[Legat, Nicolas] Ballet Russe: Memoirs of Nicolas Legat.

Translated, with a Foreword by Sir Paul Dukes.
Dedicatory Poem by John Masefield.

London, Methuen & Co., [1939].
4to, XV, 67 pp., ill.

In original red cloth and unusual dust jacket.
In good condition, price-clipped jacket, rubbing and soiling to dj, small losses to dj upper margin, scattered foxing, bookplate and owner mark by Michael Lucian Hartley van Grutten to front endpaper.

The book was written by Nicolas Legat (1869–1937), a prominent figure in classical ballet, trained by Christian Johannsen and Marius Petipa. He joined the Imperial Ballet as a 'sujet' (soloist) and later became ballet master, directing many iconic productions. Nearly all the greatest dancers of the 20th century, including Anna Pavlova and Nijinsky, received training under his guidance.
These memoirs detail the final decades of the Imperial Ballet before the 1917 Russian Revolution, recounting Legat's career and his escape to Europe during the Russian Civil War.
The text features vivid character descriptions, a special chapter on Anna Pavlova, Legat’s caricatures, and illustrations—many published for the first time.
The book is based on Legat's earlier work, 'The Story of the Russian School' (1932). These memoirs, written in Russian and translated by Sir Paul Dukes, a British MI6 officer fluent in Russian.