, G r a n d O p e r a

R e c o r d s , M D - N Y P L .

30. R o b e r t Reiss , M t H . P.' Presenta t ion Is Swell Occas ion ,

But Lacks T i m e l y Pro le ta r ian T o u c h , " Philadelphia

Record, 1 Apr. 1932, G r a n d O p e r a R e c o r d s , M D - N Y P L .

For the theater ' s sea t ing capacity, see " C h a v e z Ballet is

W h i m s y of M a c h i n e Age ," The Chicago Daily News,

31 Mar . 1932, " M G Z R C l i p p i n g s " ( " H . P . " [Litt lefield,

C . ] , J R D D —NYPL.

31. H e n r y C . Beck , " ' H . P . ' M a k e s P r e m i e r e H e r e W i t h

a B a n g As Sparkplugs G o In to a S o n g and D a n c e , "

Philadelphia Record, 1 Apr. 1932, G r a n d O p e r a R e c o r d s ,

M D - N Y P L . See, also, the o the r reviews in this

col lect ion.

32. M a r t i n , "A H a n d i c a p Even t , " 1932. M a r t i n added

tha t this was " w i t h o u t p r eceden t in the five years of the

d a n c e revival 's greates t intensi ty. N o t even the first

p r o d u c t i o n o f a ballet in the Library of C o n g r e s s — a n d

tha t a ballet c o m m i s s i o n e d to be w r i t t e n especial ly for

the occasion by S t r a v i n s k y — a c h i e v e d tha t p r o m i n e n c e , "

a re fe rence to the p r e m i e r e of Apollon Musagete in 1928.

33. L. H . H . , "Bal le t ' H . P.' M a k e s S ta r t l i ng D e b u t in

Phi lade lphia , " Main Line Daily, 1 Apr. 1932, G r a n d

O p e r a R e c o r d s , M D - N Y P L .

34. S c h m i t z , "A Prof i le of C a t h e r i n e Li t t lef ie ld," 5 5 - 5 6 ;

" O p e r a Suspended in Phi lade lphia ," NYT, 2 O c t . 1932, 37.

35. L in ton M a r t i n , " ' H . P.' N e w Ballet Fantast ic Affa i r , "

The Philadelphia Enquirer, 1 Apr. 1932, G r a n d O p e r a

R e c o r d s , M D - N Y P L .

36. " C h o k o p u l ' s Travels ," Time, 11 Apr. 1932, 30.

37. M a r y Watk ins , "Chavez ' s Ballet, ' H . P . , ' Has D e b u t

in Ph i lade lph ia , " NYHT, 1 Apr. 1932, 9.

38. S . L . L . , "Bal le t ' H . P / Given Wor ld P r e m i e r e , " The

Philadelphia Ledger, 1 Apr. 1932, G r a n d O p e r a R e c o r d s ,

M D - N Y P L .

39. Ibid. T h e a n o n y m o u s r ev i ewer for The Christian

Science Monitor m a d e a s imi la r po in t ( "Car los Chavez ' s

M e x i c a n Bal le t , " 9 Apr. 1932, 6).

40. O c t a v i o G. Barreda to Car los C h a v e z , 27 Aug. 1926,

in C a r m o n a 1989, 69.

41. Watk ins , " C h a v e z ' Ballet ," 1932. D o l i n o f f danced in

the A n n a Pavlova and Ida R u b i n s t e i n c o m p a n i e s and

var ious Par is-based t roupes . Litt lefield, w h o m e t h i m at

Egorova 's s tudio , occas ional ly t o o k class w i t h h i m . H e

was never a m e m b e r of the Diagh i l ev company . See

A m a n d a Smi th , i n t e r v i e w w i t h Alexis D o l i n o f f , 17 Apr.

1979, * M G Z M T 5 - 6 7 0 , J R D D - N Y P L .

246 D A N C E : A M E R I C A N ; 8 3 0 - 1 9 6 0

42. Watkins , " C u r r e n t Events," 1932.

43. Joh n Mar t in , "Mexican Ballet in World Premiere ,"

NYT, 1 Apr. 1932, 16.

44. Mar t in , "A Handicap Event," 1932.

45. E(dward) A[lden] J[ewell], "Mura l Artists A-Tip toe ,"

NYT, 10 Apr. 1932, X10.

46. Marc Blitzstein, "Music and Thea t re —1932,"

Modern Music, 9, no. 4 ( M a y - J u n e 1932): 166.

47. Hayden Herrera , Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo

( N e w York, 1983), 132.

48. This is suggested in H e n ry C . Beck's review ( " l H . IV

Makes Premiere Here") , " T h e b r o w n - s k i n n e d w o m e n

swirl their 'Zanduga , ' the music of which invites

part icipation of pineapples, as well as o ther fruits, led by

a garish King Banana."

49. Blitzstein, "Music and Thea t re , " 1932, 164.

50. Mar t in , " ' H . P . ' N e w Ballet Fantastic Atfair," 1932.

51. Gibson 2008, 175.

52. D iego Rivera , wi th Gladys March , My Art, My Life:

An Autobiography ( N e w York, i960; repr. ed., N e w York,

1991)' 95; "Art Prev iew O p e n s Dance Exposi t ion," NYT, 29 Nov. 1937, 25; E |dward | A| lden] J[ewell], "Art and

the Dance ," NYT, 3 Dec. 1937, 26; Warren A. M 'Ne i l l ,

"Festival Steals Art Spot l ight ," The Sun, 5 Dec. 1937, 72.