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Creator
King, Eleanor, 1906-1991
Call number
(S) *MGZMD 96
Physical description
27 linear feet (49 boxes)
Language
The Dance material and Programs series contain some material in Dutch, Japanese, or Korean; English
Preferred Citation

The Eleanor King Papers, (S) *MGZMD 96, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

Eleanor King was a pioneer in the field of modern dance. She was an an original dancer of the Humphrey-Weidman group, a choreographer, and a teacher. Miss King became one of the first dance instructors in the United States, she was a professor in the Theatre Department at the University of Arkansas. The collection contains correspondence, teaching notes, dance and choreography notes, drafts of three books, programs, clippings, and sketches.

Biographical/historical information

Eleanor Campbell King was born February 8, 1906, in Middleton, Pennsylvania. She was one of six children born to parents George Ilgenfritz King and Emma Kate Campbell King. In 1926, when she was 20, the family moved to Brooklyn, New York. King lived at home until age 28, when she moved to an apartment in Manhattan.

King began dance lessons at age 20. Her first teacher was Priscilla Roineau, who taught at Clare Tree Major’s School of the Theatre in New York City. Her professional dance training and performing began with her enrollment in Denishawn in 1927. King joined the original Humphrey-Weidman Company (1928-1935). She performed solo, duet, and group roles, and toured with the company in 1934-1935.

King became an independent dancer in New York from 1935 to 1942. Her first choreographed large scale work was Icaro, based upon a poem by Lauro de Bosis, with music created by David Diamond and Franczeska Boas. Jack Cole danced the role of Icarus. Icaro premiered at the Brooklyn Museum Dance Center in May 1937.

After leaving New York City, King moved to Northfield, Minnesota to teach at Carleton College for the 1942-43 school year. In the summer of 1943, King moved to Seattle, Washington and there she taught at the Cornish School of the Arts. For the next eight years, King taught, choreographed, and traveled throughout the Pacific Northwest, as a soloist and with her own dance company.

“In the summer of 1947, she created One World in Dance, a cooperative dance program in which 13 different ethnic groups were represented. This program led to the creation of the Friends of the Dance of the Pacific Northwest, a group which provided performance opportunities for dancers of the region and which promoted audience participation and understanding of the many kinds of dance in the area.”

In 1951 King began teaching dance and mime as an associate professor in the Department of Speech and Dramatic Arts at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

King retired from teaching at the University of Arkansas in the spring of 1971. She moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico where she became involved with the burgeoning dance and theater culture of the area.

Eleanor King traveled four times to the Far East to study Asian dance. As a Fulbright Research Scholar, she was in Japan in 1958, 1960-61, and 1967. With a Vogelstein Foundation grant she studied in Bali in 1976. She returned to the Far East again in 1977, traveling to Burma, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Korea.

She was a prolific writer, authoring several journal articles and three books. In 1978, King’s autobiography, Transformations: the Humphrey-Weidman Era was published. She also wrote Transformations II: To the West, which has not been published. In addition King wrote The Way of Japanese Dance: A Dancers Journal, which was optioned by Shambhala Press, but never published. However, a special edition of 100 copies of chapters one and two were bound in Japanese papers by Virginia Gannon. This was an

“illustrated journal covering all types of Japanese dance in relation to the history, religion and culture of the people of Japan”.

In 1989, Nicole Plett edited a collection of essays titled Eleanor King: 60 Years in American Dance.

King had a talent for sketching. She produced several thousand sketches, many of which were included in her The Way of Japanese Dance. Early sketches were of still life and nudes. Later sketches were produced from many trips to the numerous museums of the Santa Fe, New Mexico, area. Sketches from the middle years were nearly all from her many trips to Asia.

“King’s dances were largely unknown to audiences of the 1980’s when Annabelle Gamson staged highly praised revivals of her work in 1987 and 1988 in New York. The solos were praised in the New York Times for their eloquence and for Miss King’s careful shaping of ideas and feelings.”

In 1989 King moved to the Actor’s Home in Haddonfield, New Jersey. At the time of her death (March 1991), she was a co-director of the American Dance Repertory Theater with Mino Nicholas. The American Dance Repertory Theater created revivals of Miss King’s dances as well as the dances of Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman.

Eleanor King never married and had no children. She died on February 27, 1991.

Scope and arrangement

The Eleanor King Papers span the years 1921-1991 and consist of correspondence, personal papers, teaching notes, syllabi, workshop material, grant applications, choreographed dances with notes (about costumes, music, history and other pertinent material). Also included are drafts of published and unpublished writings (journal articles, reviews and books). There are clippings, photographs, programs and playbills.

