Brassaï (1899-1984) ~ Les demoiselles de la nuit (*). Ballet de Paris, 1949. Ferrotyped gelatin silver print | src Christie’s
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(*) Ballet in one act with choreography by Roland Petit, libretto by Jean Anouilh, scenery & costume design (including the ballet's cat masks) by Leonor Fini. It tells the story of a musician who falls in love with his beautiful cat Agathe, who has assumed semi-human form. Agathe tries to be faithful to her human lover but is lured away by the sound of tomcats and the call of freedom. She leaps off the rooftops and the musician falls to his death as he tries to grab hold of her. She falls after him and they are united in death. | src The Oxford Dictionary of Dance
Millions live like this (or die like this) without knowing it: They work in offices. They drive a car. They picnic with their families. They raise children. And then some shock treatment takes place, a person, a book, a song, and it awakens them and saves them from death. Some never awaken.
—Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934