Scope and arrangement
The Bil Leidersdorf Photographs collection contains some 56,000 images, black and white on contact sheets with corresponding negatives (mostly 35 mm and 120), prints, and color slides, documenting primarily ballet companies such as American Ballet Theatre and the Harkness Ballet from 1969 to 1980. The photographs are mostly black and white, but there are also some color prints and slides, including some of theater productions, as well as images of Operetta Carnival from Vienna in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1971).
Photographs of the American Ballet Theatre seasons from 1972-1975 at New York State Theater, Kennedy Center and City Center form the largest part of the collection. Rehearsals and performance photographs are included. The Harkness Ballet (1974), Milwaukee Ballet Company (1970-1976) and the Festival Internacional de Ballet in Havana, Cuba (1974, 1976) are also well-represented in the collection.
Among the numerous other companies are City Center Joffrey Ballet, Connecticut Ballet Company, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Maryland Ballet, and New York City Ballet. Modern dance companies include Anna Sokolow's Players Project and Pearl Lang and Dance Company. There are also head shots and studio photographs of American Ballet Theatre notables such as Eleanor D'Antuono, Cynthia Gregory, Ted Kivitt, Natalia Makarova, Ivan Nagy, Martine van Hamel, Sallie Wilson, and other leading company members, as well as for Harkness Ballet dancers.
In addition to color slides of ballet companies, there are also slides of some 20 theater productions. Of note are two publicity photographs of Tennessee Williams with the director of his play Small Craft Warnings was produced at the Truck & Warehouse Theatre (1972). Prints and slide mounts are sometimes stamped or signed "Bil."
The collection also contains several book jackets, programs and published material containing Leidersdorf's photographs.
Arrangement
Alphabetically by name or title, then chronologically.