Scope and arrangement
The Gelsey Kirkland collection spans 1941 to 2012, with the bulk of materials dating from 1970 to 1990. The collection follows Kirkland's career as a principal dancer with both New York City Ballet (1968-1974) and American Ballet Theatre (1974-1984), as well as her early life and ballet training.
The collection is arranged into five series that includes photographs, press and publicity, correspondence, personal files, and video recordings. Of note are drafts, research, and publicity kits for her 1986 autobiography, Dancing on My Grave, and its 1990 sequel, The Shape of Love.
The Gelsey Kirkland collection is arranged in five series:
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1950-2012
Series I holds photographs of performances, portraits of Kirkland, and images arranged alphabetically by subject. The bulk of the photographs portray Kirland's performances with American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and New York City Ballet (NYCB).
Performance photographs capture Kirkland in roles with NYCB, including Firebird (1970), Goldberg Variations (1971), Dewdrop in The Nutcracker (1970), and Theme and Variations (1971-1972).
Her ABT performances are depicted through photographs with Fernando Bujones in Don Quixote Pas de Deux (1970s), Shadowplay (1975), Romeo and Juliet with Ivan Nagy (1970s), and as Carabosse in The Sleeping Beauty (2007).
The series also includes photographs from Kirkland's guest appearances at the Royal Ballet, where she performed the title roles in Romeo and Juliet (1980, 1986) and The Sleeping Beauty (1986). A dedicated file contains photographs from the 1977 televised version of The Nutcracker choreographed by Mikhail Baryshnikov.
Portrait photographs comprise another significant component, including work by such photographers as Dina Makarova, Martha Swope, Beverley Gallegos, Steven Caras, Costas, Fred Fehl, Roddy McDowall, William J. Reilly, Daniel Sorine, and Max Waldman. A separate file contains portraits of Kirkland with Mikhail Baryshnikov from the 1970s.
Subject files illustrate Kirkland's childhood and family life, early ballet training, award ceremonies, book-related events, teaching career, and photographs with friends and family.
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1941-2010
The Press and Publicity series (1941-2010) covers Kirkland's career through newspaper and magazine clippings, performance programs, and published materials.
The clippings, collected and organized by Kirkland and her family, are arranged chronologically, followed by subject-based files. These files cover specific aspects of her career including her published books, her Royal Ballet residency, her restaging of The Sleeping Beauty with American Ballet Theatre (ABT), and her teaching career. The series also contains files about other dancers.
Performance programs trace Kirkland's artistic development from her early training at the School of American Ballet through her tenure with New York City Ballet and later with ABT. Additional programs chronicle her guest appearances with companies including the Royal Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Eglevsky Ballet, as well as her participation in benefit performances, festivals, galas, and award ceremonies.
Published materials in the series include magazines, books, calendars, newsletters, and fliers. Kirkland was featured on the covers of several major publications: Dance Magazine (1970, 1986), Newsweek (1975), and Dancing Times (1986). The series also includes a copy of Dancer Shoes by Daniel and Stephanie Sorine (1979), which features a photograph of Kirkland's ballet slippers.
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1958-2009
The Correspondence series (1958-2009) embodies Gelsey Kirkland's personal and professional relationships through letters, postcards, telegrams, notes, and drawings.
Personal correspondence comprises a significant portion of the series, featuring extensive communication with Kirkland's immediate family. Early letters from 1958 capture exchanges between Kirkland, her sister Johnna, and their father Jack during his time in Los Angeles. The series also contains frequent correspondence from Kirkland's mother, sister, grandmother, and extended family members, often sharing encouragement and congratulations regarding her performances.
Professional correspondence includes business communications with dance companies, discussions of overseas employment and work logistics, photograph release permissions, and correspondence with Doubleday regarding Kirkland's autobiography Dancing on My Grave. The series also contains documentation of negotiations to adapt her first autobiography into a film.
Some individuals Kirkland corresponded with includes George Balanchine, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Shirley Bernstein, Patrick Bissell, Maggie Black, Fernando Bujones, Steven Caras, Barbara Horgan, Mayor John Lindsay, Carl Michel, Arthur Mitchell, Jackie Onassis, Jerome Robbins, and Anthony Tudor.
Fan mail forms another substantial component of the series. These letters range from autograph requests to detailed expressions of admiration for Kirkland's artistry. A dedicated file contains reader responses to Dancing on My Grave.
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1950-2007
The Personal series reflects Kirkland's life from the 1950s to 2007. The series contains awards, including the Victory Award (1987) and the Gerard Manley Hopkins Award (1990), biographies and press releases, childhood mementos and artwork. There are also papers related to her father Jack Kirkland's life and memorial, and older sister Johnna Kirkland's ballet accomplishments. Also of note are Kirkland's ballet rehearsal and performance schedules from 1974 to 1984.
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1970-1994
This series focuses primarily on Kirkland's ballet career with New York City Ballet (NYCB) and American Ballet Theatre (ABT), and covers some of her most well-known roles.
The recordings from Kirkland's early and brief career with NYCB include Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux (1973), Concerto Barocco (1974), and A Midsummer Night's Dream where she was partnered with Jacques D'Amboise.
Many of the ABT recordings, including Shadowplay and Theme and Variations, feature partner Mikhail Baryshnikov. Other ABT recordings of note are Raymonda with Rudolf Nureyev, Don Quixote with Patrick Bissell, and The Leaves are Fading with Dennis Wayne and Ivan Nagy.
In addition to ballet performances, there are also recordings of television appearances by Kirkland including a United Bank of Denver commercial from the 1970s, an appearance on the Merv Griffin Show from 1981, and a guest role on the legal drama series L.A. Law from 1994.