Chen, Si-Lan. (1905 - 1996)
Three Original Photographs
Three original 8 x 10 inch photographs by Alan Fisher, each with his stamp on the verso and each with some highlighting in pen or paint for later publication. They are titled in pencil on the verso: "Stance," "Windup," and "Pitch." Striking.Born in Trinidad, Si-Lan Chen moved to London in 1912 and studied dance at the Stedman Academy. In 1926 she joined her father, who had become secretary for Sun Yat-sen and Foreign Minister of the Canton government. In 1927, after Chiang Kai-shek took power, the family fled to Moscow where Chen enrolled in the Bolshoi Ballet School and then Vera Maya's school. She gave her first important recital in 1930 at the Moscow Conservatory and after adapting her style to reflect a proletarian ideology, she was proclaimed the first modern Soviet dancer. Throughout the late 1930s and early 1940s she toured the U.S., Mexico and the West Indies performing in benefits for China relief. In the mid-1940s Chen worked in Hollywood as a choreographer, dance instructor and occasionally appeared on film. Her career was complicated by her long struggle to obtain U.S. citizenship. Chen's biography, Footnote to History, was published in 1984. (7698)
Unsigned Photo Dance