- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*MGZMD 181", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"19819", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1832-1987", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1832/1987"}
{"value"=>"1920-1946", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1920/1946"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Artur Michel papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"8.36 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"20 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.</span><div class=\"address\"> <span class=\"addressline\">New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center</span> <span class=\"addressline\">40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498</span></div>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The Artur Michel Papers primarily document the professional concerns of the German-born dance critic and scholar, who immigrated to the United States after the Nazi rise to power. Michel settled in New York, where he became a reviewer for the German-language newspaper <span class=\"title\">Aufbau</span>, wrote articles that appeared in <span class=\"title\">Dance Magazine</span> and other publications, and completed a comprehensive, unpublished book on the history of theatrical dance, <span class=\"title\">Der Tanz auf der Bühne: Geschichte des Theatertanzes seit der Renaissance</span>."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"The majority of the collection contains materials in German, but there are some items in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Czech"}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Artur Michel papers, *MGZMD 181. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Michel, Artur", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>German-born dance critic and historian Artur Ferdinand Michel (1883-1946) was a journalist and scholar who immigrated to the United States after the Nazi rise to power, settling in New York, where he became a reviewer for the German-language newspaper <span class=\"title\">Aufbau</span> and wrote articles that appeared in <span class=\"title\">Dance Magazine</span> and other publications. Born in Barmen, Germany, Michel attended universities in Tübingen and Berlin, and received his doctorate from the Universität Jena. He originally studied language and literature, but later became interested in theater and dance. Michel pursued a career in journalism, working for two newspapers, <span class=\"title\">Magdeburgische Zeitung</span> (1913-1915) and <span class=\"title\">Deutsche allgemeine Zeitung</span> (1920-1922), primarily as an art, book, and theater reviewer, but after becoming an editor and critic for Berlin's <span class=\"title\">Vossische Zeitung</span> (1922-1934), he extended his coverage to dance as well, documenting the vibrant German dance scene. According to his curriculum vitae, Michel estimated that he had published more than one thousand articles in newspapers, periodicals, and books by the early 1940s. In addition to his newspaper work and interest in contemporary dance, Michel traveled extensively in Europe between 1920 and 1936, studying art, folk dance, and ballet history in France, Italy, and Austria. He also lived and worked for almost a year in Portugal and Spain, filing a series of cultural reports for German newspapers from 1927-1928.</p> <p>Michel sought to leave Germany during the mid-1930s, and with the assistance of relatives in New York, he had obtained a landing permit for Cuba by late 1938, intending to stay in Havana until he could be admitted to the United States under its immigration quota. Michel arrived in New York in June 1941 and soon found work writing dance and theater reviews for <span class=\"title\">Aufbau</span>, which served the city's German Jewish population. Through his position on the newspaper, and as a result of reconnecting with fellow émigrés, such as Hanya Holm, he was able to familiarize himself with many developments in American dance. In late 1942, the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars awarded Michel a twelve-month fellowship to complete work on a book, <span class=\"title\">Der Tanz auf der Bühne: Geschichte des Theatertanzes seit der Renaissance</span> (<span class=\"title\">History of the Theatre Dance from the Renaissance to the Present Day</span>), that he had begun in Germany. He hoped that the book (which he envisioned as a text book of sorts) would help him to secure lecture work and a teaching position. Although he initially was unsuccessful in finding a publisher for the finished work, Michel, who had been instrumental in organizing an American effort to honor Mary Wigman on her sixtieth birthday, seemed well on his way to establishing himself within the American dance community before his sudden death in 1946.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Artur Michel Papers primarily document the professional concerns of the dance critic and scholar after he settled in New York. Michel's activities in his new home centered on his efforts to complete, translate, and publish a comprehensive book on the history of theatrical dance, <span class=\"title\">Der Tanz auf der Bühne: Geschichte des Theatertanzes seit der Renaissance</span>. Two bound copies of the finished German manuscript of this unpublished work, as well as an English translation of some sections, are available in the collection. In addition to research materials Michel gathered in writing his book and other publications, the collection includes correspondence, photographs, clippings, programs, publicity materials, and original writings that document a broad spectrum of the rich German dance scene during the 1920s and early 1930s, a period in which Michel worked as a journalist in Berlin. Notable correspondents from this time include La Argentina, Yvonne Georgi, Valeska Gert, Raden Mas Jodjana, Harald Kreutzberg, Lizzie Maudrick, Niddy Impekoven, Rudolf von Laban, Gret Palucca, Oskar Schlemmer, Mia Slavenska, and Mary Wigman. Michel's work as a reviewer for the New York-based, German-language newspaper, Aufbau, also gained him access to many figures in contemporary American dance, including Hanya Holm, Doris Humphrey, and Helen Tamiris. Although the collection contains no material that deals directly with Michel's experiences under the Nazi regime, researchers studying Jewish refugees from Germany or the German émigré community in New York may be interested in his immigration documents, correspondence with the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars, and <span class=\"title\">Aufbau</span>-related materials. Other research interests of Michel's that are well represented in the collection include ballet history (particularly in Italy and the Romantic era), folk dance (especially in Austria, Germany, and Spain), and social dance forms.