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COLLECTION — Box: Born digital 16 Identifier: MS Thr 1824

Performances directed and produced by George Balanchine

Overview

Performances directed and produced by George Balanchine.

Dates

  • Creation: 1951-1974

Language of Materials

In English.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.

Extent

0.14 Gigabytes (2 CDs)

One CD includes three ballets filmed under Balanchine's supervision in Berlin in 1974 (Serenade, Symphony in C, Liebeslieder Wälzer). The other CD includes Mozart's Magic flute stage directed by Balanchine for telecast by NBC Opera in 1951.

Biographical / Historical

George Balanchine (1904-1983) was a Russian-American dancer and choreographer. In 1921 he graduated from the Theatre School in Petrograd. He left Russia in 1924, and the same year he was engaged by Serge Diaghilev as a choreographer for his company Ballets Russes. After the death of Serge Diaghilev in 1929, Balanchine unsuccessfully tried to establish his own company in Europe. He came to the United States at the invitation of Lincoln Kirstein (1907-1996) in 1933. The following year they founded the School of American Ballet. Collaboration with Kirstein also resulted in the founding of the American Ballet Caravan (1941), the Ballet Society (1946), and the New York City Ballet (1948). From that time until his death, Balanchine served as artistic director of the New York City Ballet, choreographing the majority of its productions. In 1983, five months after Balanchine's death, the George Balanchine Foundation was incorporated, and in 1987 the George Balanchine Trust was established to facilitate the licensing of George Balanchine's works around the world.

Arrangement

Collection is minimally processed.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Special equipment or surrogate required; consult Houghton staff.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

2011MT-39. Gift of Paul H. Epstein in 2011 November.

Separated Materials

Born-digital material has been separated: Thr1824BD

General note

Includes audiovisual and/or digital media: CDs.

Processing Information

Accessioned by Melanie Wisner, 2012.

Processed by Magdaline Lawhorn, 2018.

Genre / Form

Occupation

Title
Balanchine, George. Performances directed and produced by George Balanchine, 1951-1974 (MS Thr 1824): Guide
Status
completed
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard University.
Date
July 13, 2018
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou02976

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

Contact:
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