- unitid
-
{"value"=>"24306", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"*MGZMD 475", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b22030979", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1877-2017", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1877/2017"}
{"value"=>"1956-2013", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1956/2013"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Joffrey Ballet Company records"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"889 boxes, 49 oversize folders, 30 tubes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"400.87 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"57,676 computer files", "unit"=>"computer_files"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"298.49 gigabytes", "unit"=>"gigabytes"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Jerome Robbins Dance Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The Joffrey Ballet Company records date from 1877 to 2017 (bulk: 1956-2013) and document the company's creative output from its inception in 1956 to 2017. The collection contains photographs, production and technical files, scores, company administrative files, press materials, programs, designs, and other visual materials created by and for the Joffrey Ballet. The collection also holds the files of company founders Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, as well as the photographer, set designer, and director for special projects, Herbert Migdoll."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Joffrey Ballet", "type"=>"corpname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Joffrey Ballet is an American dance company based in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1956 by Robert Joffrey (1930-1988) and Gerald Arpino (1923-2008) in New York City. The company is known for its innovative dance productions often involving a creative mix of traditional ballet and modern dance.</p> <p>The Joffrey has presented a number of pioneering ballets, such as <span class=\"title\">Astarte</span> (1967); <span class=\"title\">The Clowns</span> (1968); <span class=\"title\">Trinity</span> (1970); and the four-part work <span class=\"title\">Billboards</span> (1993), conceived by Arpino and choreographed to songs by Prince. In addition to choreography by Joffrey and Arpino, the company has presented works by Paul Taylor, Laura Dean, John Cranko, Alvin Ailey, Mark Morris, William Forsythe, and Kurt Jooss. Thomas Skelton (from 1960 to 1994) and Jennifer Tipton are among the lighting designers that the Joffrey has employed. In 1968, the Joffrey began collaborating with photographer Herbert Migdoll, who worked variously as a photographer, visual artist, and set designer for the company. He created the sets for both <span class=\"title\">Billboards</span> and <span class=\"title\">Legends</span> (1996). His photograph from Joffrey's <span class=\"title\">Astarte</span> appeared on the cover of <span class=\"title\">Time</span> Magazine in March of 1968. In 2011, Migdoll assumed the role of director of special projects for the company.</p> <p>Robert Joffrey (born Abdullah Jaffa Bey Khan) and Gerald Arpino, a family friend, met in 1945 in Seattle, Washington, when Arpino was stationed there with the United States Coast Guard. Arpino joined Joffrey in his dance study under ballet master Ivan Novikoff, and soon after under Mary Ann Wells, to whom Joffrey dedicated his first concert (June 23, 1948), as well as his last original work, <span class=\"title\">Postcards</span> (1980).</p> <p>In 1948, Joffrey and Arpino moved to New York City, where they studied at the School of American Ballet, and under Gertrude Shurr with modern dancer and choreographer May O'Donnell. Joffrey would also occasionally teach O'Donnell's classes at the school. From 1949 to 1950, Joffrey was a soloist with Roland Petit's Ballet de l'Opera National de Paris (Paris Opera Ballet). During this time, Arpino performed in two Broadway shows: <span class=\"title\">Bless You All</span> and <span class=\"title\">Annie Get Your Gun</span>. Arpino also danced in O'Donnell's company between 1952 and 1953.</p> <p>In 1952, Joffrey's <span class=\"title\">Persephone</span> debuted at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, and featured Arpino, Lillian Wellein, and Helen Murielle. The following year Joffrey and Arpino established a dance school, the American Ballet Center (later known as the Joffrey Ballet School), in Greenwich Village, New York. Early works presented by Joffrey and the American Ballet Center include <span class=\"title\">Pas des Déesses</span>, <span class=\"title\">Umpateedle</span>, <span class=\"title\">Le Bal Masqué</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Pierrot Lunaire</span>, all produced at the 92nd Street Y. By the fall of 1956, the company was well-formed, and made its first national tour as the Robert Joffrey Theatre Dancers (later also known as the Robert Joffrey Theatre Ballet) under the aegis of Columbia Artists Management.</p> <p>From 1962 to 1964, the Joffrey Ballet functioned under the auspices of the Rebekah Harkness Foundation, but they severed ties after disagreements surrounding the company's name and artistic direction. The same year, Joffrey received a grant from the Ford Foundation to continue production. The 1965 season was successful, and in 1966, the Joffrey Ballet became the resident company of New York City Center (then called the City Center of Music and Drama), and the company was renamed The City Center Joffrey Ballet. The company performed under this title until 1977 before performing as The Joffrey Ballet. A smaller scale version of the main company, \"Joffrey II,\" was developed in 1968, as a way of training and touring younger dancers. Joffrey II folded in 1995. From 1983 to 1991, the Joffrey split its time between New York City and Los Angeles, the first truly \"bi-coastal\" American dance company.