{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1642224"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1642224/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JC2786/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JC2786/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2016JC2786","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1642224","accessionNumber":"S.883-2021","objectType":"Poster","titles":[{"title":"Ondine","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Poster showing Anthony Dowell as Palemon and Maria Almeida as Ondine in the revival of Frederick Ashton's three-act ballet <i>Ondine</i> for The Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House, London, 10 May-2 June 1988.\n\nFrederick Ashton's ballet <i>Ondine</i> had been created in 1958 as a vehicle for Margot Fonteyn. The water sprite (or ondine) falls in love with a high-born mortal, Palemon, only to be betrayed. The ballet, romantic in its narrative, choreography and designs by Lila de Nobili, is accompanied by a modernist score commissioned from Hans Werner Henze. The 1988 revival was supervised by Christopher Newton.\n\nAnthony Crickmay (1937-2020), the photographer of this poster, began his career as an assistant to the Austrian portrait photographer, Lotte Meitner-Graf, who had a studio in London's Bond Street in the late 1940s. Crickmay set up his own studio in 1958 where he built up a high-profile range of sitters, including members of the royal family, and developed an international reputation as a photographer of theatre, opera, and especially dance. \r\n\r\nIn 1983 Crickmay moved his studio to a derelict coach-repair-workshop-turned-ironmongers in Fulham. As he said: 'I am infinitely capable of only seeing what I want to see. This place had practically no roof, pigeons nesting everywhere, water had flooded in. Yet I saw it as the most marvellous space for a studio'. \n\nThe ballet dancer Darcy Bussell noted: \n\n'Of all the photographers I've worked with, Cricks has the chicest, most hi-tech studio. It has massive glass walls, and I'm able to keep checking how my body looks. We can try out things and see exactly what a particular position will look like. The thing about the way Cricks works is that he captures a movement which is the essence of ballet. I don't know how he does it. All he says is: 'Don't worry. Just do it and I'll catch it.'\r\n\r\nCricks's studio is one of very few in which I'm prepared to jump. It has a wonderful springy floor. It's brilliant. Some photographers have concrete or stone floors, and if they ask me to jump, I have to say no because it's much too dangerous. The other great attraction of Cricks's studio is that it's always warm. Dancers hate being cold. That's when their muscles start to seize up.' \n\n\n","physicalDescription":"Royal Ballet poster advertising a production of <i>Ondine</i>. The photographed image by Anthony Crickmay shows two dancers reaching upwards. Maria as Ondine is in a low arabesque with her tunic flowing behind her. She is supported by Anthony as Palemon who is in parallel behind her. The background has a watery effect emphasising the character of the ballet.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Crickmay, Anthony","id":"A7904"},"association":{"text":"photographers","id":"AAT25687"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"printing ink","id":"AAT187371"},{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"}],"techniques":[{"text":"printing","id":"AAT53319"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Printing ink on paper","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Dance","id":"THES252984"},{"text":"Posters","id":"THES252963"},{"text":"Advertising","id":"THES49001"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2016JC2786"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"012","id":"THES345129"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"posters","id":"AAT27221"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"printed","id":"x46159"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1988","earliest":"1988-01-01","latest":"1988-12-31"},"association":{"text":"printed","id":"x46159"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"76","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"51","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Poster advertising the revival of <i>Ondine</i> by The Royal Ballet, Royal Opera  House, Covent Garden, 10 May 1988, featuring Maria Almeida and Anthony Dowell, from a photograph by Anthony Crickmay (1937-2020)","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.883-2021"],"accessionNumberNum":"883","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2021,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-09","recordCreationDate":"2021-07-09","availableToBook":true}}