The collection is important in its documentation of the development of Modern Dance, through her work with Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. She was dance partner with Jose Limon, choreographed dances for Jack Cole, and created several theatre dance companies in New York and Washington state.

The collection includes Miss King's three books. Transformations: The Humphrey-Weidman Years, published in 1977 describes the beginnings of Modern Dance; Transformations: To the West, which is unpublished, continues her journey as independent dancer/choreographer and her beginnings as a teacher of dance and The Way of Japanese Dance a detailed, descriptive account of several hundred-year-old cultural dances from Japan. This book is also unpublished, includes beautiful watercolor sketches of dances and costumes.

The Eleanor King papers are arranged in nine series:

  • Series I: Correspondence
    1930 - 1991

    This series consists of correspondence to and from Eleanor King. The personal correspondence is to family members and friends. Many of the letters to her family are in regard to happenings including travel, the countryside, the weather, her adventures, and the people she met. The general correspondence documents her attempts to get The Way of Japanese Dance published

  • Series II: Personal Papers
    1916 - 1990

    This series consists of biographical, medical, financial and legal material, travel, world events, certificates, mailing lists, passports, elementary school papers and notes to self. Included is an analysis of Eleanor King by Katherine M. H. Blackford, M.D. Dr. Blackford was famous for her observational methods of character analysis.

  • Series III: Teaching
    1939 - 1989

    This series consists of material that Eleanor King used during her teaching career. There are lecture notes and syllabi, student papers, research notes, grant applications and reports, workshop notes and notes used in lectures and demonstrations.

    • Sub-series 1 - University of Arkansas, 1951-1971, and other colleges, 1978-1979
    • Sub-series 2- Grants, 1939-1981
    • Sub-series 3 - Lecture/Demonstrations, 1943-1978
    • Sub-series 4 - Workshops, 1942-1989 and Conferences, 1972-1990

  • Series IV: Dance
    1931 - 1990

    This series consists of dances created, choreographed, performed, and taught by Eleanor King. Also included is research information about dances, dancers, and dance programs. There is a small amount of material about dance conferences.

  • Series V: Writings
    1938 - 1979

    This series consists of published and unpublished writings mostly by Eleanor King. There is a small amount of material written by other authors, with some of that material written about Miss King.

  • Series VI: Programs
    1937 - 1991

    This series consists of dance programs documenting the life and career of Eleanor King.

  • Series VII: Clippings
    undated

    This series contains clippings about dance and the career of Eleanor King.

  • Series VIII: Photographs
    ca. 1929 - 1990

    This series consists of photographs spanning the life of Eleanor King, nearly all of the photographs are undated. There are several photographs of Miss King when she was in her teens and twenties. There are several photographs of her as an older woman. Also included are photographs of dancers, dance productions and friends and family.

  • Series IX: Oversized Material
    1940 - 1980

    This series consists of three sub-series: unbound sketches, sketchbooks and musical scores and dance notes. The sketches are of several different mediums—pen and ink, watercolor, crayon, pastels, markers and brush and ink.

Administrative information

Custodial history

Some of King's original correspondence is a gift of Cross-Cultural Dance Resources, Inc., which has retained copies.

Correspondence between Eleanor King and Joann W. Kealiinohomoku was supplied in photocopy by Cross-Cultural Dance Resources, Inc.; that institution retains the originals of the King-Kealiinohomoku correspondence.

Source of acquisition

The Eleanor King Papers were donated to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division in 1974 by Eleanor King and in 1994 by the Eleanor King Foundation.

Processing information

Processed by Leslie Reyman; Machine-readable finding aid created by Leslie Reyman.