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Artur Michel papers are arranged in four series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19819#c400976'>Series I: Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1899 - 1987, undated</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The Correspondence series contains letters, postcards, greeting cards, and other materials, primarily of a professional nature. Much of the correspondence dates from Michel's time in New York, but also includes some earlier items. There are three folders of family correspondence, which include postcards from Michel's parents, as well as items that postdate his death, such as condolence letters sent to his sister and documentation of a later effort made by his niece to get the manuscript for his book translated and published. In addition to letters from a wide range of dance notables, the collection includes communications from artists, such as Emil Orlik and Kurt Werth, as well as scholars, including Walter Toscanini and Else Lasker-Schüler. Photographs found with the letters have been moved to the Photographs series, as noted in the container list.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19819#c401056'>Series II: Research Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1832 - 1946, undated</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>11 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Alphabetical</p><p>The Research Materials series is comprised of clippings, notes, programs, and additional items assembled by Michel in preparation for his reviews and scholarly writings. Michel, who was multilingual, was inconsistent in his use of language for categorizing his files; in general, English terms have been supplied in the container list, except in a few instances for those terms which are more frequently identified by their original language in English usage (for example, basse danse), and some German concepts, for which no straightforward English equivalent could be found. Major subjects covered include ballet, court dance, folk dance, and modern dance; particularly dance in Germany during the 1920s and early 1930s. An item of special interest is a printed German libretto from 1832 for a ballet with Fanny Elssler. The majority of the materials are in German (and Michel took many of his notes in shorthand), but there are some items in English, French, Italian, and Spanish. Also interspersed throughout several of the folders are carbon copies of typescripts of Michel's reviews, most likely done for <span class=\"title\">Aufbau</span>. Many of the materials in this series are fragile and require careful handling.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19819#c401274'>Series III: Photographs</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1903 - 1944, undated</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>4 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The Photographs series consists of two main groups: Dancers and dance groups, which contains mainly publicity photographs and postcards of individual dancers or companies, and Reproductions, which is comprised of prints and negatives of graphic materials acquired by Michel for research and study purposes, or to be included as illustrations with his publications. There is also one box with six lantern slides, probably used to accompany lectures. Of special interest are candid shots (either sent to, or including, Michel) from Yvonne Georgi, Harald Kreutzberg, Raden Mas Jodjana, Gret Palucca, Mia Slavenska, and Mary Wigman.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19819#c401368'>Series IV: Writings</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1907 - 1947, undated</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>3 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The Writings series contains drafts, manuscripts, and printed editions of many of Michel's works for publication. Included are drafts of individual chapters and two complete versions of his unpublished book, <span class=\"title\">Der Tanz auf der Bühne</span>. The majority of the material is in German, with a few items that have been translated into English; there is one article in Czech. Also of note is a selection of clippings of Michel's articles written for various German newspapers, between 1907-1931; some of these items appear under the pseudonym, Artur Grote.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>The collection is organized into four series. They are:<ul class=\"list\"> <li>Series I: Correspondence, 1899-1987 and undated</li> <li>Series II: Research Materials, 1832-1946 and undated</li> <li>Series III: Photographs, 1903-1944 and undated</li> <li>Series IV: Writings, 1907-1947 and undated</li></ul></p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Artur Michel Papers were donated in several installments to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, the most recent in 2006, by the Estate of Maria Leschnitzer.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Helice Koffler; Machine-readable finding aid created by Helice Koffler.</p>"}
- userestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts also holds Artur Michel Letters, *MGZMD 84 and Scrapbook: Articles from <span class=\"title\">Aufbau</span> on microfilm, *ZBD-654 no. 1.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1832
- keydate
-
1832
- date_end
-
1987
- date_inclusive_start
-
1832
- date_inclusive_end
-
1987
- date_bulk_start
-
1920
- date_bulk_end
-
1946