</p> <p>In 1987, the University of Iowa commissioned Joffrey to design a new version of <span class=\"title\">The Nutcracker</span>, which he modeled on the 1940 version by Alexandra Fedorova for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. It premiered at the Hancher Auditorium in December, three months before Joffrey's death. This production was toured and performed annually for twenty-eight years, becoming a leading source of income for the company. In 2016, <span class=\"title\">The Nutcracker</span> was reimagined by Christopher Wheeldon, a former dancer with the company, and continues to be performed as a major piece of the repertory.</p> <p>Robert Joffrey died of AIDS in 1988, at the age of 57. Upon his death, Arpino took over artistic direction of the company. In 1995 the company relocated permanently to Chicago, where it remains today. The Joffrey Ballet School has remained in New York City. In 2007, Ashley Wheater replaced Arpino as the company's artistic director. Wheater danced in the Joffrey for five years in the 1980s before spending his remaining dancing years with the San Francisco Ballet.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Joffrey Ballet company records date from 1877 to 2017 (bulk 1956-2013) and document the administrative, promotional, and creative output of the company between from its inception in 1956 to the present day. The collection is arranged into eleven series: Photographs; Production and Technical Files; Scores; Programs; Press and Publicity; Company Files; Posters; Works of Art; Costumes and Artifacts; Designs; and Recordings. The recordings are currently unavailable, pending digitization. Photographs, production and technical files, and scores comprise the majority of the collection.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Joffrey Ballet Company records are arranged in ten series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/24306#c1625296'>Series I: Photographs</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1940-2015</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>48.13 linear feet (139 boxes, 16 oversize folders). 240.72 gigabytes (46,245 computer files)</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Series I: Photographs provides rich documentation of the workings of The Joffrey through images of classes, rehearsals, productions, and events from its inception in 1956 to 2015. This series also contains early photographs of Joffrey and Arpino in the 1940s, prior to their advent of the company. Photograph formats primarily consist of black and white prints and color slides. The vast majority of the photographs were taken by Herbert Migdoll after he joined the company as staff photographer in 1968. Photographs taken prior to 1968 are by James Mitchell, James Howell, Martha Swope, and Miss M. J. Baylis, among others.</p> <p>The arrangement of the photographs series is in line with the original order maintained by the Joffrey Ballet Company administration. The majority of this series is comprised of the Ballets subseries, which is arranged alphabetically by ballet. Other subseries include Events, Festivals, and Tours; Marketing Photographs; <span class=\"title\">Joffrey Ballet: An American Classic</span>; Founders' Files, and Miscellaneous and Unsorted Photographs.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/24306#c1625654'>Series II: Production and Technical Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1958-2016</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>57.5 linear feet (141 containers). 116.56 megabytes (186 computer files)</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Series II: Production and Technical Files document the technical and creative aspects of nearly every ballet in the Joffrey repertoire between 1958 and 2016. This series consists of performance reports and prompt books; and files arranged in three different sections: by ballet, by location, and by date. In addition to documenting the company's output, this series also showcases the company's changing administrative styles and filing arrangements.</p> <p>The files contain a wide array of document types, including lighting plots; production calendars; cue sheets; ground plans; and production cost summaries. Information on props, costumes, and make-up; cast and staff lists; annotated programs; performance notes; and photographs are also present. Materials pertaining to dance festivals, such as Blossom, Jacob's Pillow, Wolftrap, Artpark, or others, can be found throughout this series.</p> <p>Performance reports contain program or cast changes, start, finish, and run times, and remarks for each ballet. Many have attached handwritten announcements, and programs are sometimes attached to the reports.</p> <p>Production and technical files are predominantly labelled by ballet, and infrequently by an artist's name, such as the choreographer Agnes de Mille. Multiple productions of a ballet may be represented under each title.</p> <p>Of note are the files for the original Joffrey production of <span class=\"title\">Billboards</span>, which contain several lighting designs and technical information; costume fabric swatches for <span class=\"title\">Cotillon</span> and <span class=\"title\">Dream Dances</span>; and substantial prop files for <span class=\"title\">Le Sacre du Printemps</span> and <span class=\"title\">Romeo and Juliet</span>. Files for <span class=\"title\">The Nutcracker</span> are robust, and contain administrative materials, box office documentation, contracts, notes on children's parts and logistics, and financial statements. <span class=\"title\">Astarte</span> files contain lighting templates (gobos), a fabric sample for a drop, a musical score by Crome Syrcus, and documents from the 2002 restaging.</p> <p>Files arranged by location document The Joffrey's tours. Researchers interested in a specific ballet should also refer to the alphabetically arranged sub-series. The activity of The Joffrey between 1999 and 2004 is primarily documented through the final sub-series, arranged chronologically.