Separated material

  • Audio recordings and tapes
    • Audiodisc, 10" Miracles, electronic effects by Norman De Marco, based on poem by Walt Whitman
    • Decca DAU 90016, 12".
      • 73976. A Italian Concerto for Haprsichord, 2nd Movement, J.S. Bach. Played by Sylvia Marlow
      • 73974. B Concerto in D Major for Haprsichord, 2nd Movement concluded and 3rd movement. Vivaldi and J.S. Bach. Played by Sylvia Marlow
    • Decca DAu 90017 12"
      • 73977. A Italian Concerto for Hrpsichor, 3rd movement. J.S. Bach. Played by Sylvia Marlow
      • 73972. B Concerto in Da Major for Harpsichord. 1st movement and 2nd movement part 1. Vivaldi and J.S. Bach. Played by Sylvia Marlow
    • Audiodisc 5301, 12". Scarlatti Sonata
    • Audiodisc, 12". Gilgamesh, I and II. Didier Graeffe, 1960
    • Audiodisc, 12". Gilgamesh, III, and IV. Didier Graeffe, 1960
    • Audiodisc. 12"
      • A. Miracles, parts 1,2,3,4,5, electronic effects by Norman De Marco
      • Folk Songs. Collegiate Choir
    • Audiodisc, 12". Symphony in F Minor. Ralph Vaughan-Williams.
    • Carnegie Hall Recording Co., 33 1/3 rpm, 12"
      • A. Hindmith
      • B. Couperin, Bach, Reutter
    • Audiodisc, 12"
      • A-1958 Suite by Alvin King, oboe/piano. Gagaku, Kyoto tape.
      • B-Japanes, Bugaku, Song, Twilight, Kagura
    • Audio disc, 12"
      • A-Gagaku (Kyoto), played by Imperial Household Musicians. Kagura, 2nd band
      • B-Gagaku (Kyoto), Yu-gao (Koto) 3rd band
    • Presto, 12", The Renunciation, Processional
    • Presto 2087, 12", wnd dance. Newspaper study.
    • Audiodisc, 33 1/3 rpm, 12"
      • A-Roads to Hell, 1955, Genevieve Pitot, B. Smith, piano. Pride, sloth, envy, wrath.
      • B-Organ (Bach). To the West (Roy Harris). Mother of Tears, Invocation (Reutter). Bartok.
  • Audiodisc, 33 1/3 rpm, 12"
    • A-Orpheaus, Bluck, Scene 1, Act II. Band 1, maestoso and Andante. Un Poco Andante (Intro of Furies, Orpheus, etc.). Band 2, vivace (Furies Dance). Band 3, andante, lento (Blessed Spirits and "demo").
    • B-Hornpipe (band recording, rehearsal).
  • Totem Frelancer, 12"
    • A-78 rpm-To the West. Piano Sonata #1 by Roy Harris, played by Edith Bown?, 1948
    • B-78 rpm-band 1, To the West, concluded. 33 1/3 rpm-band 2-Hornpipe.
  • Audiodisc, 12"
    • A-Rhapsodic Suite, Hovhaness, Sonny Payne, piano.
    • B-Release, Caticle III, Hovhaness.
  • Audiodisc, 12"
    • A-Hymn, Hovhaness, Fantasy (Lazer), Jakla, Sonny Pyne, Piano
    • B-Eleanor King Personal
  • Audiodisc, 12"
    • A-Sounds, Norman De Marco
    • B-band 2, Miracles, Walt Whitman. Band 3, Stantipes, Old English dance, jugglers. Band 4, french dance, short version.
  • Columbia 71162-D. 12". Pierrot Lunaire, Arnold Schoenber, conductor. "Moon Dances". (by King?)
    • MM 461-2 -Eine blasse Wascherin, Valse de Chopin, Madonna.
    • MM 461-7 -Der Mon fleck, Serenade
  • Columbia 71163-D. 12". Pierrot Lunaire, Arnold Schoenber, conductor.
    • MM 461-3 - Der Kranke Mond, Nacht
    • MM 461-6 - Heimweh, Gemeinheit, Parodie.
  • Soundcraft, 1954. 12". Odyssey, Bartok. The Spring, Vivaldi. Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythms, Bartok.
  • Unlabeld. 33 1/3 rpm, 12". Vivaldi-Bach, Hapsichord Concerto, "Perfomance".
  • Audiodisc 6291, 10"
    • A-Japanese Fok Songs, "learned Japanese dances", A.S.
    • B-Gymnopedie, Satie, 2nd band
  • Beaumonde Studio, 12", Roads to Hell, 1948, Genevieve Pitot.
    • A-Pride
    • B-Sloth
  • Beaumonde Studio, 12", Roads to Hell, Genevieve Pitot.
    • A-Envy
    • B-Wrath
  • Audiodisc, 10"
    • A-Hurdy Gurdy
    • B-Metamorphose, unaccompanied oboe,. Widder Pan, Phaeton, Niobe, Narcissus, Arethusa.
