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Creator
Englund, Richard, 1931-1991
Call number
(S) *MGZMD 94
Physical description
13.80 linear feet (28 boxes)
Language
The Choreography files/repertory series contains an item in Danish and its English translation
Preferred Citation

Richard Englund Papers, (S) *MGZMD 94. 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 Richard Englund Papers cover the professional career of Richard Englund (1931-1991), a noted American dancer, choreographer, director, and teacher. Englund served as the director of several small dance companies, including the pioneering regional ballet company, Birmingham Civic Ballet, and training companies for both American Ballet Theatre and the Joffrey Ballet. The largest part of the collection documents the choreographic works that made up the repertory of the companies with which Englund was connected.

Biographical/historical information

Richard Englund, American dancer, choreographer, director, and teacher, was born in Seattle, Washington on April 9, 1931. Growing up in Seattle, Englund's family was friends with the family of Robert Joffrey. Englund studied dance with Mary Ann Wells, with whom Robert Joffrey also trained. Upon graduation from West Seattle High School, Englund received a scholarship and attended Harvard University from 1949-1951, majoring in English and fine arts. He transferred to the Juilliard School as a dance major in 1951. Englund danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet from 1953-1955 and the National Ballet of Canada from 1955-1957.

Englund's major interest, however, was in choreographing and directing, rather than performing. In 1957, after appearing as guest artist with the Birmingham Civic Ballet (Birmingham, Alabama) and dancing with the company at the first regional ballet festival in Atlanta, Georgia, he accepted an invitation to direct the company, remaining through 1959. He then returned to New York where he danced in the original productions of the Broadway musicals, Greenwillow (1960) and Camelot (1960). At the end of 1959, Englund had married Gage Bush, whom he had met in Birmingham, and they both danced with American Ballet Theatre from 1960 through 1962.

In 1962, Englund returned to Birmingham to become director, choreographer, and teacher for the Birmingham Civic Ballet. This well-respected company would be proclaimed the State of Alabama Ballet by the governor, but, in 1967, after problems with board members, Englund formed the Alabama State Ballet. Many of the dancers and staff from his former company chose to follow him. During the summer of 1967, he accepted the challenge presented to him by the Huntington Performing Arts Foundation to head the dance division of a large project in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York. The project involved forming a small professional dance company, the Huntington Dance Ensemble, to give performances and to work as artists-in-residence in the schools of the district. Englund remained with the Huntington Dance Ensemble until it was forced to disband, due to a loss of federal funding. In 1969, the dance company continued under Englund's direction (very briefly under the names American Dance Repertory Company and the American Dance Company), with an organization, American Dance Associates, Inc., being formed to support the group. In 1970, the new company name became Dance Repertory Company, and the small company toured the country giving performances and residencies through 1972.

In the fall of 1972, Dance Repertory Company was taken under Ballet Theatre Foundation as its own training company. Renamed Ballet Repertory Company, Englund served as its director. As of September 1, 1981, the company's name was changed to American Ballet Theatre II (ABT II). In connection with Ballet Theatre Foundation, Englund also directed summer training programs for young dancers drawn from auditions held around the country. He and Oliver Smith co-directed Ballet Theatre Workshop, a program to develop new choreographers. By mid-1985, Ballet Theatre Foundation ended the company and its training programs.

In the fall of 1985, at the invitation of Robert Joffrey, Englund took over the directorship of Joffrey II, the training company of the Joffrey Ballet. He also became responsible for the annual Choreographers' Workshop program. Englund was working with this group at the time of his death on February 15, 1991.

Richard Englund was much sought after as a speaker and lecturer, and as a guest teacher at regional ballet festivals. Among his choreographic works, which were included in the repertories of a number of companies, are: Capriccio, Crazy Quilt, Grand Tarantelle, and Jigs 'n Reels. He often designed the sets, costumes, and lighting for his ballets, using the name Eric Richter.

In addition to his work with dance companies, Englund was the charter member of the dance department faculty of the Governor's School of North Carolina. He served as director of the International Ballet School in 1982 and 1986, in connection with the International Ballet Competition held in Jackson, Mississippi. He was a juror for the Prix de Lausanne in 1985. He was an active supporter of the Dance Notation Bureau, serving on its board of directors and as its president from 1980-1982. He was a member of the Dance Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts, and a panelist of the Dance Program of the New York State Council on the Arts. He received two Silver Bowl Awards for his contribution to dance in Alabama.

Richard Englund's wife, Gage Bush Englund, continued to work with Joffrey II as a teacher and rehearsal coach, but later returned to ABT to become ballet mistress of the ABT Studio Company. The Englunds had two daughters, Alixandra, who attended Brown University and became a theatrical costume designer, and Rachel, who joined New York City Ballet, appearing under the name of Rachel Rutherford.

Scope and arrangement

The Richard Englund Papers span the years 1931-1992, with the bulk of the material pertaining to his professional career as a director of several regional or training ballet companies, as well as his work as a choreographer and a teacher. The files are generally as Englund kept them, with the items usually arranged chronologically within the folders. Materials in each of the series relating to the six companies led by Englund typically include information on the sponsoring organization, financial records, costume and set design, programs, rosters, tour schedules, and repertory lists. There also are separate correspondence files for each of these companies, as well as more general correspondence in Series I. Correspondence is mainly to or from Englund, but can include letters or memos to others connected with the companies (including many items to or from Gage Bush Englund). Correspondence relating to specific subjects, such as a ballet or a project, has been retained with those files.

