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Creator
Charles Weidman School of Modern Dance
Call number
(S) *MGZMD 190
Physical description
12 linear feet (26 boxes)
Preferred Citation

The Charles Weidman School for Modern Dance, Inc., Records, (S)*MGZMD 190. 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.

The Charles Weidman School of Modern Dance, Inc. records brings together financial and musical material describing the work of the company in the late 1960s and early 1970s. There is also material about the creation of programs and dances.

Biographical/historical information

The Charles Weidman School of Modern Dance Inc., a non-profit organization was established on July 28, 1969, from a donation by Nik Vanoff a one-time member of the Weidman Theatre Dance Company. The organization combined the already established Theatre Dance Company and Expression of Two Arts (with calligraphist and sculptor, Mikhail Santaro). Weidman became the artistic director of the newly created organization. Linda Mann Reed became the Executive Vice President.

In 1972 the name was changed to the Charles Weidman Foundation. This was done to help secure more grant funding. The rationale being that “schools” are not easily funded.

During the early 1970s, the foundation, as it was commonly referred to, was ambitiously working to revive and preserve, through film and notation, dances from the Humphrey/Weidman era as well as Weidman’s solo work of the 1950s and 1960s.

Weidman died on July 15, 1975, however The Charles Weidman Dance Foundation, continued staging pieces by Doris Humphrey and preserving Weidman's choreographic legacy into the mid-1980s.

Scope and arrangement

The collection contains material primarily relates to the Charles Weidman School for Modern Dance Inc. and runs from the early 1960s through his death in 1975. A large portion of the material is financial records for the company. Also included are programs, clippings, posters and photographs of Weidman and his company. Correspondence is limited and includes both personal and business-related information.

There is also material concerning Weidman’s collaboration with the artist Mikhail Santaro.

The collection does not include any information about Weidman’s time with Denishawn nor with his dance partner Doris Humphrey. There is very little personal material included.

The Charles Weidman School of Modern Dance Inc. records are arranged in six series:

  • Series I: Personal / General Papers
    1918 - 1973
    5 boxes

    This series contains correspondence, calendars, essays, grant applications, music and press releases.

  • Series II: Charles Weidman School of Modern Dance, Inc.
    1960 - 1971
    10 boxes

    This series contains financial material for the Charles Weidman School for Modern Dance Inc and for Two Expressions for Art, a program by Charles Weidman and Mikhail Santaro.

  • Series III: Photographs
    1924 - 1973
    1 box

    This series contains photographs, contact sheets, and negatives. There are professional and amateur photographs, including personal snapshots. Many of the photographs are taken from performances of dancers from the School of Modern Dance.

  • Series IV: Programs
    1962 - 1974
    1 box

    This series contains programs for solo and company performances, including with Mikhail Santaro.

  • Series V: Clippings
    1952 - 1971
    2 boxes

    This series contains both newspaper and magazine clippings. Included are cartoons from The New Yorker, and covers from the same.

  • Series VI: Oversized Material
    1914 - 1970
    8 boxes

    This series contains oversized material, including Life magazine, photographs, performance posters, musical scores and scrapbooks.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The Charles Weidman School for Modern Dance, Inc. Records were donated to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division in 1998 by Linda Mann Reed.

Processing information

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

Separated material

  • Letter to Mrs. Bixby/Opening House Divided
  • Nightingale/Dance Rhythms/American Dream
  • Thurber Chipmunks/Rambling

  • 2 Largo
  • 2 Opus
  • 3 Dance of Street/Salome/Robert’s Opening Dance
  • Belsarte/Opening Christmas/Friendship/Quartet Finale/Cathedral/Kinetic Pantomime
  • Commedia/Mrs.Bixby/Palms (soft)/Mozart kinetic Pantomime
  • Concerto Grosso Bloch
  • Dance of the Street/Submerged Cathedral/Kenetic Pantomime
  • Et Vous Mere
  • Fables/Unicorn, Arthur & Al, Luna Moth with Marra/2 Tigers/traditions
  • Jacob’s Wedding
  • John Rank
  • Koto/2 Corellis
  • Poe
  • Rose Fountain & Dove/Dinosaur & Man
  • St. Matthew/Tendr Solo---master copy
  • Two Chinese actors
  • Villa Lobos Mass for the Poor
  • Waltzes (soft)
  • Unidentified/Blank 5 reels

  • Gold-plated cigarette lighter with initials. [c + t]
  • Autographed drum skin
  • 2 Black ballet shoes (one in box)
  • Costume crown
  • Black headscarf with rhinestone buckle
  • Clip earrings/expandable rhinestone bracelet
  • Black “policeman” cap
  • Green leotard with mesh skirt, and Red leotard and tights
  • Black and green wool socks (1 pair each)
  • Black hair net and blue hair band
  • Black and white shirt
  • Blue pants
  • Light blue flat sheet
  • Navy blue skirt, Blue denim shirt, Navy blue shirt Quilt

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 Division