- unitid
-
{"value"=>"186173", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"(S) *MGZMD 562", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b22980846", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1915-2016", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1915/2016"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Ruth Ann Koesun collection"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"30 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"8.13 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"770 computer files", "unit"=>"computer_files"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"12.1 gigabytes", "unit"=>"gigabytes"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Jerome Robbins Dance Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Ruth Ann Koesun (1928-2018) was a ballerina with the Ballet Theatre, later the American Ballet Theatre (ABT), and was one of the first Asian-American dancers to reach the rank of principal dancer in the company. The collection holds files related to Koesun's career, including correspondence, press materials, and photographs, as well as costumes, ballet slippers, and video recordings that chronicle Koesun's experience as a touring ballet dancer."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Koesun, Ruth Ann", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Ruth Ann Koesun was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1928. Her father, Paul Koesun was a well-known doctor in Chicago's Chinatown neighborhood. Koesun's mother, Mary Mondulick Koesun, was a nurse and later a housewife. Koesun's mixed background was often noted in the press, her father was Chinese-American, and her mother was of Russian descent. At six, Koesun began training with Edna Lucille Baum, who specialized in teaching young ballet dancers. Baum later encouraged Koesun to advance her technique at the Stone-Camryn School of Chicago, and to spend summers in New York City studying with ballet teachers Maria Swoboda and her husband, Vecheslav Swoboda.</p> <p>In 1946, Koesun joined the Ballet Theatre (later known as American Ballet Theatre) and was paired with John Kriza, a fellow Stone-Camryn alumnus based in Illinois. When the couple wasn't touring with the Ballet Theatre, they often danced together in Chicago nightclubs and Summer Stock performances. Kriza and Koesun became the signature dancers in the Ballet Theatre's revival of Eugene Loring's <span class=\"title\">Billy The Kid</span>. The pair were closely identified with their <span class=\"title\">Billy The Kid</span> roles, and they performed the ballet with the rest of the company at the White House for President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1962.</p> <p>Koesun danced in other prominent roles including the Bluebird pas de deux from <span class=\"title\">The Sleeping Beauty</span>. She would partner with several notable ballet dancers, including Erik Bruhn, Nora Kaye, Maria Tallchief, and Violette Verdy. In the 1950s, Koesun often partnered with Eric Braun, another principal dancer with the Ballet Theatre. The two were married in 1947, but divorced after eight years.</p> <p>Koesun and the Ballet Theatre toured worldwide. In the summer of 1946, they were the first American ballet company to perform in London after World War II. In September of 1955, the company was on a South American tour during the Revolución Libertadora (Liberating Revolution), the coup that ended the second term of Argentina's president, Juan Perón. After spending six days locked down in the Claridge Hotel in Buenos Aires, the company continued its production under the new administration.</p> <p>After retiring from the American Ballet Theatre in 1969, Koesun returned to Chicago, where she served as the co-director of the dance department at the Hull House Association from 1969 until 1972. Koesun also worked in the archives of the Newberry Library starting in 1998, and began serving as the Assistant Director of the Chamber Opera of Chicago in 2005. Koesun remained involved in the dance world until she died in 2018.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Ruth Ann Koesun collection dates from 1915 through 2016, and consists primarily of materials created during Koesun's dance career with the Ballet Theatre, and some personal items. Materials include clippings; correspondence; costumes; documents and identification cards; family material; documentation related to lectures and events; photographs; programs; and sheet music. Some topics addressed include Koesun's early life; studying dance with her first ballet teacher, Edna Lucille Baum; her time on tour with the Ballet Theatre; and her later career as a dance professional in Chicago. The collection is arranged alphabetically by material type.</p> <p>The clippings include chronologically arranged loose newspaper articles, tear sheets, and seven scrapbooks. Koesun assembled scrapbooks of clippings, note cards, and telegrams every year she toured with the Ballet Theatre.</p> <p>Correspondence dates from 1946 through 2012, and is filed alphabetically by last name. The majority of this correspondence is professional. However, some personal and family correspondence is present. Koesun received several condolence letters after John Kriza's death by drowning in 1975. There are also several accounts written by Koesun and delivered to both her and Eric Braun's parents while the couple was on tour. Notable names in each folder are indicated in the container list.</p> <p>There are costumes and accessories present that Koesun wore during her tenure with the Ballet Theatre from 1946 until 1969. The two costumes include the outfit that Koesun wore during her performance of <span class=\"title\">Billy The Kid</span> at the White House in 1962, and the costume for the Sylph for <span class=\"title\">Les Sylphides</span>. In addition to these costumes, there are seven pairs of ballet slippers and costume accessories, including tiaras, decorative flowers, wiring for wings, hairpieces, and other small plastic accessories.</p> <p>The documents and identification files include support letters for Eric Braun's visa, Ruth Anne Koesun and Eric Braun's passports from 1947 through the 1990s, Screen Actors Guild cards, marriage certificate, and divorce papers. There is also a copy of Eric Braun's 1970 death certificate.</p> <p>There are several objects related to Koesun's family life and childhood. This includes materials related to Koesun's parents, some of Koesun's early schoolwork, notes on Chinese vocabulary, and Eric Braun's funeral book.</p> <p>Invitations, video recordings, and presentation notes are held in the Lectures and Events files. These materials date from 1966 to 2008, and document aspects of Koesun's career after her tenure with the Ballet Theatre. After touring as a professional dancer, Koesun remained involved in the Chicago dance community for many years.</p> <p>The photographs date from 1934 through 2016, and include loose prints, slides, negatives, and scrapbooks. The photographss are arranged as Family and Friends; Performances; and Headshots and Professional Portraits. Photographs of family range from 1919 through 2009, and include family albums collated by Koesun's mother, Koesun's baby book, and a family scrapbook documenting the Koesun family at the Chicago World's Fair in 1934. Performance photographs are grouped by subject, including Koesun as a ballet student; performing at Chicago nightclubs; on stage with the Ballet Theatre; and later in life at various reunions and benefits. There are several scrapbooks of Ballet Theatre tours depicting Koesun and other dancers in cities around the world. Headshots are arranged by subject (primarily Koesun solo or with a partner), and date from her early career in the 1930s through the 1970s.</p> <p>Numerous performance programs that chronicle Koesun's career are present in these files, including a bound set of all the Ballet Theatre programs from 1940 through 1955. In addition to this volume, there are chronologically arranged loose Ballet Theatre programs from 1940 through 2007. Programs from Chicago nightclubs and theatres as early as 1943 are also located here.</p> <p>There is also a small selection of sheet music and dance notation present. The sheet music is mostly from numbers Koesun performed throughout her career, and the dance notation includes descriptions of ballets and rehearsal schedules.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Donated by Ellen Coghlan to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division in 2021.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Emily P. Dunne</span> in <span class=\"date\">2023</span>.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1915
- keydate
-
1915
- date_end
-
2016
- date_inclusive_start
-
1915
- date_inclusive_end
-
2016
- extent_statement
-
8.13 linear feet (30 boxes). 12.1 gigabytes (770 computer files)
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Ruth Ann Koesun collection, (S) *MGZMD 562. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}