Robert Kovich papers

id
5330
origination
Kovich, Robert
date statement
1958-1990
key date
1958
identifier (local_mss)
19858
org unit
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
call number
*MGZMD 206
b-number
b16902198
total components
67
total series
0
max depth
N/A
boost queries
(none)
component layout
Default Layout
Extended MARC Fields
false
Extended Navigation
false
created
2013-04-01 15:05:17 UTC
updated
2026-06-25 15:07:55 UTC
status note
(missing)
Display Aeon link
true

Description data TOP

physdesc
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"1.5", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"3 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
unitid
{"value"=>"*MGZMD 206", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"19858", "type"=>"local_mss"}
unitdate
{"value"=>"1958-1990", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1958/1990"}
date_inclusive_start
1958
date_inclusive_end
1990
keydate
1958
unittitle
{"value"=>"Robert Kovich papers"}
repository
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.</span> <span class=\"subarea\">Jerome Robbins Dance Division.</span> <div class=\"address\"><span class=\"addressline\">New York, New York</span></div>"}
abstract
{"value"=>"Robert Kovich was a dancer and choreographer, originally with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. In the 1980s, Kovich performed, choreographed, and taught dance, mainly in New York and France. The collection includes choreography notes, scripts, correspondence, some photographs and teaching material."}
prefercite
{"value"=>"Robert Kovich papers, *MGZMD 206. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}
origination
{"value"=>"Kovich, Robert", "type"=>"persname"}
bioghist
{"value"=>"<p>Robert Kovich was born in California on January 17, 1950. He studied dance with Isa Partsch Bergsohn at the University of California-Santa Barbara from 1968 to 1971, and then with Judith Dunn and Martha Wittman at Bennington College in Vermont from 1970 to 1972, where he received a bachelor’s degree.</p> <p>Kovich was a dance fellow at the Judith Dunn/Bill Dixon Dance Company from 1971 to 1972, and in 1973, he joined the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in New York as a dancer and teacher. In 1981, Kovich left Merce Cunningham and moved to France to work as a choreographer and teacher. From 1981 through 1984, supported by the French Ministry of Culture, Kovich choreographed <span class=\"title\">Loupe</span> for the Maison de la Danse in Lyon, <span class=\"title\">Tarantula (with Tarantella)</span> for the Festival at Arles, and <span class=\"title\">Scanner/Rhapsody</span> at the Pompidou Center. Kovich also presented dances in New York during this time and worked as a choreographer and teacher for various dance companies and festivals in the United States, Europe and Israel.</p> <p>Throughout the 1980s, Kovich created dances that explored the traditional roles of musician and dancer, collaborating with such musicians as John King, Rhys Chatham and Linda Benglis. He produced a variety of works at dance workshops, festivals and centers in the New York area, North Carolina, Minnesota and other locations. Awarded grants and fellowships by the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts among others, Kovich received the Metropolitan Life Foundation/American Dance Festival Young Choreographers Award in 1986. He was a member of the Societé des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques.</p> <p>Kovich died of cancer at the age of 40 on April 23, 1991 in Manhattan. In his obituary, the New York Times noted that Kovich was known as a “demanding but gentle master teacher” and a dancer with “an ironic wit, great physical deftness and precision and a sense of vivid coloration.”¹<ul> <li>¹ <span class=\"title\">New York Times</span>. Robert Kovich, 40, Dancer and Teacher, [Obituary], 1991, April 23, A.19</li></ul></p>"}
scopecontent
{"value"=>"<p>The Robert Kovich Papers span the years 1958-1990 and consist of correspondence, teaching notes, workshop material, grant applications, choreography notes and sketches, some photographs, and materials reflecting collaboration with other artists, such as John King and Rhys Chatham. The collection is important in its documentation of the development of several different dance programs and collaborative works in the 1980s. The collection is mostly professional material, with a limited amount of personal material, which includes correspondence, sketch pads and notebooks.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Robert Kovich papers are arranged in six series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19858#c422587'>Series I : Correspondence,</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1979 - 1990</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of professional correspondence, with some personal correspondence from Merce Cunningham and other performing artists included.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19858#c422602'>Series II: Collaborations,</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1972 - 1990</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of correspondence, production budgets, scripts, resumes and other planning materials related to works Kovich produced for projects and dance festivals; included are materials related to Kovich collaborations with musicians Rhys Chatham and John King. The majority of the material dates from the 1980s.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19858#c422612'>Series III : Foundations,</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1980 - 1990</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of material related to grant applications, correspondence and requests for funding Kovich’s dance productions. Included are Kovich’s descriptions of his goals and initiatives regarding productions and collaborations with other artists.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19858#c422621'>Series IV: Kovich Productions,</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1984 - 1990</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of materials related to Kovich Productions. Most of the material consists of scripts, scores and production notes for dances produced in the 1980s, along with a small group of office files related to these works.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19858#c422632'>Series V: General office files,</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1958 - 1990</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of course schedules, notes, scripts, short stories and newspaper clippings (some in French and Dutch), including reviews of Kovich’s work. The bulk of the material dates from the 1980s.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/dan/19858#c422640'>Series VI: Notebooks, Sketches,</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1983 - 1989</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of an assortment of Kovich’s notes and sketch pads. Included are notes dating from the mid-1980s regarding Kovich’s choreography and teaching projects, some of which are in French.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
arrangement
{"value"=>"<p> <ul> <li>Series I: Correspondence, 1979-1990, undated</li> <li>Series II: Collaborations, 1972-1990, undated</li> <li>Series III: Foundations, 1980-1990, undated</li> <li>Series IV: Kovich Productions, 1984-1990, undated</li> <li>Series V: General Office Files, 1958-1990, undated</li> <li>Series VI: Notebooks, Sketches, 1983-1989, undated</li></ul></p>", "supress_display"=>true}
acqinfo
{"value"=>"<p>The Robert Kovich Papers were donated to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division in 1998 from the Robert Kovich estate.</p>"}
userestrict
{"value"=>"<p>For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.</p>"}
relatedmaterial
{"value"=>"<p>Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts</p>"}
processinfo
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Mary Robison; Machine-readable finding aid created by Mary Robison.</p>"}
extent_statement
1.5 linear feet (3 boxes)
date_start
1958
date_end
1990

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https://nyplorg-data-archives.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/collection/pdf_finding_aid/dankovic.pdf

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