- unitid
-
{"value"=>"24676", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"*MGZMD 495", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b21983463", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1950-2017", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1950/2017"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Merrill Ashley papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"39 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"14.37 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"47 audio recordings", "unit"=>"audio_recordings"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"42 moving image recordings", "unit"=>"moving_image_recordings"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Jerome Robbins Dance Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Merrill Ashley (1950 - ) is an American ballerina who danced for 31 years with the New York City Ballet, most of them under George Balanchine. Her papers, dating from 1950 to 2017, document her career through ballet class and choreography notebooks; photographs; letters; diaries; book drafts and interview transcripts for her book <span class=\"title\">Dancing For Balanchine</span>; calendars and datebooks; programs and clippings; posters; artifacts such as pointe shoes; and books."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Ashley, Merrill", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Merrill Ashley (née Linda Merrill, 1950 - ) is an American ballerina who danced with the New York City Ballet from 1966 to 1997, primarily under George Balanchine. The last ballerina to have fully trained and developed under Balanchine, she now advises companies and dancers on Balanchine methods.</p> <p>Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Ashley grew up in Vermont, where she began studying ballet at age 7. At 13, she won a scholarship to train at the School of American Ballet.</p> <p>George Balanchine invited Ashley to join the New York City Ballet in 1967. She became a soloist in 1974, and was promoted to principal dancer in 1977. Ashley's last performance with the company was on November 25, 1997.</p> <p>Ashley was featured in many Balanchine works, including <span class=\"title\">Ballo della Regina</span>, <span class=\"title\">Ballade for Ashley</span>, <span class=\"title\">Concerto Barocco</span>, <span class=\"title\">Firebird</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Nutcracker</span>, <span class=\"title\">Prodigal Son</span>, <span class=\"title\">Serenade</span>, <span class=\"title\">Square Dance</span>, <span class=\"title\">Stars and Stripes</span>, <span class=\"title\">Swan Lake</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3</span>. She also performed the work of Jerome Robbins (<span class=\"title\">Concertino</span>, <span class=\"title\">Brahms/Handel</span> (a Robbins - Twyla Tharp collaboration), and <span class=\"title\">Dances at a Gathering</span>); and Peter Martins (<span class=\"title\">Barber Violin Concerto</span>, <span class=\"title\">Fearful Symmetries</span>, and <span class=\"title\">The Sleeping Beauty</span>).</p> <p>In addition to her work with the New York City Ballet, Ashley performed with dance companies internationally, such as Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet in London, and was the United States dance representative at a gala celebrating the 40th Anniversary of UNESCO in 1986. She also performed at the White House for President Carter in 1978.</p> <p>Ashley founded her own dance group, Merrill Ashley and Dancers, which toured in 1981 and 1982, and published an autobiography, <span class=\"title\">Dancing For Balanchine</span>, in 1984. She also co-authored and co-directed the video series <span class=\"title\">The Balanchine Essays</span> (2013), an educational resource regarding Balanchine methods. The documentary <span class=\"title\">The Dance Goodbye</span> (2015), about the career challenges for dancers post-retirement, focused primarily on Ashley.</p> <p>Ashley continues to lecture on Balanchine and his methods; stage Balanchine ballets for dance companies around the world; and teach master classes.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Merrill Ashley papers, dating from 1950 to 2017, document the career of the ballerina through ballet class and choreography notebooks; photographs; letters; diaries; book drafts and interview transcripts for the book <span class=\"title\">Dancing For Balanchine</span>; calendars and datebooks; programs and clippings; posters; artifacts such as pointe shoes; and books.</p> <p>The ballet notebooks were created by Ashley during classes she took with George Balanchine (1976-1978) and Stanley Williams (1990). Ashley also created notes for classes she taught herself, as well as for choreography she learned for works by Balanchine. These include <span class=\"title\">Chaconne</span>, <span class=\"title\">Firebird</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Sleeping Beauty</span>, <span class=\"title\">Union Jack</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Sylvia Pas de Deux</span>, among others.