Scope and arrangement
The collection contains press materials and files related to Reyes' performances, including press, photographs, recordings of Reyes dancing, and pieces of her flamenco costume.
The collection contains two binders of press clippings about Reyes' dance career and one binder of photographs of Reyes' performances, many of which were with José Greco. A program from a 1962 José Greco performance featuring "Coral" Reyes, includes a short biographic note about Reyes. Two magazines from the 1960s, Sabado Grafico and Die Brandway, are included. A tourist brochure about Spain features an image of Reyes in a flamenco dance pose.
Many articles from the collection describe Reyes' life before moving to Spain and her experience as a flamenco dancer and include newspapers from Spain, South Africa, and the United States. These articles include some questionable information about Reyes' upbringing, especially in descriptions of the dancer as a member of José Greco's dance group. Reyes is often described as a "gypsy," and the fact that she spent most of her adolescence in New York City is often excluded from José Greco's performance programs. However, many articles, highlight that Reyes left university in America to become a flamenco dancer in Spain.
There are photographs of Reyes, which include images of her performing on stage as well as traveling with the José Greco company and with her husband, Manolo Barón.
Three video recordings are present and are titled "Flamenco show," "dancing… with José," and "Carolina - Flamenco."
The collection also contains pieces of Reyes' flamenco costume, including a white lace dress, white flamenco shoes with tacks tipped into the heels and toes, a pair of her earrings, a shawl, and castanets. The earrings in this collection strongly resemble the earrings featured in many photographs of Reyes, including several featured in the periodicals and photographs in the collection.
This collection also provides many examples of how flamenco dance was reported in newspapers in America and Spain in the 1950s and 1960s. Beyond adopting the term "gypsy dancers," Reyes, Greco, and other flamenco performers are primarily described by their bodies and are labeled as "fiery," "passionate," or even "magical." The popular media narrative of Reyes' career fixates on her shift from an American student to a dancer in Spain, and reporters covered their descriptions with particularly stereotypical tropes of Latin culture, and its people.