Danses Populaires et les Ballets Russes avec Galina Oulanova la plus célèbre danseuse étoile circa 1950

This original French movie poster was designed by Boris Grinsson circa 1950 for Procinex. It advertises Danses populaires et les Ballets russes, a programme of spectacular colour films celebrating Russian folk dancing and classical ballet, featuring the celebrated ballerina Galina Ulanova.

A couple dressed in colourful traditional costumes dances energetically across the foreground. Behind them, an ensemble of performers and Cossack dancers appears against a picturesque Russian village landscape with birch trees, wooden buildings and an onion-domed church.

Grinsson combines brilliant blue, red, yellow and green with sweeping lines that convey the speed and excitement of the performance. The expressive lettering and promotional slogan “Rythme – Entrain – Gaîté!” reinforce the poster’s joyful sense of movement, rhythm and spectacle.

Galina Ulanova was one of the greatest ballerinas of the twentieth century and a leading star of both the Kirov and Bolshoi Ballets. Renowned for the emotional sensitivity and dramatic intensity of her performances, she became an internationally recognised symbol of Soviet ballet.

Signed within the image, this original poster was issued in France by O.P.F., Paris. Boris Grinsson was a Russian-born French artist and one of the most prolific European film-poster designers of the post-war period, celebrated for his colourful compositions and exceptional ability to capture movement and cinematic drama.

Original poster

Dance - Cinema - USSR - Russia

Procinex

O.P.F. Paris

Good condition, traces of folds