Lifar, Serge [At the Dawn of My Destiny with Diaghilev: Seven Years with the Ballets Russes]. A l'aube de mon destin chez Diaghilew: Sept ans aux Ballets Russes.

Paris, Albin Michel, 1949.
8vo, 154, [6] pp., [16] l.ill. 

In original pictorial wrappers. Signed to title page.
Near very good condition, bookseller mark inside rear wrapper in pencil.

2e mille.

Signed and inscribed by the dancer and choreographer Serge Lifar (1905-1986): ‘a Madmoizelle Iolanda Gosselin / la souvenir mémoire “des Ballets / Russes” / et M. Serge Lifar / 49’ [to Madmoizelle Iolanda Gosselin / the memory of the “Ballets Russes” / and Mr. Serge Lifar / 1949].

This memoir by Ukrainian-born French ballet dancer and choreographer Serge Lifar, widely regarded as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century and one of the world's most accomplished choreographers, offers a glimpse into his illustrious career. As a principal member of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and Diaghilev's close companion, Lifar led a technical revival at the Paris Opera Ballet.
The book includes a frontispiece portrait of the author by Jean Cocteau, along with rare black-and-white photographs of Lifar in various performances and rehearsals. It also features photos with Diaghilev, Lifar’s mentor, the Italian ballet dancer Enrico Cecchetti, Russian ballerina Mathilda Kshesinskaya, and two photographs by Man Ray.