24.00 USD
Rita Sacchetto (born Margherita Sacchetto) in 1880 (sometimes a year or two earlier, depending on source), Munich, Germany, was the daughter of a Venetian painter and an Austrian woman. (Our online sources must have drawn their information from the same fount, since they all refer to Fraulein Sacchetto's mother simply as "an Austrian woman" and much as we'd like to, we can't improve on this :)
As the story goes, her decision to become a dancer immediately followed her seeing a performance by Isadora Duncan, in 1902.
Apparently she studied hard, and three years later, in 1905, she made her debut performance at the Münchner Künstlerhaus.
We think it's very much worth noting that in Fraulein Sacchetto we have not so much one of the early pioneers of that modern, interpretive solo work that changed the way the west looked at dance, but rather one of the early inheritors of that popular movement.
The notion that a woman in her early twenties would suddenly decide to become a dancer, take lessons for three years, and then embark on a career in dance, would have been unthinkable a few decades before, but by 1902, the way had been opened by dancers like Loie Fuller and Isadora Duncan.
Like Fuller, Duncan, Mata Hari of course, and yes, Cleo de Merode too, Rita Sacchetto developed an "angle," or schtick, if you will, that her audiences responded to with enthusiasm. We don't for a moment intend to slight the effort, talent and imagination involved in the process, but point out that in moving away from what many of these modern dancers considered to be the stifling atmosphere and constraints of the long established companies and traditions, the solo interpretists approached the art of dance from a "popular," or "populist," perhaps even "proletariat" direction! We can't forget that these dancers were very well aware of just how "revolutionary" some of their work was. Think of Isadora Duncan and her long red scarf.
Rita Sacchetto called her dances Tanzbilder (literally dance pictures), in the tradition of the already popular Tableaux Vivants, in which, using carefully arranged sets, she performed scenes from famous works of art, making those paintings, already loved by much of her audience, come alive through movement and music.
She was very successful internationally, was brought to the Met in New York by Loie Fuller, appreciated by artists like Gustav Klimt, collaborated with designers like Paul Poiret in Paris and also starred in a number of early silent films in the 1910s.
A gorgeous photo of a gifted artist. Very nice unposted condition!
Please examine our high res scans for detail.
The item you are considering for purchase is, unless otherwise noted, a vintage postcard of approximately 5 and 1/2, by 3 and 1/2 inches. Postage is for fully-insured, first class shipping in a secure photo mailer (to avoid any damage to your purchase in the mails), and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will not charge for postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more. We do not charge for insurance or shipping materials, and as of the date of this listing are still charging below our overall cost on shipping.
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