Les Spectacles Espagnols de Vicente Escudero. Théatre Courbe, 42, Rue Fortuny by Escudero, Vicente, dancer.- Georges-Michel, Michel (text)

Unpaginated (10 pp. including covers) program for a dance program by Vincente Escudero (1892-1980), famed for his Flamenco performances, accompanied by Luisa Salas, including text by Georges-Michel, program of dances, and illustrations by Jean Crotti and Picasso. Sl. soiled, some small marginal tears in several places. Large 4to. Orig. illus. wrpps., a bit soiled, small tears at edges. Paris n.d. (1924). Extremely rare and somewhat fragile documentation of a celebrated performance featuring the famed Spanish dancer at the Théatre Courbe, a private and elitist venue known for its avant-garde productions. Escudero, famous for his presentation of De Falla's Three Cornered Hat and for his collaboration with the ballet starlets of his day, openly acknowledged Cubist and early Surrealist influences and incorporated them into his dances. The present performance apparently made great waves as a "Cubist-Flamenco" event at the time, and references to it abound in the literature on avant-garde dance in the 1920s. The cover and inner portrait are by Jean Crotti, both in a Cubist style, and the program lists Paul Poiret as the costume designer, Jean Metzinger as responsible for the décor, the "scène typique" by Charles Desage, and the music by M. Cliquet Pleyel. See an article by Nicolas Villodre, "Vicente Escudero et la Courbe", available on-line at Flamenco.web.fr, which discusses this event at some length. As of October 2014 WorldCat is unable to locate this work worldwide.