  • Rabbit Brand Bankok, Thailand. XCEI, 33 1/3 rpm, 10"
    • 1301-Rabam Kai (Dance of the Cock), Pi Phat Orch with vocalist.
    • 1302-Nang Cin (Serial Songs), Pi Phat Orchestra with vocalist. Khaek Sarai (Sea Weed in Indian Melody), Mahori Band
  • Victor SLR - 501, 33 1/3 rpm, 10" (Label in Japanese). Okina o Momi no Dair. Kasuga Ryuj. Kanze. Sagimidare.
  • Rabbit Brand Ret. 506, Bankok Thailand, 45 rpm, 7" Thailand classical songs.
    • A-Khack Ngoh. Pan Farang
    • B-Lom Pat Chai, Kao, Khim Lek
  • d'aro records, 679R-0507, 45 rpm 7". Hauntingly, song by Mildred R.
    • A-Some of these days.
    • B-Someday you'll want me to want you.
  • Audiodisc, 33 1/3 rpm, 10"
    • A-Symphonic Variations, Schumann. Theme and Variations, 1-5
    • B-Lonesome Train Blues, "Hoe Down" (The Duke Insists).
  • Audiodisc, 10"
    • A-Yu Gao. King. (Blank).
    • B-Concerto. Rascher, sax.
  • Victor OR-124. 10". Label in Japanese.
    • P-3674 "Shichi Fugakin" (Shichi Fukujin)
    • P-3676
  • Victor OR-125. 10". Label in Japanese.
    • P-3675 "Shichi Fugakin" (Shichi Fukujin)
    • P-3677
  • Presto, 8", Scarlatti Sonata, #92.
  • John Keating, 10"
    • A-To the West, Piano Sonato #1. Roy Harris, played by Edith Bown. Coda, ending only, "too slow".
    • B-Sonata #6, Scarlatti, "Peace, an allegory".
  • Elektra EKL-26, JH-530, 33 1/3 rpm. 10". Susan Reed Sings Old Airs from Ireland, Scotland and England.
    • A-At the Foot of Yonders Mountain (harp). The pretty girl milking her cow (zither). The Leprechaun (harp). He Moved Through the Fair ("Everloving"). Bendemeer's Stream (zither). Irish Famine Song (harp). Wraggle Taggle Gypsies (zither).
    • B-Seventeen Come Sunday (harp). The Goffy Dew ("Ever-loving"). I Know My Love (harp). Must I Go Bound (harp). Wailie Wailie (zither). The Boreens of Derry (harp).
  • King Record. LKD 15, Tokyo, 33 1/3 rpm, 10". (Label in Japanese).
    • KL 719 Side 1
    • KL 719 Side 2
  • Eleanor King tapes- 7"
    • Japanese Program: Soran Bushi, Tabaruzaka, Hagaromo
    • Primal Rite
    • Parodisms: Facade Suite Part 2
    • Okinoshima Miko Yutate, Bagaku, Yamabushi Kagura
    • Roy Harris Piano sonata
    • Bugaka, Noh, Sakura, Soran Bushi
    • Hagoromo
    • The Road to Hell
    • Hagoromo
    • Elsie Houston Songs
    • Messaien
    • Schumann: Symphonie Etude
    • Haniwa
    • Bach, Szgeti
    • Carlatti, Ussachersky, Cowell
    • Hovhaness, Scarlatti, Messaien
    • Koke, Back, Messaien, Husa
    • Landowska
    • Koke no niwa, dolorosa
    • Bach, Landowska
    • Roy Harris piano sonata
  • Eleanor King tapes, 5"
    • Kanze Noh
    • Kanze Noh
    • Walworth Suite
  • Eleanor King tapes, 3"
    • Bugaku Ocho
    • Blank
    • Tabaruzaka
  • Eleanor King tapes, cassettes
    • Gagaku, Ranryou: Izuno's concert
    • Book 1-19 (Bach)
    • Pinkham, Cowell, Hovhaness
    • Chopin etudes
    • Vivaldi
    • Vivaldi, Bach
    • Haydn, Vivaldi
  • Attitudes and Arabesques, 1983-1986
  • Videotape of "Hiroto Izuno Dance Company, 1984, Sep. 16.

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

For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Jerome Robbins Dance Collection.

Access restrictions

Some collections held by the Dance, Music, Recorded Sound, and Theatre Divisions at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts are held off-site and must be requested in advance. Please check the collection records in the NYPL's online catalog for detailed location information. For general guidance about requesting offsite materials, please consult: https://www.nypl.org/about/locations/lpa/requesting-archival-materials Photocopying prohibited.