Hymn to Apollo：The Ancient World and the Ballet Russes

Intheancientworld,dancewasusedtoexpressimportanttruthsaboutthehumancondition,andthissignificancecanstillbeseentodayinrepresentationsofdancersinancientart.Sculpture,reliefcarving,vasepainting,andothervisualmediaofferaglimpseofthefunctionofdanceinantiquity.Inthemodernera,theBalletsRusses,aParis-basedcollectiveestablishedbySergeiDiaghilev(1872–1929),revolutionizeddanceandrevivedEuropeanandAmericaninterestinballet,inpartbydrawingonnotionsofdancefromtheancientworld.BalletsRusseschoreographers,designers,andcollaboratorslookedtoancientcultureforsubjectsandthemes,andforanotionofdanceasanexpressiveartformintegratedwithritual.HymntoApolloexplorestheroleofdanceinancientartandcultureandhowartistsoftheBalletsRussesreturnedtothepastasasourceformodernexpression.Thematicessaysandlavishillustrationspresentafreshperspectiveonancientartifacts,andwatercolors,illustrations,sketchbooks,photographs,costumes,andotherarchivalBalletsRussesmaterialshowhowartiststurnedtotheancientworldtocreatesomethingnew.ContributorsincludeJohnBowlt,RachelHerschman,KennethLapatin,andF.G.Naerebout.DistributedfortheInstitutefortheStudyoftheAncientWorldatNewYorkUniversityExhibitionDates:March6–June2,2019