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/24306#c1625952'>Series III: Scores</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1926-2010</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>84.08 linear feet (335 boxes)</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The scores contain the sheet music that accompanied Joffrey Ballet performances dating from 1961 to 2010. The scores are organized into four subseries: orchestra parts, piano, choral, and full (conductor's) scores. Within each subseries, the scores are arranged alphabetically by ballet.</p> <p>The bulk of the scores are for sets of orchestra parts, many of which are annotated by the conductors, musicians, or composers, with some containing detailed performance or dance notes. Generally, the date given is the date of the Joffrey premiere of the work. Most of the scores are published, but some are manuscripts, often being those commissioned by the Joffrey.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/24306#c1626196'>Series IV: Programs</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1945-2017</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>17.92 linear feet (43 boxes)</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/24306#c1626240'>Series V: Press and Publicity</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1956-2013</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>51.0 linear feet (125 boxes). 15.21 gigabytes (1,527 computer files)</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The Press and Publicity series contains clippings and articles arranged by year; dancer, choreographer, and staff files; ballet fact sheets; press releases; and marketing and mailing samples.</p> <p>The majority of this series is comprised of clippings and articles arranged chronologically. The Joffrey frequently used clippings services to assemble their files, which are meticulously arranged by month. This subseries is a straightforward resource for those interested in the reception of specific Joffrey tours or productions for a given time period.</p> <p>Dancer, choreographer, and staff files contain headshots and biographical information on each individual associated with the company. These files are listed alphabetically as a range in the container list, but a full listing of names is available as an additional resource.</p> <p>Ballet fact sheets were often created by the Joffrey Ballet Company press staff after the initial debut of the ballet. The files in this subseries may contain multiple versions of each fact sheet. The fact sheet files may also contain other information used for the publicity and marketing of the ballets, such as articles, thumbnail biographies of choreographers, marketing information, program outlines, and press photographs.</p> <p>Marketing files are arranged by season and contain printed brochures, mailings, subscription information, special event fliers, announcements, and articles.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/24306#c1626672'>Series VI: Company Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1877-2013</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>25.29 linear feet (64 boxes). 28.03 gigabytes (9,688 computer files)</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Company files consist of administrative, personal, and project files held by Robert Joffrey, Gerald Arpino, and Herbert Migdoll, respectively, as well as some general administrative files maintained by office staff. The series contains a wide variety of material types, including correspondence, mailing lists, memoranda, invoices, rights acquisitions, and financial reports; company history; photographs; awards; scrapbooks; and files pertaining to <span class=\"title\">Joffrey Ballet: An American Classic</span>.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/24306#c1626757'>Series VII: Posters</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1955-2015</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>18.18 linear feet (32 boxes, 4 oversize folders, 30 tubes)</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/24306#c1626795'>Series VIII: Works of Art</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1975-2003</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>0.97 linear feet (4 boxes, 1 oversize folder)</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/24306#c1626802'>Series IX: Costumes and Artifacts</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1973-1993</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2.5 linear feet (7 boxes)</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/24306#c1626815'>Series X: Designs</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1963-2004</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>0.73 linear feet (36 containers)</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Designs are arranged into four sections: Lighting Designs, Models, Scenic Designs, and Stage Designs. A small amount of costume designs for an unknown production preceded the sections. The models in the collection are for <span class=\"title\">The Nutcracker</span> and <span class=\"title\">Cotillon</span>.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Gift of The Joffrey Ballet, 2017.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Robyn Hjermstad</span> with the assistance of <span class=\"name\">Amelia Carlin</span> in <span class=\"date\">2017-2019</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>"}
- userestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>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</p>"}
- revisiondesc
-
{"value"=>"Electronic records processed by Christopher Arena in", "date"=>"2021"}
- date_start
-
1877
- keydate
-
1877
- date_end
-
2017
- date_inclusive_start
-
1877
- date_inclusive_end
-
2017
- date_bulk_start
-
1956
- date_bulk_end
-
2013
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Joffrey Ballet Company records, *MGZMD 475. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}