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Creator
Beard, Richard
Call number
(S) *MGZMD 410
Physical description
4.09 linear feet (3 boxes, 4 volumes)
Preferred Citation

Richard Beard papers, (S) *MGZMD 410. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library.

Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
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Richard "Dick" Beard was a ballet dancer and choreographer. The Richard Beard papers contain programs, photographs, correspondence, and scrapbooks.

Biographical/historical information

Richard "Dick" Beard (1926-2009) was a ballet dancer and choreographer. His first professional appearance was with Ballet International in 1944. After a brief period at Ballet International, Beard was recruited for the Ballet Theatre by Antony Tudor where he created the role of the Bridegroom in Tudor's ballet Undertow in 1945. Other solo roles included Paris in Tudor and Eugene Berman's Romeo and Juliet and a role in Jerome Robbins' Facsimile.

Following the closure of Ballet Theater, Beard was invited to join Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein's new group, Ballet Society. In 1948 Ballet Society became the New York City Ballet and Beard remained as a founding member.

After Beard's departure from the New York City Ballet, he appeared as a dancer on the Your Show of Shows television series and toured the U.S. with the Cabots, a dance trio cabaret act. The Cabots (Beard, Frank Sabella and Marion Saunders) also spent a year performing in Paris in the 1960s. In the 1960s and 1970s, Beard created choreography for major television musical series starring Dinah Shore, Danny Kaye and Julie Andrews as well as television specials for Cher, Mitzi Gaynor, and Doris Day. He retired in Los Angeles and remained there until his death in 2009.

Scope and arrangement

The Richard Beard papers contain programs, photographs, correspondence, and scrapbooks. Photographs include individual promotional shots of Beard and the Cabots, as well as photographs of dancers from the New York City Ballet. Personal snapshots document his travels to England and France in 1960. There are also photographs of retired dancers in the 1970s and 1980s at various events in Los Angeles, including Alicia Markova and Tatiana Riabouchinska. Programs consist of Ballet International and Ballet Theatre performances in which Beard appeared, as well as the Cabots' tours and various anniversary galas and memorial services.

Scrapbooks consist of one volume documenting the touring career of the Cabots with programs, photographs, and clippings; a Ballet Theatre European tour scrapbook holding personal snapshots (1946); and an early dance career volume with clippings, postcards, and photographs dating 1945 to 1948. The Ballet Theatre tour scrapbook documents the backstage life of the dancers as well as their outside activities as they toured various cities. There are also three scrapbooks with a mix of materials ranging from childhood photographs of Beard to clippings about dancers he has worked with, autographed portraits of notable dancers, and obituaries. These materials date from the early 1930s to 1975.

Correspondence is limited and consists of an undated letter from Beard to his mother and a few postcards from friends and family. There are also two letters from Thamar (Tamara) Karsavina to Cyril Beaumont dated 1914 which were collected by Beard, possibly to be included in one of his dance scrapbooks.

Arrangement

Alphabetical by file type.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by Robert James Wood II, 2012.

Processing information

Compiled by Lea Jordan, 2014

Using the collection

Location

Jerome Robbins Dance Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Conditions Governing Use

The author/creator retains copyright of materials. For information on obtaining permission to publish, contact the Dance Division at dance@nypl.org.