</p> <p>The photographs contain rehearsal and performance shots of the New York City Ballet and Merrill Ashley and Dancers; special events such as Ashley's visit to The White House, the New York City Ballet's 50th anniversary, and receiving an honor from the New York State Legislature; advertisements featuring Ashley; and informal shots of Ashley. These include her during warmups and physical therapy; shooting <span class=\"title\">The Balanchine Essays</span>; with other dancers, friends, and fans; and teaching dancers and working with dance companies. Figures pictured with Ashley include George Balanchine, Ib Andersen, Beverly Sills, and President Carter, as well as dancers from the New York City Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, the Hong Kong Ballet, the Tokyo Ballet, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and Ballet Taos. Also present is a baby book kept by Ashley's parents, accompanied by a genealogy of her family.</p> <p>The letters contain a set of correspondence between Ashley and her parents dating from 1964 to 1974; they discuss her training at the School of American Ballet and her early career at the New York City Ballet. The rest of the letters, dating primarily from 1984 onward, consist mainly of notes and cards from friends and fans, though more substantial letters are present in a few cases. Ashley arranged these letters chronologically and included lists of letters and their authors for each year; these lists are included in the folders. Writers include Jerome Robbins, Clement Crisp, Arlene Croce, Bill Whitehead (Ashley's editor at E.P. Dutton), Beverly Sills, and the dancers Peter Martins, Alicia Alonso, Valentina Kozlova, Jacques d'Amboise, Darla Hoover, Sara Mau, Ruthanna Boris, Nikolaj Hübbe, and Amanda Edge. Letters dating from 1993 mainly discuss an injury Ashley suffered in performance, while most 1997 letters pertain to her retirement.</p> <p>Ashley kept consistent diaries for only short stretches of time. The earliest of these date from 1969 and 1972 (the latter documents a New York City Ballet visit to the Soviet Union). Some diaries from the mid-1970s are kept in datebooks. Diaries from 1992 to 1994 chart Ashley's recovery from a hip injury.</p> <p>The files for <span class=\"title\">Dancing For Balanchine</span> document that book's creation through book proposals (written by Ashley's husband, Kibbe Fitzpatrick), transcripts of interviews with Ashley, manuscripts, galleys, proofs, photographs, clippings, and correspondence with editor Bill Whitehead of E.P. Dutton.</p> <p>Five binders of scripts and notes document the video series <span class=\"title\">The Balanchine Essays</span>.</p> <p>The programs and clippings comprise the largest portion of the collection. They cover Ashley's dancing and teaching activity, starting with her earliest performances in the late 1950s, and date up to 2017. Box 34, folder 3 contains a list of Ashley's activities outside of the New York City Ballet from 1999 to 2017. Some files also contain itineraries, photographs, or other memorabilia of Ashley's visits to other dance companies.</p> <p>The posters advertise the New York City Ballet and Merrill Ashley and Dancers. The artifacts consist of pointe shoes, an original drawing of Ashley by Jane Rosenberg published in the book <span class=\"title\">Dance Me A Story</span>, cards distributed at Ashley's retirement gala, and a button with a photograph of Ashley. Two pairs of the pointe shoes date from the 1950s and were Ashley's earliest shoes, while the rest (five pairs and three single shoes, all autographed) are from the 1980s or 1990s.</p> <p>The books consist of <span class=\"title\">Dancing For Balanchine</span>, <span class=\"title\">Balanchine's Ballerinas</span> by Robert Tracy, <span class=\"title\">Choura: The Memory of Alexandra Danilova</span> (a signed autobiography), and <span class=\"title\">Dance Me A Story</span> by Jane Rosenberg. The two books regarding Balanchine are inscribed by Ashley to her grandmother.</p> <p>The collection also holds sound and video recordings. Among the sound recordings are classes led by George Balanchine and Stanley Williams; interviews with Ashley, including those carried out for the book <span class=\"title\">Dancing For Balanchine</span>; and lectures by Ashley on Balanchine. The videos includes performances by Ashley with the New York City Ballet, Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet, and at the 1986 UNESCO gala; rehearsals with the New York City Ballet and the Cuban National Ballet; Ashley teaching the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Company; interviews with Ashley; and video of the New York City Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre dating from the early 1970s (not featuring Ashley). Also present are home movies from Ashley's childhood.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Donated by Merrill Ashley, 2018.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Matthew Snyder</span> in <span class=\"date\">2019</span>.</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Inquiries regarding audio and moving image materials in the collection may be directed to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division (dance@nypl.org). Audio and moving image materials will be subject to preservation assessment and migration prior to access.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p>Access to the diaries dated 1969 and 1972 in box 9, folder 4 is restricted until the death of Merrill Ashley.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1950
- keydate
-
1950
- date_end
-
2017
- date_inclusive_start
-
1950
- date_inclusive_end
-
2017
- extent_statement
-
14.37 linear feet (39 boxes). 47 audio recordings. 42 moving image recordings
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Merrill Ashley papers, *MGZMD 495. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}