The largest part of the collection, however, documents the choreographic works that made up the repertory of the companies with which Englund was connected. The majority of these compositions were the work of Englund, but also represented are some early pieces by choreographers who went on to achieve greater prominence, including Lynne Taylor-Corbett and James Kudelka. While lacking much personal material, the collection provides extensive documentation of Englund's choreography and other considerable contributions to the growth of American ballet. The collection also offers opportunities for researchers interested in the development of the regional ballet movement and professional dance training programs in the United States during the second half of the twentieth century.

The Richard Englund papers are arranged in eleven series:

  • Series I: Personal and Professional Papers, and
    1931 - 1989
    2 boxes

    The Personal and Professional Papers series contains a small amount of biographical and professional material, such as contracts, prior to 1956. Also of interest are other materials relating to Englund's early years, including some school records, programs from his own student performances, Broadway musicals, and summer stock productions.

  • Series II: Birmingham Civic Ballet, and
    1952 - 1967
    3 boxes

    The Birmingham Civic Ballet series documents Englund's extensive work with the pioneering regional ballet company, which his future wife, Gage Bush, had helped to establish. Among the items of interest are letters from Mia Slavenska, who was a guest teacher, as well as materials relating to the dissolution of the company.

  • Series III: Huntington Dance Ensemble, circa and
    1966 - 1970
    2 boxes

    The Huntington Dance Ensemble series is comprised of material relating to Englund's work with a government funded project based in Long Island, New York. The program's artistic residencies in schools are represented in somewhat more detail than the work of the performing company.

  • Series IV: Dance Repertory Company, and
    1969 - 1973
    1 box

    The Dance Repertory Company series consists primarily of administrative records pertaining to this short-lived offshoot of the earlier Huntington Dance Ensemble.

  • Series V: Ballet Repertory Company, and
    1972 - 1981
    3 boxes

    The Ballet Repertory Company contains material on the successor to Dance Repertory Company, which became a training company for American Ballet Theatre. Material of interest includes a 1980 program autographed by company members, including Susan Jaffe, who later became a principal dancer with the parent company.

  • Series VI: American Ballet Theatre II, and
    1969 - 1985
    2 boxes

    The American Ballet Theatre II series contains additional materials on ABT's training company, which began its existence under its new name in late 1981. Items of particular note include letters from then-ABT director, Mikhail Baryshnikov, as well as contracts for dancers who went on to greater fame, such as Susan Jaffe and James Sewell.

  • Series VII: Joffrey II, and
    1979 - 1992
    2 boxes

    The Joffrey II series documents Englund's work with the Joffrey Ballet's training company. Correspondence includes many letters from Robert Joffrey, as well as letters from Gerald Arpino and Yvonne Mounsey. Also of interest is a copy of Joffrey's will and items relating to Englund's appointment to the Joffrey's Board of Directors during the period of Joffrey's illness and Englund's eventual resignation following Joffrey's death.

  • Series VIII: Choreography Files/Repertory, and
    1949 - 1989
    10 boxes

    The Choreography Files/Repertory series contains files for ballets that were included in, or proposed for, the repertories of the companies led by Englund. The majority of the works documented were choreographed by Englund. Files frequently contain background information, biographical material, contracts, correspondence, and costume and set designs and other technical information. Also contained in some files are financial records, floor plans and diagrams, Labanotation scores, lighting plots, music scores, photographs, programs, promotional materials, rehearsal schedules, reviews, and royalty information. Among those works which are particularly well documented are Beauty and the Beast, Jigs 'n Reels, and Tales from Hans Christian Anderson. Also included with this series are separate files on works staged by Englund for other companies, as well as lists of his choreography and some additional music scores. Larger format costume and set designs and music scores can be found in the Oversized Materials series.

  • Series IX: Teaching, and
    1964 - 1988
    . 5 box

    The Teaching series contains class work notes, contracts, correspondence, programs or brochures, and schedules. There is also information on Englund's teaching under the subheading, "Regional Festivals."

  • Series X: Work with Other Organizations
    1952 - 1990
    .5 box

    The Work with Other Organizations series mainly consists of material on events or other organizations with which Englund was associated, including the International Ballet Competition and Dance Notation Bureau. These files can contain contracts, correspondence, membership lists, minutes and reports, and schedules.

  • Series XI: Oversized Materials, and
    1949
    2 boxes

    The Oversized Materials series contains a few additional costume sketches for the ballets, The Conversation, The Nutcracker, and some elevations for the Romeo and Juliet sets. Also included are two music scores for other productions.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The Richard Englund Papers were donated to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division in two installments, in 1993 and 2000, by Gage Bush Englund.

Processing information

Processed by Henley Haslam and Helice Koffler; Machine-readable finding aid created by Helice Koffler.

Separated material

  • American Ballet Theatre II, 6 posters - Location: Drawer #64
  • Ballet Repertory Company and Dance Repertory Company, 9 posters - Location: Drawer #68
  • Birmingham Ballet Company, 1 poster - Location: Drawer #76
  • American Ballet Theatre II, Grand Pas: Raymonda, 1982 - 1 reel

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.