COCTEAU Jean (1889-1963)

Lot 365
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Estimation :
1000 - 1500 EUR
COCTEAU Jean (1889-1963)
Preface to the book by Julie SAZONOVA, autograph manuscript signed Jean Cocteau, [1937]; 5 pages large in folio, on buff laid paper, in a folder titled in red pencil by Serge Lifar. Autograph manuscript of the Preface to the book by Julie Sazanova, La Vie de la Danse (Denoël, 1937). This beautiful text on dance has some erasures and corrections. "Our era touches me in that frivolity seems to give way to true seriousness. So I preface a useful book" ... After Noverre and Petipa, in 1909, "Serge de DIAGHILEV brings, with the soul of a sorcerer, a magic box from which come out two devils, two angels, two divine monsters : Pawlowa, Nijinsky. Their prodigies illustrate texts that announced them a long time ago without naming them" ... In 1935, "A Serge LIFAR, under the tunic of Apollo's blood, can distribute his strength with calm and invent methods. Surrounded by a kind of radiant solitude, I find him to be a crime of passion, but a crime that would be the work of the most skilled surgeon. Blood and order flow side by side. However [...] it can also move me without my knowing why and find unknown sources within me. [...] As far as I am concerned, dance is the language in which I would prefer to express myself and my favourite theatrical formula"... Attached is a copy in Serge Lifar's handwriting of part of this text (1 page in-4 on his letterhead, and with his stamp). PROVENANCE Former Serge Lifar collection.
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