Dancers of the World in Colour – Book
| Series name | Ram Gopal: 1940s |
| Description | This A5 book, entitled ‘Dancers of the World in Colour’, was published by in 1952 by Phoenix House Publishing in London. The book includes colour images of ten of the worlds most famous classical and ballet dancers during the1930s and 1940s, including Ram Gopal, Alicia Markova and Vladimir Skouratoff. The images were taken by Gordon Anthony (1902 – 1989), whose photographs of the ballet revival in England in the 1930s helped the Royal Ballet obtain international prominence. Plate five features a colour image of Ram Gopal, depicting him in his Dance of Shiva costume. The image was taken in 1948. |
| Date of Creation / Publication | 1948 |
| Creator | Anthony, Gordon |
| Associated Person/ Organisation | Gopal, Ram |
| Location | London |
| Collection and Reference Number | Ram Gopal Collection (GB 2661 RGL) |
| Catalogue Number | RGL/DEC/1940/8 |
| Copyright | The Creator and/ or associated person or organisation where applicable |
| Access to originals | The originals are located with Ann David, academic researcher and friend of Ram Gopal, and with Pam Cullen, Executor of the Ram Gopal Estate. |
| Series notes | The 1940s saw Ram Gopal reach international fame. Based in London, his performances were critically acclaimed and played to full audiences throughout the dance season. Ram Gopal met many great personalities during this time, however he was most in awe of his encounter with Queen Mary, who invited him to tea and perform for her. During this time, Kay Ambrose, a ballet artist, and Feliks Topolski, a Polish artist both began to sit in the wings at Ram Gopal's performances, sketching the dances every evening. Eventually a sketch book was published of Ram Gopal's performances by Ambrose. Topolski completed a portrait of Ram Gopal which now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London. This decade also witnessed Gopal's meeting with Gandhi and Nehru, and he became the first Indian artist to tour with ENSA, visiting British and Indian troops. Gopal also established his popular dance school in Bangalore and returned to England in 1947. The digitised material in this file includes photographs,extracts of newspaper articles, books and performance programmes. |
| Collection notes | The digitised material in the Ram Gopal Collection dates back to 1938 and includes black and white as well as colour photographs, several flyers and extracts from books including Ram Gopal's autobiography. The items also include newspaper articles, images of dance costumes, slides, advertisements and performance programmes. |
