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Creator
Solomons, Gus
Call number
(S) *MGZMD 214
Physical description
7 linear feet (16 boxes)
Preferred Citation

Gus Solomons Papers and The Gus Solomons Company/Dance Inc. Records, 1969-1994. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Some collections held by the Dance, Music, Recorded Sound, and Theatre Divisions at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts are held off-site and must be requested in advance. Please check the collection records in the NYPL's online catalog for detailed location information. For general guidance about requesting offsite materials, please consult: https://www.nypl.org/about/locations/lpa/requesting-archival-materials

Gus Solomons Jr. is a dancer, choreographer, teacher, and writer. Solomons was a soloist in the dance companies of Donald McKayle, Pearl Lang, Martha Graham and, most notably, Merce Cunningham. Solomons formed his own troupe, The Solomons Company/Dance in 1972. The troupe traveled to University and College campuses throughout the United States. The collection has material on solo performances and material of The Solomons Company/Dance. This material contains information about the administration of the Company and the tours/performances of the dancers.

Biographical/historical information

Gus Solomons Jr. began dance lessons while attending MIT. His first teacher was E. Virginia Williams, the founder of the Boston Ballet Company. He received his degree from MIT, in architecture, in 1961.

Solomons then moved to New York City and became a soloist in the dance companies of Donald McKayle, Pearl Lang, Martha Graham and, most notably, Merce Cunningham.

Solomons formed his own troupe, The Solomons Company/Dance in 1972. Since that time he has become a leading figure in postmodern and experimental dance, creating over 100 dances for his own company as well as dances commissioned by professional companies across North America. His choreography has been performed off-Broadway, on television and dual-screen video dance pieces. More recently Solomons created a new trio company with Carmen DeLavallade, Dudley Williams and himself.

In September 2000, Solomons won a “Bessie” (New York Dance and Performance Award) for Sustained Achievement in Choreography. In March 2001 he was awarded the first annual Robert A. Muh Award from his alma mater, MIT, as a distinguished artist alumnus.

Solomons has contributed to several books on dance and has written for Ballet News and Instep. He currently reviews and writes for Dance Magazine, Chronicle of Higher Education, Village Voice and the New York Times. In addition to teaching, touring, guest-performing and lecturing, Solomons serves frequently as an adjudicator and dance panelist for various state arts councils, artistic advisory boards and foundations, including the National Endowment for the Arts.

Scope and arrangement

The collection is composed of office files from the Gus Solomons Company/Dance Inc. consisting of 16 boxes. This includes material created and used by Solomons for teaching at various colleges and universities throughout the United States. Related to these files are financial material, travel, class rosters and accommodation information, including maps. Other material in the collection includes National Endowment for the Arts files consisting of evaluation forms for dancers and dance companies that Gus Solomons prepared. There are also programs, mostly from performances attended by Solomons, although there are a limited number of programs of his own dance company.

There is very little correspondence, mainly covering a couple years during the 1970s and consisting of business related information. There are no photographs in the collection.

Arrangement

Alphabetical

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The Gus Solomons Papers and The Gus Solomons Company/Dance Inc. Records were donated to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division in 1996 by Gus Solomons.

Processing information

Processed by Leslie Reyman; Machine-readable finding aid created by Leslie Reyman.

Using the collection

Location

Jerome Robbins Dance Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Access to materials

Some collections held by the Dance, Music, Recorded Sound, and Theatre Divisions at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts are held off-site and must be requested in advance. Please check the collection records in the NYPL's online catalog for detailed location information. For general guidance about requesting offsite materials, please consult: https://www.nypl.org/about/locations/lpa/requesting-archival-materials

Conditions Governing Use

For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.